games / Reviews
Mafia: The Old Country (Series X/S) Review
Image Credit: 2K Games
Loading...The Mafia series has always been about more than shootouts and car chases. At its best, it’s about mood: the quiet menace of a handshake, the weight of family obligations, the tragedy that comes with chasing power. Mafia: The Old Country leans into that side of things, taking us back to Sicily in the early 1900s. It’s a smaller game than many modern blockbusters, but it’s also more focused—and in a lot of ways, more memorable.
You step into the shoes of Enzo Favara, a young miner working the sulfur pits of Sicily. The opening hours are heavy, almost suffocating, as you shuffle through dark tunnels with little more than a lantern and a sense that this life isn’t sustainable. When Enzo falls into the orbit of Don Torrisi, the story opens up into familiar territory: loyalty, betrayal, the blurred lines between business and blood. If you’ve seen a mafia movie, you’ll recognise some of the beats. But that doesn’t mean it’s dull—the delivery is strong, the pacing steady, and the performances carry real weight.
One standout touch is the ability to play with Sicilian voice acting. It adds a lot of texture, grounding the characters in their world in a way that English dubbing never quite could. The trade-off is that subtitles can pull your eyes away during fast-paced scenes, but I’d still recommend it if you want the most authentic experience.
What really stays with you, though, is the setting. This is the most beautiful the series has ever looked. Sun-bleached villages, rolling vineyards, weathered chapels and crumbling stone streets—it all feels painstakingly built, like every frame could be a shot from a film. Light and shadow play a huge role: golden rays streaming through chapel windows, lanterns flickering against damp rock, sunsets stretching across endless fields. It’s the kind of world you want to pause and soak in.
That said, the tech isn’t perfect. I noticed the occasional stutter, some texture pop-ins, even a couple of small loading hitches. They don’t ruin anything, but they do remind you the game isn’t as seamless as it looks in screenshots.
Gameplay is where things feel safest. Missions cycle between stealth sections, cover-based shootouts, and the occasional knife duel. None of it is bad, but none of it is groundbreaking either. Guards follow predictable patterns, gunplay is competent without being thrilling, and knife fights, while cinematic, don’t have much depth once you’ve seen them a few times. It’s all perfectly serviceable, just not the part you’ll be raving about afterwards.
But here’s the thing: I didn’t mind. The Old Country doesn’t try to be an enormous open-world playground. It isn’t packed with icons, side quests, or filler activities. Instead, it’s a ten-to-fifteen-hour story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. That restraint feels deliberate, almost old-fashioned, and it works. The game knows what it wants to do, and it doesn’t waste your time doing anything else.
Of course, there’s a downside. The world is stunning, but it often feels like you’re passing through a stage set rather than inhabiting a living place. You can see a vineyard in the distance, or a village square bustling with life, but you rarely get to step off the story’s path to poke around. Some players will find that restrictive. Personally, I found it refreshing. Instead of wandering for hours, I was always moving forward, and the story never lost its momentum.
By the time the credits rolled, I felt satisfied. Mafia: The Old Country doesn’t break new ground, but it doesn’t need to. It tells a focused, atmospheric story, set in a world that lingers in your mind after you put the controller down. It’s not perfect—the gameplay can be predictable, and the technical polish isn’t flawless—but it’s the kind of experience that reminds you why the Mafia series has endured.
