The Old Country is Technically a ‘Step Back’ From Mafia 3, But That’s a Good Thing

A lot of excitement is starting to surround the upcoming Mafia: The Old Country. Fans of the longstanding franchise have had to wait almost a decade since the last original entry to the IP. The project has earned a lot of attention for its unique setting, with The Old Country taking Mafia fans further back in time than the franchise has ever been before. While the early 1900s setting of the game has a lot of great narrative potential, a lot of question marks still exist over how this will translate over to gameplay for the title.

Hangar 13 has already spoken at length about Mafia: The Old Country and the kind of experience it is aiming to capture. It is confirmed that The Old Country is a much more intimate project compared to previous entries like Mafia 3, taking place in a denser game world with a more compact and focused main narrative. While there may be some minor drawbacks that this approach can create, one of Mafia 3‘s largest criticisms was how bloated and repetitive the game could end up feeling. The Old Country seems to be smartly side-stepping the possibility of repeating these mistakes, taking more inspiration from the series’ first two games.

Why you should Play or Replay Mafia in 2025

Why Now is the Time to Check Out or Replay the Mafia Series

Mafia: The Old Country is shortly set to bring fans into another criminal underworld, making it a great moment to revisit or try out the prior games.

Mafia: The Old Country is Aiming to Prove That Less is More

Mafia: The Old Country will take players back to Sicily in the early 20th Century, showcasing the origins of some of the major organized crime families that appear in the upcoming game’s mainline predecessors. The core setting of the game is fictional town of San Celeste, which appears at the start of 2010’s Mafia 2; this is an immediate indicator of how The Old Country is tying itself to the roots of the Mafia franchise.

This kind of origin story premise gives Mafia: The Old Country a direct, smaller-scale narrative. San Celeste and the surrounding areas serve as a fairly small but dense and fleshed-out game world for players to explore, with Hangar 13 aiming to make the modest map feel as alive and organic as possible. This is in stark contrast to what the franchise has experienced in the past, namely with Mafia 3‘s fictional city of New Bordeaux.

Mafia 3 is arguably the most controversial entry in the franchise, going against the grain of the series’ usual portrayal of organized crime in favor of an expansive revenge story. The multiple endings of Mafia 3 created a sense of excess that was reflected in its wide-spanning open world, which at times could feel quite hollow. These criticisms of Mafia 3 were only exacerbated by comparisons to the first two Mafia games, which featured much tighter narratives and a more linear sense of exploration.

Mafia 2‘s map size is estimated to be around 4 square miles, which is significantly smaller than the approximate 28 square miles of Mafia 3‘s New Bordeaux.

Mafia: The Old Country’s Traditional Setting Demands Traditional Gameplay

It seems that this legacy has not been lost on Hangar 13 when it came to developing Mafia: The Old Country. Both thematically and mechanically, The Old Country is much more in-line with Mafia and Mafia 2, with the time period of the upcoming game not being conducive to a sprawling world or story as seen in Mafia 3. The Old Country‘s unique setting will make horseback travel as viable as car travel, while daggers will have just as much importance as contemporary firearms.

It is only right that this traditional Italian setting is met with a more concise overall experience, with Hangar 13 not being able to rely on the dazzling lights of something like New Bordeaux within the historic and rural San Celeste. While Mafia 3 did have its highlights, it is clear to see how its scale led to a lot of controversy. The Old Country is thankfully standing firmly against this, giving fans reason to expect a more compact and polished experience comparable with fan-favorite titles like Mafia 2.