A lot of excitement is starting to surround the upcomingMafia: The Old Country.Fans of the longstanding franchise have had to wait almost a decade since the last original entry to the IP. The project has earned a lot of attention for its unique setting, withThe Old CountrytakingMafiafans further back in time than the franchise has ever been before. While the early 1900s setting of the game has a lot of great narrative potential, a lot of question marks still exist over how this will translate over to gameplay for the title.
Hangar 13 has already spoken at length aboutMafia: The Old Countryand the kind of experience it is aiming to capture. It is confirmed thatThe Old Countryis a much more intimate project compared to previous entries likeMafia 3, taking place in a denser game world with a more compact and focused main narrative. While there may be some minor drawbacks that this approach can create, one ofMafia 3’s largest criticisms was how bloated and repetitive the game could end up feeling.The Old Countryseems to be smartly side-stepping the possibility of repeating these mistakes, taking more inspiration from the series' first two games.
Mafia: The Old Country is Aiming to Prove That Less is More
Mafia: The Old Countrywill take players back to Sicily in the early 20th Century, showcasing the origins of some of the major organized crime families that appear in the upcoming game’s mainline predecessors. The core setting of the game is fictional town of San Celeste, which appears at the start of 2010’sMafia 2;this is an immediate indicator of howThe Old Countryis tying itself to the roots of theMafiafranchise.
This kind of origin story premise givesMafia: The Old Countrya direct, smaller-scale narrative. San Celeste and the surrounding areas serve as a fairly small but dense and fleshed-out game world for players to explore, with Hangar 13 aiming to make the modest map feel as alive and organic as possible. This is in stark contrast to what the franchise has experienced in the past, namely withMafia 3’s fictional city of New Bordeaux.
Mafia 3is arguably the most controversial entry in the franchise, going against the grain of the series' usual portrayal of organized crime in favor of an expansive revenge story. The multiple endings ofMafia 3created a sense of excess that was reflected in its wide-spanning open world, which at times could feel quite hollow.These criticisms ofMafia 3were only exacerbated by comparisons to the first twoMafiagames, which featured much tighter narratives and a more linear sense of exploration.
Mafia 2’s map size is estimated to be around 4 square miles, which is significantly smaller than the approximate 28 square miles ofMafia 3’s New Bordeaux.
Mafia: The Old Country’s Traditional Setting Demands Traditional Gameplay
It seems that this legacy has not been lost on Hangar 13 when it came to developingMafia: The Old Country. Both thematically and mechanically,The Old Countryis much more in-line withMafiaandMafia 2, with the time period of the upcoming game not being conducive to a sprawling world or story as seen inMafia 3.The Old Country’s unique setting will make horseback travel as viable as car travel, while daggers will have just as much importance as contemporary firearms.
It is only right that this traditional Italian setting is met with a more concise overall experience, with Hangar 13 not being able to rely on the dazzling lights of something like New Bordeaux within the historic and rural San Celeste. WhileMafia 3did have its highlights, it is clear to see how its scale led to a lot of controversy.The Old Countryis thankfully standing firmly against this, giving fans reason to expect a more compact and polished experience comparable with fan-favorite titles likeMafia 2.
