The internet can be difficult to parse at the best of times, especially if you’re trying to get a level-headed opinion on a video game so allow me to assist you by getting as much of the picture as I can and putting it all in one place in a Review RoundUp for… 

Mafia: The Old Country

In a possible overcorrection to the poorly received open-world of Mafia III, Hanger 18 went back to basics for this latest entry, creating a narrative-led, third-person cover shooter set in 1900s Sicily to the backdrop of the rising Mafia. 

The reaction to this latest entry has been oddly clean with stances seemingly being decided based upon the reaction to one sole aspect of the game – the story. 

The Old Country currently sits at an OpenCritic score of 76 and Steam has it at 70% mostly positive as I’m writing this, which are perfectly average scores and ones you wouldn’t expect to see followed up by the contents of these reviews. 

There’s a general consus that, after a solid introductory period, the gameplay falls off of a cliff:

• Beautiful map with little time or reward for exploration 
• Cover shooting that would have been considered mid in the 2010s (with diabolical auto-aim for controller)
• Stealth that hits its mechanical ceiling with a coin distraction 
• Laughable AI
• Pseudo boss encounter knife fights that, while interesting in premise, are repetitive and simple in practice 
• A tiny selection of horse and car races that are potentially rigged to let you win

From what I have seen, there is almost no element of actual gameplay that is garnering praise from critics or players alike past those first few hours. 

This doesn’t exactly fit with the scores on display but, as I mentioned earlier, the most decisive topic seems to be the narrative. 

Being praised for its fantastic performances and authentic feel, The Old Country is so focused on telling a compelling narrative that I’ve seen it said that gameplay feels like a break between cutscenes. It seems to capture that classic gangster feel in a slightly different time period than what is typically seen and does so with the support of impressive graphics and scenery. 

Every impression I get is that this is a ‘story-first gone too far’ situation where gameplay turned into almost an afterthought but even the story has taken some criticism. Many, even its supporters, are calling it very predictable and cliched with others pointing out its missed potential. 

If you look at the more negative reviews from the selection on OpenCritic, from Game Rant, PC Gamer and Daily Mirror, you’ll find the major difference between theirs and the more positive reviews is a more negative outlook on the story, being generally less willing to let the games shortcomings slide because of it. A divide that is reflected in player sentiment where they are less likely to let a good story excuse poor gameplay. 

Important to note is that there is also an element of nostalgia wandering around – not for the era, obviously, for this type of game. 

Mafia: The Old Country clocks in at around the 12-13 hour mark and at a steady pace. Coupled with the 2010s cover shooting and stealth with simple bosses and racing mini-games, it really starts to feel like a relic of an older time and, in an age where games are often allergic to keeping below 30 hours, having a shorter experience with a good story feels like a breath of fresh air. 

It reminds me a lot of the reaction to South of Midnight earlier in the year – another title that felt as if its gameplay was 10 years too late but was such a charming experience and didn’t overstay its welcome, leading to a short and sweet experience that did just what it needed to do. 

Seems to me that Mafia has launched with a fair few more issues than South of Midnight, with a few reports of technical issues to top off the stale gameplay, but it does the job it came to do and more often than not that is working for people. 

Lastly, it is currently £44.99 at base and £54.99 for the deluxe addition which comes with some cosmetic packs and a digital artbook plus soundtrack. That is a hard price for me to call justifiable given the quality of the package available even if the story is that good so personally I would hold off for a sale. 

As for who I recommend Mafia: The Old Country to, because as we all know every game is someone’s favourite: 

Gameplay is easily the biggest detractor here, however, it could be considered more outdated than simply bad so, if you find yourself mostly unbothered by the complexity of your gameplay and are more than happy with a standard cover shooter and light stealth elements that take you through a solid narrative, then you will likely find little issue here. 

If you’re a fan of classic gangster stories then this will also fall into your bucket. It may use tired cliches but they are cliches from a genre that almost never fails to entertain and, if you enjoy a good performance, The Old Country has them aplenty. 

That’s it for the Review RoundUp of Mafia: The Old Country – now go! Look at the Sicilian tomatoes for the food in this game looks disturbingly tasty.