A lot of buzz is starting to circulate around the upcoming Mafia: The Old Country, with enough finally being known about the game to give fans a solid overview of what they can expect from it. The Mafia franchise placed its roots over two decades ago in 2002, and it is abundantly clear that The Old Country is paying a lot of respect to the earliest days of the franchise through its themes, gameplay, and major setting.
As things stand, Mafia: The Old Country is aiming for an August 8 release date, with it being slated to launch for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. While the Mafia series has drawn controversy over the years due to its wildly different gameplay approaches between titles, it already seems as if fans of all Mafia projects have something to look forward to with The Old Country. While Hangar 13 is still holding some cards close to its chest, some high expectations are being set in regard to the game's main characters, core narrative, and historic Italian setting.
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Expect Mafia: The Old Country to Take the Series' Premise to the Next Level
At its core, Mafia: The Old Country is aiming to provide the franchise's most authentic experience of the organized crime organizations that give the series its name. Away from the franchise's usual portrayals of the United States, The Old Country takes take players to the Italian region of Sicily during the early 1900s. Specifically, the major setting of The Old Country will be the fictional town of San Celeste.
Long-time fans of the IP will recognize this as the same town that Vito Scaletta fought through in Mafia 2's WW2 flashback sequences. Hopefully, players can expect to see some potential callbacks to this previous portrayal throughout The Old Country's gameworld and story. With The Old Country also taking place roughly 30 years before the franchise's debut title, there may also be some room for references to the characters of the original Mafia, as well as the broader crime families that appear in both Mafia and Mafia 2.
Every mainline Mafia game beyond its debut title has a direct narrative reference to a previous Mafia project, making it much more likely for The Old Country to feature some familiar names or faces in some capacity.
In terms of The Old Country's narrative, players will control the young and ambitious Enzo Favara, whose orphaned upbringing and a childhood of forced hard labor lead him into the ruthless arms of organized crime. Namely, Favara will find himself working his way up the ladder of the Torrisi family, leading to the same intense third-person gritty shootouts and schemes that made the original Mafia games so memorable.
Mafia: The Old Country's Setting Will Inform its Most Intruguing Gameplay Elements
The early 1900s setting of The Old Country is a big pull factor of the game, showcasing the same clash between traditional and industrial worlds that appeared in the likes of Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption. Mafia: The Old Country's gameplay trailer featured horse riders chasing down early forms of automobiles, for example, with both of these travel options being available to players. Ultimately, fans should expect this mix of historic and modern practices to be at the center of Mafia: The Old Country's themes.
Fans should also expect to be given a fair range of choices in terms of how they approach combat, with the trailer additionally showcasing stealth takedowns as a viable alternative to head-on shootouts. The unique time period of The Old Country will also make a stiletto knife just as important as period-accurate shotguns and pistols in the game's wide-spanning arsenal. The title's authentic Mediterranean setting will also provide some stunning landscapes to compliment the big expectations behind its varied gameplay, with The Old Country perhaps being more akin to a classic Mob movie than any past Mafia project.
Mafia: The Old Country
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 74 /100 Critics Rec: 66%
