Mafia: The Old Country

When developer Hangar 13 revealed that the next instalment in the Mafia series would be a largely linear adventure, many were sceptical. They believed that the open world had been abandoned in favour of a more directed experience, however, the end result is something of a compromise. There is definitely an open world that you can walk, ride, or drive around in from time-to-time, but it's not really a world to explore, other than looking at some nice views and searching for things to collect. It's not really that different from how the series has been in other instalments, but it's also more condensed and more tranquil than before.

When the game starts, our main character Enzo is working in the mines. The days are filled with hard work and angry employers who don't exactly put safety first. At the beginning of the game, Enzo and his close friend are sent down a mine shaft to look for some missing workers. The mountain starts to collapse and there is also a gas leak, and in the midst of all the turmoil, Enzo is given a chance to escape. Fate brings him to the Torrisi family, and so begins a story of a new chance and a new life on a vineyard in Sicily.

The first few hours of Mafia: The Old Country felt like one of the longest tutorials I've ever experienced. There's nothing wrong with the predictable start and story, as such, because as players, we're pretty used to that, but it wasn't exactly a brilliant start when I began to realise that the first few hours were really just an endless walkthrough of the game mechanics.

Even though there isn't much variety in the big picture, everything had to be introduced as separate little missions. It quickly became annoying that the structure felt so slow-paced, and when Hangar 13 did pick up the pace, it came in the classic "now you have to win a race" missions mixed with lots of stealth/action sequences. Thankfully, the latter are the game's strongest suit. The enemies may be dumber than a box of rocks and happily trudge straight towards you, out in the open, but it's fun to shoot and kill them, at least with the various weapons available. In addition, the action we are treated to is a very welcome break from the rest of the slow pace. With smooth cover mechanics, you move forward in the missions where you have a weapon in your hand, and meanwhile, those that require you to sneak around involve studying movement patterns and waiting until a guard has his back to you so you can strangle him. The game also picks up the pace considerably during stylish and cinematic sequences, but even here, it's only okay at best during the big moments. It feels familiar and still fun, yet never particularly memorable.

Since the action sequences are the most exciting part of the game, they deserve a closer look. Enzo moves smoothly between conveniently placed cover, walls, and barriers. He can carry two different firearms at the same time, and it's also important to pick up bandages to regain health in the heat of battle. The controls feel snappy, and all the weapons and the damage they inflict make these sequences the best in the game, and I never got bored with these parts, even though they are similar in design. I always found it enjoyable to clear an area to move forward so that the story could progress.

The controls are also responsive whether you're on foot, on horseback, or driving a vehicle, which is fortunate because a lot of time is spent travelling. The game mechanics are well thought out overall, with only really stupid enemies breaking the illusion. Even the all-too-frequent knife fights work well given the controls you have, however, as I said, I think the game's pure action is where it becomes most entertaining.

The open world here is very nice. It's a bit like a more modern, but also much more compressed, version of the environments in Red Dead Redemption 2. However, the experience is more like Uncharted in terms of the missions, as basically, they're not that boring, but they're designed in too similar a way. No matter how engaging and entertaining they are at times, their design also runs on a kind of constant low flame throughout the ten to twelve hours of gameplay.

This is how this part of the Mafia series often feels as a whole. It offers a sometimes fast-paced experience, but there is really nothing here that hasn't been done better before. What it does do very well, however, is offer a rich atmosphere in terms of the landscape in which it takes place. Italy is a strikingly beautiful place and a pleasant place to just be in. Even though the map is extremely sparse and mostly serves as a scenic transport route, the details and views are particularly impressive. It's a very nice backdrop, quite simply. When you walk around the game's larger city and take a little extra time to admire the richness of detail, you often find yourself impressed. Fruit, flowers, horses, cars... everything feels impressive from a technical standpoint, down to the smallest detail.

I also like how the streets are full of people during certain scenes, how workers toil in the many fields or stand outside the small, cosy settlements. Overall, however, I would have liked to see more life and movement. In addition to the good graphics, there is also great music and very strong voice acting from most of the large ensemble. It's a production that is by no means the most technically brilliant I've seen, but it still manages to impress in many ways. The game also runs smoothly with stable frame rates, but it should be added that the PC version (which is the one I played) crashed several times during gameplay.

Sadly, Mafia: The Old Country often gets stuck in a framework that it never dares to venture outside of or do anything more exciting with. It's easy to figure out how the missions will proceed, and all battles against named antagonists basically always end in a knife fight, which after the fifth time feels very unimaginative. However, there are nice cuts between gameplay and cutscenes, and speaking of which, an incredible amount of time is spent watching cutscenes of strong-willed men talking about what needs to be done and, of course, how important loyalty is.

The pace also slows down considerably when the story has to trudge along on horseback, as since there is no vibrant open world to explore in the traditional sense, this means the pace also suffers. The fact that it's supposed to be a linear action experience suffers partly because everything becomes so limited, but also because the story with cutscenes and transport routes takes up such a large part. Had they been better executed, this would not have been a problem, as this kind of thing can add to the experience when done well, however, neither the characters nor the story are ever that engaging.

I think this mainly falls a little short on its own premise. It offers a map that you can travel around, but it's not really an open world game in terms of structure or what's available or what you can do. It's also not really linear or well-directed enough, even though we have a large map of that kind. If you were to compare it to Uncharted, that series offers changing environments where you make your way through something more akin to actual levels. Here, however, it's just different areas within the same larger environment. Even though the game takes place inside different buildings, the variation isn't enough when the background outside is the same. One solution would have been to look more closely at how the brilliant Tomb Raider series handled this, for example. If you want to create a more cinematic action game, it's important that the variation, and the pace, is high and entertaining. In addition to the pace needing to be reviewed, more scripted sequences and a little more imagination in the missions could have lifted this considerably.

I understand the ambition to create something more down-to-earth. Something more "homey," if you will. By not setting this game in America and simply abandoning the pulsating city life with all that it entails in terms of high-octane car chases and everything else, it often feels very slow-paced. If the Italian countryside had been part of a larger environment, I think it would have worked better, but now its tranquillity is the only thing you get to experience and dwell in.

Furthermore, I find it challenging to care about the characters and their motivations, and as a result, the narrative becomes quite uninteresting overall. It feels like a generic action film with little ambition beyond completing the tasks assigned by the boss. For the most part, it's a mixture of "ride there, drive there, shoot these, trudge around here (which you do a lot)" and even though the story offers distinct time jumps, it doesn't take the opportunity to change anything about the experience after these, which is a shame, as the chance to vary things a little would have been excellent after something like that.

Although the overall experience is not bad, everything has been done before to such an extent, both in this series and in many other games, that it never really surprises. It's a bit difficult to heap superlatives on these elements when they are not even close to the best versions you have experienced. I've definitely had quite a bit of fun during the days I've played, but it doesn't really stick in my memory with the exception of the lovely environments. The best parts are definitely entertaining, and overall it's very easy to digest and easy to play, which can be an advantage for those looking for that kind of experience.

All in all, Mafia: The Old Country is a perfectly decent action game. It's clear that the ambition was to offer some kind of hybrid between linear and open world gameplay. The developers wanted to tighten up the experience to make it engaging, well-directed, and grandiose, but even though I personally worship open worlds, I would have preferred to see them lean even more towards streamlining this. In an action game of this kind, which is also quite short, I simply think that there should have been more variety and a significantly higher tempo to make it feel more engaging in the end.