Mafia: The Old Country

A focused, cinematic mob story that respects your time

Mafia: The Old Country is a prequel that takes the series right back to where it all began: 1900s Sicily, the birthplace of organized crime. You play Enzo Favara, a young carusu dragged out of the sulphur mines and into the orbit of the Torrisi crime family, and the whole thing plays out like a classic mob movie you happen to be holding the controller for.

After the sprawling open world of Mafia III, this one deliberately returns to the tight, linear structure of the original Mafia and Mafia II. For my evenings, that turned out to be exactly the right call, and I fell completely for it. It tells its story, it doesn't pad itself out for 40 hours, and it lets you step away between missions without losing the thread. By the end I wasn't just impressed, I was genuinely moved.

A World You Want To Sink Into

The standout here is the setting. Hangar 13 have built one of the most beautiful renditions of turn-of-the-century Sicily you could ask for, all sun-baked countryside, cobbled streets, grand estates, and golden valleys. The graphics are genuinely amazing, and the character modelling in particular is insane. The faces and performances are so detailed that the cutscenes hold up against anything I've played this generation.

That said, the "open world" connecting it all is the one area that left me a little cold. It's gorgeous to look at, but it felt a bit bland to actually move through, and I never really felt the pull to go off the beaten track or explore for its own sake. For me the magic was firmly on the golden path, not out in the sandbox.

A Story That Carries It

The narrative is the engine of the whole experience. It's a tale of loyalty, betrayal, and sacrifice, and the missions are genuinely well written, even if the story does telegraph itself and become a bit predictable in places. You can often see where a beat is heading, but it's executed with enough craft that I didn't mind. The voice acting is a big part of that. It's really good across the board and gives the cast real weight. Enzo is a likeable lead, the supporting players are strong, and the focused, linear pacing means it rarely sags. Crucially, it knows when to end. Wrapping up comfortably under 15 hours, it feels refreshingly confident rather than bloated.

Gunplay, Stealth & Glorious Driving

The moment-to-moment play surprised me in the best way. The gunplay feels great for the period, with weighty, era-appropriate weapons that have real character and never feel like an afterthought. The stealth is fun and gets the job done, even if it's nothing groundbreaking, and it gives you a quieter option when you don't fancy going loud.

The real unexpected highlight, though, was the driving. The vehicle physics are good, and the race sequences are a genuine treat. They're technically optional, but I never once found myself wanting to skip them. Tearing around 1900s Sicily in those early automobiles is exactly the kind of thing this setting is made for, and it's some of the most fun I had with the game.

For a tired Dad brain, the whole package is easy to pick up, clearly structured, and never twitchy or punishing late at night. The systems serve the story and the setting, and on that front they do their job beautifully.

After-Bedtime Fit

This is where The Old Country quietly shines for the way I play. The mission length is perfectly judged for an evening stint before bed. You can sit down, play through a self-contained slice of the story, and put it down again knowing exactly where you are, and I made real, satisfying progress nearly every single night. The brevity is a feature, not a bug. It's a complete, satisfying story you can actually finish in a reasonable number of evenings, rather than a 60-hour commitment that taunts you from the backlog.

Final Dad Verdict

Mafia: The Old Country completely won me over. The open world between missions might be a bit bland, and the story occasionally tips its hand, but everything that matters, the stunning graphics and character work, the great period gunplay, the surprisingly brilliant driving, the strong voice acting, and that breathtaking vision of 1900s Sicily, is pitched as close to perfect as I could ask for. It's atmospheric, it's confident, it's genuinely affecting, and best of all it respects your time with mission-sized chunks that let you make real progress every single night. This is one I'll be thinking about for a long while, and one of my absolute favourites of the year.

Overall Dad Score: 9/10