Summary
- Mafia: The Old Country will be set in the 1900s Sicily, offering new gameplay possibilities.
- Hangar 13's decision to go back in time for Mafia 4 could revitalize the series.
- The developer has an opportunity to reclaim the original game's narrative strength in Mafia: The Old Country.
Almost eight years after the third game was released, Mafia: The Old Country, the fourth entry in the series, has finally been revealed. A short teaser trailer has revealed that developer Hangar 13 has decided to go in a new direction with the game's setting. Instead of continuing the series timeline by advancing into the 1970s and beyond, Mafia: The Old Country will instead be set at the turn of the 19th Century, and feature a story woven around the birth of the Mafia in Sicily. This change of pace could prove a smart move and be just what the series needs.
Since its debut in 2002, the Mafia series has focused on the evolution of the mob. Spanning several decades, beginning with the 1920s in the first game, through the 1940s and 50s with Mafia 2, and then the late 60s with Mafia 3, the series depicts the lives of numerous fictional gangsters and their surrounding families, as well as their enemies. Many expected the next installment to continue this trend, moving on to the 70s and 80s, but Hangar 13 has seemingly subverted expectations by going back in time nearly 100 years.
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Mafia's Shift in Setting is a Timely Change in More Ways Than One
The original Mafia game follows the story of Tommy Angelo, a small-time cab driver who becomes embroiled with the Salieri crime family. It's a gritty rags-to-riches story of betrayal and forgiveness, which borrowed certain mechanics from the Grand Theft Auto series, including a wanted system. Ultimately, though, Mafia was more concerned with delivering a tight, engaging narrative with realistic, relatable characters, similar to movies such as The Godfather and Goodfellas. For the most part, it succeeded, and is indeed renowned for the strength of its story and characters.
Its sequels, while still story-focused, seemed to lose a little bit of their momentum when comparable to the first game. Mafia 3 in particular seemed far more concerned with its open-world mechanics than its story, and the game suffered as a result. This left many fans hoping that Mafia 4 would be something of a return to the series' roots, and Hangar 13's decision has ensured that this will quite literally be the case.
Mafia: The Old Country is a Great Opportunity for a New Experience
Mafia: The Old Country takes place during the 1900s, in the fictional city of San Celeste in Sicily, which players briefly visit in the events of Mafia 2. 1900s Sicily presents a wealth of opportunity for Hangar 13 to really embrace the setting in ways that haven't been possible in the series to date. Sharing a similar time period with Red Dead Redemption 2, The Old Country could introduce things like horse riding as the main means of travel, as well as a more rural, contemporary setting, in contrast to the densely populated urban areas of previous games.
Many fans hoped that Mafia 4 would be something of a return to the series' roots, and Hangar 13's decision has ensured that this will quite literally be the case.
More details of Mafia: The Old Country are expected to be shared in December, possibly even at The Game Awards' 10th anniversary show. The developer has shared a tentative release window of 2025, meaning the project must be far enough into development that gameplay footage shouldn't be too far away. Fans of the franchise will be hoping that Mafia: The Old Country proves to be a return to form for the series, capturing much of the essence that made the original's narrative so gripping, and its setting has given it every chance.
WHERE TO PLAY
Three Eras of Organized Crime in America
Mafia: Definitive Edition - 1930’s, Lost Heaven, IL
Re-made from the ground up, rise the ranks of the mafia during the Prohibition-era of organized crime in America. After an inadvertent brush with the mob, cabdriver Tommy Angelo is reluctantly thrust into the world of organized crime. Initially uneasy about falling in with the Salieri family, the rewards become too big to ignore.
Mafia II: Definitive Edition – 1940’s - 50’s Empire Bay, NY
Remastered in HD, live the life of a gangster during the Golden-era of organized crime. War hero Vito Scaletta becomes entangled with the mob in hopes of paying his father’s debts. Alongside his buddy Joe, Vito works to prove himself, climbing the family ladder with crimes of larger reward, status and consequence.
Mafia III: Definitive Edition - 1968, New Bordeaux, LA
After years of combat in Vietnam, Lincoln Clay’s surrogate family, the black mob, is betrayed and killed out by the Italian Mafia, Lincoln builds a new family on the ashes of the old and blazes a path of military-grade revenge through the Mafioso responsible.
