I’m not the most passionate fan of the Mafia series. My history goes something like: loved the first one at the time, was ‘eh’ on the second then bounced off the third despite its novel setting. But I was all in on The Old Country when it was announced. A new Mafia game set in Italy, in the early 1900s (the same fascinating period as the original Red Dead Redemption, caught on the tracks between the 19th century and modernity), and best of all it was short? Sign me up.
I wasn’t sent any code for it, and I’ve been too busy to work on a full review of the game, so I’ve just been casually playing my way through it over the past couple of weeks. One thing keeping me from rushing were some early reviews; Eurogamer’s led with “by-the-numbers design”, while Kotaku’s opens with “Rote, dated gameplay burdens this entry in the Mafia saga”.
Which, whatever, reviews are reviews, I knew exactly what to expect from a Mafia game, and it was never going to be a revolutionary approach to third-person open-world gaming. Harking back to the first two entries in the series, with the added fact it’s trapped within the confines of a prequel, it was never going to be an innovative approach to genre story-telling either. Mafia (third game aside!) is a series born in tribute, an outline traced on butcher’s paper over someone else’s homage to The Godfather, and you’d be mad to go into this hoping The Old Country was going to be any different.
It’s not even a proper open-world game! Again, like some of its predecessors, this is a fairly guided, level-by-level experience, which while featuring a world that’s big and constantly asks you to drive across it, doesn’t actually contain any of the trappings of a proper open-world game like exploration and sidequests. Don’t think of this as a smaller GTA with nicer suits; think of it as a third-person shooter that just happens to replace loading screens with leisurely drives through the Sicilian countryside.
Because of my low expectations (complimentary, as we’ll get to in a second!), I had a great time with The Old Country because all I ever want from a Mafia game is to kill some time with some run-of-the-mill mob stories (which are often the best kind!) and old-timey cars and work my way through an interactive soap opera interrupted by driving sections instead of commercials, which is exactly what this game delivered.
The whole thing is just so comfortably on-brand, both as a Mafia game and a mob tale. Its depiction of life in 1900s Sicily ticks every expected box: forbidden love, class warfare, loyalty, corruption and family tensions, with the addition of enough Catholic idolatry crammed into every room and street corner to make the Pope blush. I am not surprised by this but nor am I let down by it; The Old Country sets out to colour by numbers and it colours every one perfectly, right inside the lines.
I’ve never once enjoyed driving its lumbering cars or riding its horses, but I’ve craned my neck to admire the beautiful countryside every chance I’ve got (this is a very good-looking video game). I dozed off for half the story, but I remember so many snappy lines of dialogue, and everyone’s handsome faces, luscious chest hair and wry smiles will live in me long after the credits roll. And a very big and special thanks to everyone who recommended I play the Sicilian dub; it’s transformative, and helped set the mood more than any number of paintings of The Blessed Virgin Mary or overly-detailed bottles of olive oil ever could. If you haven’t played the game yet, and ever do, playing in its native tongue–which is distinct from Italian, and extremely cool to see implemented so thoroughly in a video game–is an absolute must.
The ways The Old Country is so predictable and yet comforting really got me thinking about all the stuff we’re missing out on as the AAA games industry collapses into a flaming pile of wreckage. How I have, strangely, gotten to the point in 2025 where I’m genuinely wistful for a good ‘ol 7/10, last-days-of -summer video game.
As studios close, projects are cancelled and developers laid off in their thousands, we’re losing tentpole shooters, licensed action games and multiplayer battle royales, sure, but we’re also losing games like this. The kind you may never cosplay for, or put on your GOTY list, but which you were still happy to pay for, enjoyed your time with and left feeling better about at the end. A game that doesn’t surprise you or have any tricks up its sleeve, but has enough production money and nice graphics behind it to put a smile on your face on the kind of day when you just want to play a video game, any video game, because video games are great.
So no, The Old Country is not a breakthrough in third-person action, or historical story-telling. It never needed to be. This is a good book on a rainy afternoon, the latest episode in a dependable, long-running soap opera, a ticket to the 117th Mission Impossible movie. It’s fine, and sometimes fine is great.
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