For those out of the loop of the Mafia game series. Mafia is a third-person semi-open-world game where you play as a man who joins the mob and later rebels after bad things happen to them as a result of being a mafioso. The first 2 games were great, while the third entry ended up tanking the franchise for 4 years.

While 1 and 2 were semi-linear games with some open-world elements. Mafia 3 was an entirely open-world game where most of the game was streamlined missions with 3 hours of cutscenes while keeping the linear mission style of the previous 2 games. Also the graphics had a large source of issues from texture pop-ins, assets not loading from going too fast, and the game crashing randomly. The only good thing about it is the DLC campaigns since that is what a Mafia campaign should be like, unlike what they did with the main game.

People thought that the series was done for good, with its only legacy being that clip of the kid shitting himself.

That was until 2020, when they released the definitive edition to Mafia 1. It was a total remaster where they took a 2002 game and upgraded it as if it were a new game. That in turn made people like it, and the remaster became a hit.

5 years later, Hanger 13 finally developed and released the newest Mafia game, which is Mafia: The Old Country. This entry strays from most games about the Mafia in that it takes place in 1900s Sicily and explores the mob during that time.

I played this a day after launch on stream, which, funnily enough, I completed before most people who artificially stop playing to demand a part 2 from their fans.

The first part that I liked about the game is the story. It’s probably the best story in the franchise in how it feels like a movie with gameplay. The only cons I have with it are the time jumps don’t feel like a lot has changed for the characters or provide information on what was happening between 1905 and 1906 in the universe. Also, the fact that Enzo and Isabella can hide their relationship for years without anyone noticing, but they are found out to be escaping at the very end of the game. A little nitpick is that the brother dying isn’t really impactful to the story other than in the 1st act. Sure, Enzo has revenge tendencies, but he stops mentioning him after achieving it by killing Il Mero. Other than that, I was invested in the love story and was sad to see that in a mob story there aren’t any happy endings in him dying and his love having to leave for America.

In the graphics department they didn’t disappoint. The design was built off of the style in Mafia One, which led to this one being the most graphically impressive. They really put their heart and soul into the realism for a game that isn’t even a real open-world game. Thankfully there weren’t a lot of graphical problems in this one, at least for me. Although I was disappointed the game crashed multiple times, and it slowed down until I reopened the game after it crashed. I kind of expected it since the PC ports for these games always have some sort of problem with porting, but not to the scale of how many I got during my playthrough. A few pros I will give are that texture pop-ins and lighting issues weren’t an issue, but I can’t say the same for others depending on their setup. If they release a patch to fix the crashes, then the graphics will be mostly flawless.

Some few misc. pros and cons that I couldn’t find a way to make a whole section for.

Some pros I will give are that they handled the technology very well with a small nitpick of too many trucks compared to cars in 1900s Southern Italy. Combat was pretty alright, and it felt rewarding after spending the mission mostly being stealthful.

One thing I really liked is that the upgrade collectables are Christian-themed, using a rosary to select special skills.

Finally, one huge pro is that the price is $49.99 in a time where video game companies are trying to enforce $69.99 as the standard. Yes, games can be 9-hour masterpieces and be overpriced because some bozo said that 69 bucks is the new meta price.

Some minor cons I have are that they are doing the overpriced DLC that is nothing but cosmetics and promoting the signing up for their useless service for a car skin. Facial cosmetics can’t be used unless you stop wearing the clothing the story requires you to have on. Finally, the road hint barely helps if you aren’t paying attention to the quick-time appearance of where you are supposed to turn or continue driving.

Overall the game was really enjoyable in a sea of overpriced slop and season model multiplayer games. It really reminds me of playing the Plague Tale games, which I also really enjoy for the same reasons. Cheers to more games like this since it would show developers we want more of this than the crap they have been making for decades.