To think how crazy the year 2025 has been for video games isn’t saying enough. We’ve seen a range of front-runner GOTY contenders, froma ‘Walking-sim’ that changed livesthrough its heartfelt connections to aJéRPG that stole the heartsof many with its canvas.
It’s also unfortunate to me, because these games have technically raised the standards, giving us insurmountable hopes for future releases. Which isn’t a bad thing, mind you, but for the game of today’s discussion, you’d be right to believe it might get lost in that same shuffle of high-end expectations.
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Hangar 13’s Mafia: The Old Country had me curious about how it would topple expectations at a time when I’d gone through a couple of masterful titles prior to its release. And after rolling credits on it and recollecting my overall experience, it just might be my favoriteMafia gamethus far in terms of the narrative.
But just how well does it bode with the rest of the games, and does the experience get enhanced ifyou’ve recently bingedFrancis Coppola’s Godfathermoviesthat you end up raising your arms like Martin Scorsese’s Absolute Cinema meme as the credits roll? Well, you’d best believe that it does as I present to you my review of Mafia: The Old Country.
A Tale Of Love, Deceit, and Madness
I’ll begin by strongly advising that you AT LEAST play the first two Mafia titles.There’s a bit of fan service here that long-time fans will adore in terms of the characters, whose identities and details I obviously won’t spoil in this review, among other key plot details.
Plus, if you have the attention span to go through subtitles, then I highly encourage toggling on the Sicilian Speech language setting; it significantly enhances the immersion and authenticity factor here for the characters, albeit the non-existent lip sync.
In early 1900s Sicily, Enzo, a miner boy, dreams of escaping his enslaved life alongside his friend Gaetano, who shares similar ideals of freedom. Gaetano, however, seeks glory by pursuing a life in America. Things quickly turn south on that American dream as a helpless Enzo is persuaded into joining the Torisi family after being cornered by his slavers.
Thus, it marks Enzo’s initial life in his newfound family, performing daily labor work and odd jobs until he eventually gets coerced into the dark underbelly of this once blissful ménage. He joins his fellow comrades-in-arms, Luca and Cesare, as they partake in various underhanded tasks for Don Bernardo Torisi.
Here’s the most important detail that I loved most throughout the entirety of the storytelling:the narrative is vastly different from the slow-burn crime drama of the other Mafia titles;there’s a fair bit of emotional sentiment found early on in Enzo’s love affair and his bonding moments with his companions.
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It’s such a refreshing take on the world that Hangar 13 has built since the first Mafia title. The thrills and high-stakes drama from the crime aspect are still there, obviously, but these other elements introduce a much-needed grounded approach that momentarily pulls you back from the driver’s seat.
It’s almost similar to a short and poignant soap opera in a way,because the entire first half is a bittersweet build-up to what ultimately is the heartbreaking demise of an actual family, with everything falling apart from constant turmoil, grief, and acts of forbidden love.
The Duality of Enzo Favara
The beauty of character-driven stories in media is one that I often find endearingly compelling, whether it’s the cat-and-mouse characters in Michael Mann’s Heat or the journey of Sam Porter Bridges in Death Stranding. The common denominator is how the protagonists are the backbone of the narrative.
Much like Tommy Angelo and Vito Scaletta, I’m glad to say that Enzo Favara joins these two as another of Hangar 13’s masterfully-written main leads. A stoic yet lionhearted young man with upstanding ideals who doesn’t let the twisted depths of his crime syndicate tenure ruin his way of life and ambitions.
The constant back-and-forth grimness is still at the epicenter of this tale, one that becomes the driving force for the last act.
Enzo and Isabella’s love affair is easily one of my highlights of the story.Their first encounter in the stables eerily reminded me ofMichael Corleone getting thunderstruck by the sight of seeing Apollonia. And as you might’ve guessed, what happened to them had me more worried than anything for these two caged lovebirds.
And hey, could you blame me? In the final moments of every other Mafia title that I’ve played and with most crime drama media of this nature, you never really get the happy ending. It’s the one thing you have to expect from them and unwillingly adore.
But when he’s not being a guy madly in love and all,Enzo’s moments with Luca and Cesare are truly what define his duality in retrospect;the former being the second-in-command to Don Torisi, who nurtures Enzo from stirring off the honorable path while Cesare is the devil on your shoulder guy, who barges in first and asks questions later.
Every single mission brilliantly encompasses Enzo and the Torisi Family’s meteoric rise, along with their struggles against the Spadaro Family. This ultimately becomes the pivot point where the storytelling takes a deep nosedive for the final act, and might divide the fanbase much like the ending to The Last of Us Part 2, but I digress.
An Offer You Can’t Refuse
Imagine my unfiltered grin when I first heard the news from Hangar 13 that they’d be going for a linear-focused approach again with their next Mafia game that wasn’t unnecessarily tied to an open world; they made me an offer I couldn’t possibly refuse.
Having gone throughmy fair share of lifeless open-world games, you’ll be happy to know that the lush valley of Valle Dorata magnificently portrays the backdrop for this heated tale.There’s even a reimagined look of San Celeste that we originally saw in the second game.
It’s all powered and portrayed by everyone’s favorite modern gaming engine - Unreal Engine 5. Okay, that was sarcasm, but despite being questionable, it (unsurprisingly) does a fantastic job showcasing the vast fields and ancient ruins of the valley, as well as rendering the grand architecture of the villas and mansions in the world.
Unlike the other titles and even Mafia 3, The Old Country’s world is strictly used for storytelling purposes.
But what wasn’t surprising was how the game felt largely optimized, even with my rig running a 3060Ti and an i5 13th gen. I was able to maintain a consistent 60FPS framerate at a mix of medium to high settings with occasional dips during intensive scenes such as chase sequences. I know the game’s system requirements had a lot of people debating their investment.
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However, this doesn’t mean it’s a perfect engine. I encountered a fair number of visual bugs, which, although not game-breaking, slightly disrupted my immersion; weird gradient lines over the characters' faces when talking to them, and ghosting effects during the cinematic cutscenes.
Technically, you may call the game an open world thanks to the map. But, unlike Mafia 3, The Old Country’s world is strictly used for storytelling purposes. It has a replayable chapter mode where you can feasibly rack up your collectibles in peace. However, there are no incentives for doing so, aside from visiting certain NPCs for purchases.
But honestly, is that really a dealbreaker? To some, it might be. But as someone who prefers this formula over the stagnated nature of open-world titles and their cookie-cutter elements, this might be my new favorite linear video game title after the Plague Tale series.
There are no car races (aside from one entire wholesome filler chapter dedicated to Enzo and Cesare’s race) and no side quests either; you can freely choose to beeline the whole story and binge it in two sittings. The pacing is so tight and balanced, with the only real caveat being the early chapters, which can feel slow as Enzo gets worked into the family.
Leave The Gun, Take The Knife
I hope you didn’t assume that I would skip over the actual gameplay stuff that accompanies these games now. But even if you did, I wouldn’t blame you because, understandably, it’s always been the weaker element of the Mafia games. The gameplay is just serviceable enough to get you through the moment-to-moment storytelling bits.
Still, I specifically want to touch on how Mafia: The Old Country exceptionally amps up the gunplay aspect here.The shooting mechanics have been refined to give it an almostrun-and-gun feel,including the shootout sequences; they’re significantly more intense than any of the previous entries.
There are also several moments where you can complete sections in stealth, with some achievements locked behind that approach. But if you get caught and everything turns upside down with a barrage of mobsters gunning you down, don’t hesitate to plow through them with your revolver and repeater.
It should be noted that I played the game on Hard Difficulty, and I highly recommend doing the same, as the differences in enemy AI behavior during gunfights are well worth it. They’ll have more pinpoint accuracy so that you barely have a second to shoot out of cover, and some brute enemies can eventually flank you with shotguns.
Dare I say, the whole bits towards the end where I practically bumrushed enemies down with my shotgun while constantly switching between covers made it feel like I was playing a mix between Spec Ops: The Line and Max Payne, but without the bullet time effect from the latter
Even the game’s setting complements the action sequences because, as someone who eventually got tired of the monotonous street shootouts from past Mafia entries, the ones in Old Country provided a ton of variability as they switched between tightly-packed spaces to large-scale ones with little to no cover.
One of the newest elements here is the knife duels for various boss fights. You can parry, dodge, and choose between slashes or thrust attacks. However, it feels clunky, especially when you break a guard with the follow-up attacks not connecting.
It’s yet another serviceable component, but one that I felt was unexpectedly well-done for some key boss fights where the duel transitioned between a couple of phases involving an entire shootout or chase sequence in between to break up the pacing.
Accomplishing Parallels Between Profound Emotions And Classic Crime
To reiterate, don’t mistake the whole moments with Isabella and Enzo’s hangout sessions with Cesare as restraints from the storytelling style that Hangar 13 established years ago.The constant back-and-forth grimness is still at the epicenter of this tale, one that becomes the driving force for the last act.
There was one chapter that reminded me of theiconic Baptism scene from The Godfatherwith the ominous camera cuts, but the next thing you know, all hell breaks loose - Enzo is now chasing someone across San Creste across the city’s rooftops in a scripted chase sequence that felt oddly reminiscent of the hyper-engaging sequences from Uncharted.
The way they’ve balanced out the set pieces for almost every chapter is enough to keep you hooked with little to no downtime, and the sprinkled-in moments with the characters are enough not to make them lose their spotlight or importance, while brilliantly conveying Enzo’s internal conflict with himself and this dark path.
Plus, with how the game presents you with options to skip the point A to B driving sequences, you may be inclined not to do that on some occasions, since you might miss out on some additional exposition from some characters. But hey, it’s your choice in the end.
Hangar 13 has really nailed something special here in the narrative. It not only presents the downfall of honorable men under the influence of power, but also conveys the emotional side of how they’re consequential to your closest people and how devotion to love can prevent the strongest of men from losing their way.
Closing Comments:
Mafia: The Old Country is a strong contender for one of 2025’s best narrative titles. At one moment, it can feel like a cheesy Italian soap opera where Enzo and Isabella’s on-screen forbidden affair is adorable enough to make you kick your feet in the air. But on the other hand, it’s a ruthless crime spectacle that excellently portrays the origins of the Mafia with the Torisi Family’s rise and fall, with character performances reminiscent of an A24 movie. Throughout its 14-chapter duration, it maintains a tight pacing, particularly in its exposition and gameplay sequences, with the latter feeling like a breath of fresh air thanks to the different weapons, variable firefight sequences, and intense knife duels. Considering the ending and the fan-service elements that cater to long-time fans, this is not only the best Mafia game to date, but also one of the best modern linear action-adventure titles.
