‘Mafia: The Old Country’ review: family matters in this sumptuous Sicilian adventure

The Mafia games have always stuck to the simple rule that bigger is better. The 2002 original was a gritty action-adventure game set in the slick open-world town of Lost Heaven before both the 2010 sequel and 2016’s Mafia 3 gave players even more freedom to explore the Italian-American criminal underworld. However, tense tales of honour, betrayal and revenge don’t hit quite as hard when you’re constantly doing favours for forgettable henchmen or getting caught up in racing side missions. Developers Hangar 13 have cut away all that dead weight in new entry Mafia: The Old Country, creating a refreshingly concise drama that never outstays its welcome.

Previous games have been set in grimy American cities, but this prequel takes the action to the beautiful, fictional Sicilian town of San Celeste in the early 1900s. Nestled amid the lush rolling hills is a sulphur mine owned by the powerful Spadaros – and it is here that we meet our scrappy hero, Enzo. He’s trying to earn enough money to pay his debts to the family but after a bloody clash with bully foreman Il Merlo, he flees on the back of a stolen horse. Luckily, he’s taken in by charismatic Don Torrisi and starts working on his vineyard.

The first few hours of Mafia: The Old Country play out like a slow-burning prestige TV show. Soon it emerges that Don Torrisi has a side hustle as the local mafioso boss and we follow Enzo’s gradual descent into the world of organised crime. One moment he’s cleaning out the stables and delivering cases of wine, the next he’s breaking up a workers strike and shaking down local farmers for protection money.

While playing as Enzo, you never feel like the bad guy though. Warm mentor Luca and Don Torrisi’s cocksure nephew Cesere bring you into their close-knit gang and those loyalties are quickly cemented during stunning horseback rides across the picturesque countryside. The Old Country really is gorgeous but the decision to make it a linear experience rather than open-world means you can’t actually go off and explore it for yourself.

As the game progresses, the violence increases. The majority of The Old Country’s 14 chapters involve a mixture of stealth-based skullduggery and exciting shoot-outs, with the occasional knife-fight thrown in for good measure. The guns are as slow and clunky as you’d expect from a game set in 1905 and the enemies you face have a frustratingly unpredictable skill level. Sometimes, a bandit’s seemingly-superhuman hearing will shut down your sneak attack, and at others the same slackjawed henchmen will let you stroll right past.

The game’s developers have attempted to make the world of The Old Country as rich as possible, with letters, newspaper clippings and even an authentic recipe for pork spezzatino to be found throughout the various levels. Pay attention, and you’ll even pick up some genuine Italian swear words. Detours are strictly off limits though. Locked doors stop you from nosing about Don Torrisi’s gorgeous vineyard – and trying to backtrack on a mission will cause you to fail the whole thing. You have no agency in Enzo’s decisions either. There are zero branching narratives or multiple choice conversations to help you guide the loyal outsider away from a life of brutality and betrayal.

As restrictive and repetitive as The Old Country’s gameplay can sometimes seem, the smart high stakes story is more than exciting enough to keep you hooked. Enzo gets caught up in a forbidden love affair with Don Torrisi’s flirtatious, feisty daughter Isabella and it’s not long before cracks start to appear within the seemingly happy mafia family. The Old Country should take between 12 and 15 hours to complete and you’ll be invested for the duration. There might not be much reason to go back and replay this deliberately direct game but priced accordingly at £44.99, it’s an offer you probably shouldn’t refuse.

‘Mafia: The Old Country’ is out now for PlayStation, PC and Xbox