Mafia: The Old Country- A Good Game for New Mafia Players

It's important to know a little about the reviewer before you read their review.

I have never played a Mafia game before and this is my 1st. I spent 10 hours in this game on PS5 and here are my thoughts and a review if you would like.

I hope this review gives you a good insight on whether it's a game worth picking up or not. I'll cover various mechanics present in the game but won't be spoiling the game for you. Let's get on with it!

I also post some of the clips on my Youtube, in case you wanted to check them out.

I had no idea what to expect going into Mafia - The Old Country as this way my first entry in this series but from the get go one thing was certain that this going is going to bring a good story and incredible visuals and boy it delivered on those front!

Built on Unreal Engine 5 this game looks amazing, kudos to UE5 on enabling faster development times of games.

Story and Setting

Mafia - The Old Country is set in early 1900s Sicily, following the story of Enzo, a miner who rises from abusive conditions to become a member of a powerful Mafia family. With that the game is set up, you are an underdog and you want to be able to rise up in the world. What disappoints is that you have no control over how you rise up the ranks, it's a story driven game, were your story is already written.

Without spoiling much, even though pre-written, the story of the game is solid and it makes you think in every step of the way - 'what's next?'

Exploration and the World of Sicily

Sicily from 1900s was beautifully captured in this game. Progression in the game brought some incredible sights to behold but that's the extent of it.

Exploration is the weakest point in the game. No, it's not about it not being an open-world game but what they offered in terms of exploration in this linear, walled game. In general, when I explore, I explore to find something meaning full, that gives me edge over my enemies, but the buffs that you found during exploration was not worthy enough of the exploration. It didn't entice me to check every corner of the game. I grabbed what I could right in front of my eyes and carried on because I didn't need any buffs in the game as the game is pretty easy. I could have made it through the game without upgrading anything.

Combat

Range Combat

In Mafia: The Old Country, the gunplay offers use of revolvers, rifles, and shotguns. Focus of this combat was always cover and precision shots. Enemy artificial intelligence is also designed to be more challenging, with enemies flanking positions and forcing players to reposition constantly.
There is this one heavy dude that charges you with shotgun, nothing more satisfying than blowing this dude off. Nothing groun breaking here really, same old gun combat.

Melee Combat

I definitely enjoyed close-quarters knife fighting. The fun part was the need of precise timing for dodges and parries and I loved it. The game offered 3 different kind of knives, each with it's own unique perks. These one-on-one, knife-based boss battles are a major mechanic, offering intense, cinematic standoffs.

Gameplay

There was really not a lot on offer when it comes to gameplay. Stealth, combined with action and 2-3 scripted car races was all there was from the gameplay point of view.

While the Stealth was designed well, it was no Assassin's Creed. Overall the studio didn't really experiment a lot and played it safe and I think I liked it because the overall experience was good.

Conclusion

As my first Mafia game Mafia: The Old country was a good experience. The thing that stood out the most was the story and portrayal of the characters by each of the actors, they brought this game to life.

From gameplay point of view there wasn't really much to offer but it was good to play a non-complex game, sometimes it's all you need.

Finishing Mafia: The Old Country left me wondering about how the other Mafia games are like! Given that this one was very well crafted.

Overall, I think there is a good chance that you will end up liking this game. For all its simplicity, I'd say it's worth your experience.