Mafia: The Old Country Review

Stealth, Gunfights, and Familiar Stories

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Title: Mafia: The Old Country

Release: August 7, 2025

Platform: PS5 PC Xbox X|S

Developer: Hangar 13

Publisher: 2k

Genre: Action Adventure

ESRB: M

Reviewed on: PC

Time Played: 12.5 Hours

Where it starts

Enzo doesn’t have much to his name, having been sold to a sulfur mine at a young age, that was all he’d ever known. Working day and night, dreaming about paying off his debt and moving to America with his best friend. One day, after a terrible accident, he’s had enough and vents his anger on the upper management, ending with him fleeing on a stolen horse. His employers eventually track him down but are stopped by Don Torrisi, the landowner where Enzo sought refuge. Don Torrisi then takes Enzo in, opening the door for him to make a name for himself in a world of organized crime.

The Way of the Blade

Always readily available with a stiletto Enzo can use to take out enemies quietly, break locks, and defend himself in the countless knife fights he finds himself in. While exploring a mission, there are only so many times the knife can be used before it needs to be sharpened with a whetstone; however, it will always be ready for a scripted knife fight with worthy opponents. During a knife fight, you’ll need to switch between attacking, dodging, and even parrying incoming attacks until you whittle down your enemy’s health to nothing.

Sneaky Mafioso

A large majority of the game involved trying to avoid detection by sneaking through enemy territory. Keeping undercover, Enzo can toss coins or bottles near enemies to distract them temporarily, allowing him to sneak past or stop to incapacitate them so they are no longer a threat. Some missions let you sneak until you’re seen, forcing you to fight your way out, while others fail immediately once you’re detected.

Gunfights

Sometimes, sneaking around and using only a knife won’t be an option, so Enzo will have to bring out some guns to deal with his enemies. You can carry two guns at once, a handgun and a rifle. You’ll find plenty of ammo lying around and on bodies, as well as different gun options if you want to change your loadout. Before some missions, you can choose which guns to bring if you’ve already purchased them. Gunfights involve ducking behind cover and waiting for the perfect moment to jump out and fire before going back behind cover. If you’re caught out in the open, it won’t take long before you’re shot down.

Ride or Drive

The world of Mafia: The Old Country is quite large, which means you often have to travel long distances for some missions. In those cases, you would be given a horse or a fancy new car to get from point A to point B. There were even a couple of missions where you needed to win a race for the story to progress. I tried using mouse and keyboard for driving for a while, but ultimately found that a controller was the best option for controlling vehicles.

Pasquale’s Store

After a few missions introducing you to the game and the basics, you’ll gain access to a store where you can buy weapons and upgrades for your charm slots. That’s the only place to spend your well-earned Dinari found during missions. Once purchased, you can select any weapon from designated locations, which is very helpful since you can only access the store during certain missions with a free-roam aspect. There weren’t a lot of options so before long you could own everything it has to offer.

Hidden Collectibles

If the straightforward and repetitive nature of the game gets a little boring, you can always search through every inch of a mission to find notes, newspapers, and other nick nacks to place in your journal or bring to the store for a minor reward. I did a little searching while playing the game but still only managed to find five out of the fifty possible newspapers, so there is a lot to keep a completionist busy.

Final Thoughts

I would love to hear any thoughts or questions you have about the game or my review, so leave me a message in the comments below. While you do that, let’s move on to my final thoughts and ratings.

This was my first experience with the Mafia series, and it was an alright one. I didn’t expect so much stealth gameplay. It was simple to figure out, but many of the guards seemed to have tunnel vision, which made sneaking around easier. They would see me if I popped out right in front of them, but there were quite a few times I felt like I managed to get away with things I really shouldn’t have.

The game is very linear, with a fake sense of free roaming. Only during certain missions could I really explore the beautiful world created for the game, and even then I couldn’t see everything. While driving and looking around, it seemed like the land went on forever, but it wasn’t the main focus of the game, just a pretty backdrop. The entire game was broken into chapters, only allowing exploration within that mission’s area. I could revisit any mission I wanted after completing it, providing plenty of opportunities to go back and explore everything or, in some cases, make different choices to see how it would play out. There is only one ending, so the choices don’t have a lasting impact.

The story wasn’t a terrible experience, but it did feel very familiar, resembling stories told many times before. From rags to riches, forbidden love, and dark choices to make. I would have liked to know a little more about what was happening behind the scenes. The entire game was told from Enzo’s perspective, so we missed a lot of what the higher-ups were doing—they only affected us through the orders we received. Sometimes it felt like the story moved a bit quickly, but overall, it had a good pace and didn’t leave any unanswered questions.

The gameplay was straightforward and simple. The whole game felt that way. I would describe it as an interactive cinematic experience. I got to engage in gunfights and sneak through dangerous areas, but other than dying, it didn’t seem like there was anything truly at stake. In the racing missions, if I didn’t win, I failed and had to try again, sometimes starting from a checkpoint halfway through. There is a difficulty setting that can be adjusted to create more of a challenge If that is what you’re looking for, I played through on normal, and most of the game was mellow.

Besides collecting everything, there’s not much that would bring me back to the game. It can be finished at a relaxed pace in about twelve hours, leaving me satisfied to put it away. With its simple gameplay and story, I’ll remember the game, but I won’t feel any urge to replay it.

With that, let’s get turn these thoughts into numbers and place it on a shelf.

The visuals of environments were amazing, looking off in the distance was a treat, the characters however, seemed a little under done at times, I’m giving it a 4

The story was complete, nothing new and exciting about it, very middle of the road, I’m giving it a 3

The gameplay was simple but engaging, I enjoyed the longs shots of a rifle in gun fights more than anything, I’ll give it another 3

Hardly any replayability, at least for the experience. There are plenty of collectibles to go back for if that is what your into, I’ll give it a 2.

Fun might be a strong word for this game, it was more of a movie that required my attention to move forward, for that I’m giving it a 2

Giving Mafia The Old Country an average score of 2.8, earning it a spot on my Mid-Shelf. I haven’t played the other Mafia games in the series, but based on what I’ve heard from people who have, this isn’t a terrible game in the series, though there are better ones to try first. I liked it, but I think you’d be fine waiting for a sale before checking this game out, unless you’re a huge Mafia fan and need to add it to your collection.