Mafia: The Old Country - When Nostalgia Is No Longer Enough

Right, we need to talk. Do you remember Mafia II? Those moments when you had goosebumps during missions? Where every twist and turn had you glued to your screen? Well, prepare to be disappointed, because Mafia: The Old Country, It's a bit like ordering a four-cheese pizza and getting a slice of stale bread with ketchup on it.

Back to basics... Too back to basics

Hangar 13 promised us a return to the origins of the Sicilian mafia. Cool, isn't it? Except that “return to the origins” seems to have been their only idea. The game starts out like an Italian film from the 50s that's been fast-tracked x0.5: slow, predictable, and frankly? Boring as hell.

From the very first hours, you can tell ALL. Like, absolutely everything. Who's going to die, what dull romance is going to develop... It's not storytelling, it's fill-in-the-blanks at third-grade level.

A love story you didn't ask for

Let's cut to the chase: romance. Because obviously someone at Hangar 13 thought, “You know what's missing from Mafia games? A sappy love story that takes up 60% of game time!”

People didn't ask for this.

The love story in The Old Country is like watching two pieces of wood trying to play Romeo and Juliet. Zero chemistry. Zero emotion. Endless dialogue where you spam the skip button hoping something - anything - interesting will happen.

And all the while, one cutscene follows another. Long ones. So long. You could make yourself a sandwich, watch an episode of the show, and come back and the characters would still be staring into each other's eyes, talking about their feelings.

Technically? A Walking Disaster

OK, personally, I'm the kind of person who forgives minor graphical bugs when the gameplay and story are top-notch. But here? The technical problems in The Old Country aren't details, they're warning signs flashing lights with sirens.

The Case of the Disappearing Body

Imagine: you've just neutralised a guard (discreetly, you're a pro). You hide him in a container. Perfect. Two minutes later, a second guard. You go back to the same container and... BAM! It's empty. The first body has magically evaporated.

It's not immersion, it's evaporation.

They've clearly copied and pasted the Hitman system without thinking for five minutes. The result? A mechanic that completely breaks the illusion of the game. You feel like you're playing an alpha test, not a AAA game released in 2025.

An AI dumber than a prison door

Artificial intelligence in this game? Let's call it “artificial idiocy”. The enemies:

• Seeing you through walls (practical)
• Stand by while you shoot their mates (logical)
• Move around in such predictable patterns that you feel like you're playing a mobile game

The gunplay is soft. No feedback, no punch. Shooting a gun in this game is like throwing wet marshmallows at a wall.

When your Story-Driven Game has no Story

To top it all off Mafia: The Old Country is being sold as a narrative game. A game where the story is supposed to be at the heart of the experience. Except they forgot one thing: writing a good story.

The plot is so generic that it could serve as a template for every mafia game to come. No originality, no depth, none of that little something that makes you really care about the characters.

Remember Vito Scaletta in Mafia II? His moral dilemmas, his relationship with Joe? In The Old Country, the characters are as memorable as an extra in a B-movie.

I couldn't even finish it

And that's where it gets personal. I loved the whole Mafia series, and I've played Mafia II three times in a row, I didn't manage to finish The Old Country.

I forced myself. I really did. I kept going, thinking “it'll get better”. Spoiler: it didn't. At some point, you have to stop and admit that a game doesn't respect your time.

The Pack's verdict 🦌

Positive points:

• The visual ambience of Sicily
• The music is correct

Negative points:

• Bland and predictable story
• Forced and boring romance
• Technical problems galore
• Catastrophic AI
• Mediocre gunplay
• No innovation, just the same old stuff
• Endless dialogue
• Snail's pace under sedation

Pack rating: 4/10

So, should we run or not?

Honestly? If you're a hardcore fan of the series and MUST see what happens, wait for a big promo. Like -70% minimum. Or better still: watch a walkthrough on YouTube, you'll get the same experience without wasting 30 hours of your life.

If you're just curious or looking for a good story-driven game, skip it. There are so many better things to do: play Mafia II again, try Red Dead Redemption 2 if you haven't already, or even God of War. In short, anything else.

Mafia: The Old Country is a major missed opportunity. Hangar 13 had the keys to making a great game, but instead they served us a mushy romance in a game engine that was leaking all over the place.

The pack has spoken. And it's not happy. 🦌

---

Do you want your opinion to count? Share your experience in the comments! Did you manage to finish the game? Do you agree with us? Join the pack and tell us what you think!

#MafiaTheOldCountry #TestVideoGames #Gaming2025 #MafiaGame #JeuxStoryDriven

---

No deer were mistreated during the writing of this article. On the other hand, several hours of our lives were sacrificed on this game.