With Mafia: The Old Country inching ever closer to its final release, fans of Hangar 13’s take on organized crime are sure to be excited to go back to the origins of the Mafia in an adventure that takes the franchise to Sicily with a new protagonist at its helm.
Enzo Favara’s time with the Torrisi crime family is sure to pack quite a few punches, given The Old Country’s revamped approach to world-building and level design that Hangar 13 brought to the table in Mafia III. With Unreal Engine 5 working under the hood to bring life to a lush and truly stunning countryside, the studio’s next addition to its long-standing franchise is all set to turn heads, just as it has been doing since its appearance at Gamescom 2024 last year.
But can it beat the success of 2016’s Mafia III, a game that took the franchise in a bold new direction with a very intriguing story and likeable protagonist? That could be difficult considering how Lincoln Clay’s rise to power and quest for revenge played out. However, Hangar 13 has had nine long years to fine tune the new experience it is offering, and many of its decisions for The Old Country could very well see the new game be the undisputed leader of the pack.
How can Mafia: The Old Country take over from its predecessor, a game that brought so many cool but twists to the table? We’re glad you asked!
A New Member of the Family
First off, predicting the success of The Old Country is a task that’s better served when the Mafia franchise’s illustrious history is considered as a whole. With a little over two decades and three mainline instalments, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, Mafia games have earned a reputation that’s perhaps the exact opposite of the shadowy crime families they aim to bring to life.
Authentic takes on the eras they are set in, coupled with explosive (sometimes literally) stories centered around organized crime, and a penchant for subtle examinations of prevailing socio-political discourse of the time periods they were set in made the Mafia games stand out from the crowd in ways that mattered.
From Tommy’s harrowing tale of betrayal and power struggles to Vito’s time with the Falcone crime family, there was a lot to like in the franchise’s first two entries. Each of them had a lot to say about life in the Mafia, and were milestones in Illusion Softworks’ own journey to eventually becoming Hangar 13.
Although both Mafia and Mafia II each brought something new to the table, it was Mafia III’s story that took things up a notch, taking the franchise to the shores of New Bordeaux for an adventure that continues to pull its weight today
The Price of Ambition
Mafia and Mafia II played things relatively safe in the way their narratives were structured. Both games involved a protagonist who starts out relatively low on the Mafia food chain before making their way up the ladder while experiencing the highs of friendships built on honor and betrayals rooted in a struggle for power. Tommy and Vito’s stories are ones that are centerpieces for a solid tale based on the Mafia, where there is a bit of honor among thieves but not enough of it to ensure a fair and level playing field.
However, Mafia III waded into a more ambitious take on organized crime in America than its predecessors. Lincoln Clay was not your typical run of the mill mafioso. Instead, his return from the Vietnam War to a city that was quite firmly rooted in a power struggle between various factions immediately opened up the potential for complex power struggles and political commentary, factors that Hangar 13 utilized with aplomb to tell a powerful, riveting story.
You could look at Lincoln as an outsider. Forced to work with the Marcano family out of necessity, Mafia III gets the betrayal part of its story out of the way quite quickly and Lincoln’s subsequent quest for revenge allowed Hangar 13 to craft a more nuanced take on the Mafia’s existence in America.
Placing him at the center of a power struggle between various factions, the studio’s clever use of the Mafia’s history and methods of operation, and Vito’s and Leo’s return to the fold were highlights of a tale that brought a new twist to the franchise’s formula: the ability to decide Lincoln’s eventual fate.
But Mafia III brought a lot more to the table than Lincoln’s excellent story. It added an ambitious open-world to the grand adventure, integrating it into the story in ways that expanded the game’s size and scope while providing a convenient way for Lincoln to take the fight to the Marcanos.
It was a clever way to maintain the franchise’s narrative formula of an individual rising up the ranks of the Mafia. However, Lincoln’s story saw him on the opposing side of the board, with him working to decimate the Marcanos’ presence in New Bordeaux by taking on various activities in the city to accrue the power and influence he needed to exact revenge for their betrayal.
On paper, this was a brilliant move as it allowed Hangar 13 to integrate its gameplay and narrative quite well, taking the franchise in a bold new direction. However, the studio found itself restricted by repetitive missions and uninspired side content (decent DLC chapters notwithstanding), a flaw that plagued many other open-world titles at the time of Mafia III’s release. We could begin listing several other open worlds that suffered from repetition and bloat, but that would certainly take a while.
It was a delicate balance between a strong story and an engaging world that Hangar 13 was unable to nail down. However, that could be good news for Mafia: The Old Country.
Bridging the Past and the Present
By taking the franchise back in time to explore the Mafia’s Sicilian roots, Hangar 13’s decision to do away with its open-world gimmicks could mean that The Old Country does what the Mafia franchise does best: tell brilliant stories.
On the narrative front, diving into the past of the Mafia and exploring how its unique approach to criminal activity around the world can be a powerhouse. Enzo’s time with the Torrisi family could see him encounter honor, intrigue, betrayals, and several other ideals in a setting where the Mafia were not as strongly established as they were in the franchise’s other titles.
The studio’s focus on presenting a linear, story-driven narrative this time around could see The Old Country free of repetitive mission designs and allow it to surpass its predecessor by simply bringing a more focused experience to the table. Enzo’s escape from indentured labor is the perfect way to explain his motivations, making the character’s desire to be a part of something bigger than himself a strong motivator for his eventual rise to prominence within the ranks of the Torrisi family.
Moreover, it allows Hangar 13 an opportunity to riff on Lincoln’s story, considering that Enzo is also an outsider looking to make his way into a life of crime. Although Lincoln’s primary motivation in taking over Marcano’s operations was revenge, Enzo’s story could see him feel beholden to the family that gave him his life in a story that could carry a lot of emotional heft if Hangar 13 is up to its usual tricks.
Given the history of the franchise, Enzo’s path to prominence in the Mafia’s early days is not going to be straightforward, and can be quite the head turner for the franchise’s veterans as well as newcomers. Hangar’s decision to utilize the power of Unreal Engine 5 is another factor that could see The Old Country outdo Mafia III, bringing the potential for graphics and performance that far surpass anything the franchise has managed before.
From what we’ve seen of the upcoming title’s gameplay, Hangar 13 seems to be playing things safe, retaining familiar mechanics that are sure to elicit a sense of nostalgia for long-term fans while ensuring that The Old Country remains an engaging experience from start to finish, free of the distractions that Mafia III drew flak for.
Enzo could very well be the one who ushers in a new era of greatness for the Mafia franchise, allowing a new generation of players to experience why it continues to be among modern gaming’s greats while also giving the franchise’s fans new reasons to fall in love with its excellent narrative chops all over again.
We cannot wait for Mafia: The Old Country to enthrall us with its take on Sicily during the titular organization’s early days. As it stands, the franchise’s latest entry is primed to surpass its predecessor by simply reining in its ambitions and playing to its many strengths. Perhaps Mafia III crawled so that The Old Country could fly.
Thankfully, we won’t have to wait too long to find out.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
