Mafia The Old Country Gets A Mixed Review

A thoughtful look at Hangar 13’s return to the mafia era, balancing mood with pacing and storytelling.

Mafia The Old Country Delivers Atmosphere and Faces Narrative Flaws

Mafia The Old Country released on August 8, 2025 for Windows via Steam. Hangar 13 and 2K Games publish a single-player story game set in a stylized early 1900s Sicily. The game uses a compact open world and does not include online modes or microtransactions, besides a linked 2K account needed to access the best car. The story follows Enzo Favara, who rises in the Torrisi family after a brutal start in a sulfur mine, with chapters jumping through time and a pace that leans toward action sequences.

Visually, the countryside and towns are cinematic, and the open world is the title's strongest feature. But the narrative feels familiar and predictable, leaning on classic mafia movie tropes. The game restricts exploration behind story gates, and some performance issues disrupt transitions. While the setting evokes mood, the game often sacrifices deeper cultural detail for quick missions. In short, Mafia The Old Country is a well-made tribute that lacks a strong, fresh perspective.

Hangar 13 chooses nostalgia as a guiding principle. The linear structure and limited open world deliver a crisp pace similar to older titles, but at the cost of deeper world-building. The result is a game that feels like a period piece wearing modern clothes. The studio avoids online modes and heavy monetization, yet the old-school design risks alienating players who expect more interactivity and narrative risk.

For the Mafia franchise, this approach is brave and cautious. It avoids the bloat of current open-worlds and avoids forced monetization, but it could leave new players cold if they crave more innovation. If the studio can thread atmosphere with richer characters and a more living setting, The Old Country could become a template for measured revival rather than a step back.

Highlights

The past can be welcoming, the future demands more than reverence.