Crime Syndicate

Mafia: The Old Country looks great; the character art is superb, and the Sicilian countryside is the kind of place you’d want to build a house and retire

Mafia is back, and this time, instead of moving forward in time like every previous Mafia game, we move back in time to the early 1900s, where cars were a new thing, and the Mafia is still finding its roots in Sicily.

You play as Enzo, a sulphur mine slave turned gangster who finds himself in a predicament not necessarily of his choosing. It has all the masala you can hope for, elaborate knife fights, car/horse chases, forbidden love, and more. Unlike Mafia 3, which went open-world, The Old Country opts for a return to linear progression and story-driven gameplay. In my opinion, this is a great move. You can also play the game in multiple languages, including English, but the only one you should be playing is Sicilian with subtitles. It is the only proper way to enjoy this game, but if you aren't so adventurous, you can still opt for English. All the voice acting is done expertly, and the characters sound like you would expect. I especially love the Don, who manages to exude the menace of Marlon Brando as The Godfather, while speaking in a soft, dignified tone.

The AI for combat in Mafia: The Old Country is terrible, and is not entertaining enough

Mafia also looks great; the character art is superb, and the Sicilian countryside is the kind of place you'd want to build a house and retire. While this looks great, the game is a little lacking when it comes to combat and stealth. The combat is fairly straightforward. You see someone, you shoot them, and you may also need to hide and use stealth to take down enemies, but there are some issues with this. The first is that the AI for combat is terrible, and the second is that stealth is not powerful enough to be entertaining, like it is with games like Assassin's Creed. I also don't like the durability of the knife when it comes to stabbing people, which is a fun way to kill people. That is, if you didn't need to sharpen your knife after stabbing someone a few times. The boss knife fights are great, though. They remind me of Bollywood knife fights from the older '70s or '80s movies where the villain takes out a switchblade to fight. You can parry, attack, or avoid the attacks. This sounds simple, but with the later levels, paying attention to what your opponent is going to do next is important.

The map for Old Country is quite expansive, but exploration is story-driven, meaning you can't explore every inch of it. While a few quests allow you to explore the picturesque countryside, time spent on the map primarily involves travelling from one place to another, leaving little room for exploration. Riding horses around in the game is also quite enjoyable. You can even drive cars in this game, but be prepared: these cars are old and don't handle too well, which is accurate for the
time period.

Mafia takes you through a scripted journey that could very well be a feature film. The story is engaging, the voice acting is impeccable, and the sets are beautiful. The game falters in its combat and stealth elements, which seem more like filler than showcase-ready. That said, Old Country is still a great game, and it is worthy of being called a Mafia game. Needless to say, if you love the older Mafia games, you will love this one. Most people interested in gangster movies will also enjoy this game a lot.

Mafia: The Old Country
Rating: 4/5
Developer: Hangar 13
Publisher: 2K
Platform: PC, XBS, PS5
Price: Rs 2899