It’s been almost a decade because the final new Mafia sport, however ask sure collection devotees they usually’ll let you know it’s actually been 15 years.
Mafia 3, which was launched in 2016, informed an fascinating story however its shift to extra open-world, district-based gameplay didn’t sit properly with followers of the primary two video games and their extra concentrated storylines.
Paying attention to this, developer Hangar 13 has opted to take the collection again to its roots – not solely when it comes to its gameplay, however its setting too – to ship a shorter, extra linear journey.
The result’s a stable sport with an enticing storyline, whereas the choice to promote it at £45 / $50 will even be welcome to these nervous that its lack of considerable open-world exploration would possibly make it a tough promote at $60 or $70.
Mafia: The Previous Nation tells the story of Enzo, a labourer who’s spent his life working in a sulfur mine in Sicily. A tragic accident and near-fatal battle finds Enzo being taken in by the Torrisi household, the place he’s put to work as an errand boy.
It doesn’t take Mario Puzo to guess that the sport then follows Enzo’s stand up the ranks of this highly effective household, with loads of helpings of romance, shock assaults and betrayal alongside the way in which.
Mafia: The Previous Nation – The primary hour of gameplay
As has been harassed quite a few instances by Hangar 13 throughout its improvement, The Previous Nation is just not an open-world sport. To be clear, it does certainly have a decent-sized map taking in somewhat chunk of Sicily, however more often than not you’ll solely see it while you’re driving or driving to the subsequent location. The sport even offers you the choice to skip these journeys, making the world really feel much more superfluous.
You shouldn’t skip them, nevertheless, as a result of – on the threat of introducing one of many largest clichés in sport opinions – the surroundings is without doubt one of the finest characters in The Previous Nation. Hangar 13 has achieved an amazing job creating a ravishing model of early 1900s Sicily, from its dust roads to its dense vineyards, to Mount Etna looming menacingly within the background.
This consideration to element extends to the opposite areas within the sport, from the spectacular Torrisi home to the colorful streets of San Celeste. You’ll need to gawk at each nook and cranny of those areas, and the sport rewards you for doing so with quite a lot of collectable paperwork, hidden statues and charms.
The latter could be geared up in your necklace to present you further powers, equivalent to sooner reloading, the prospect to keep away from gunshots and the like. As ever, some are extra helpful than others – as soon as I unlocked sooner aiming I by no means modified it – nevertheless it provides somewhat selection to a sport that typically doesn’t enable a lot room for deviation.
You’ll be able to’t be within the Mafia with out getting your palms soiled, and for essentially the most half The Previous Nation follows the identical system you’ll have seen in different action-adventure video games, the place you possibly can try to stealthily make your approach via every space, choosing off guards with out being seen, or – whether or not intentionally or after being caught – going guns-a-blazing, at which level the sport turns into a canopy shooter.
Nothing you’ll see right here is revolutionary in any approach, however that doesn’t imply it isn’t entertaining. Gunplay is stable sufficient, and choosing off enemies from a distance with headshots is as massively satisfying as it’s in any sport. There’s no have to all the time reinvent the wheel when typically it’s superb to simply roll with what works.
Not the whole lot works, although. Each main confrontation needs to be resolved with a knife battle, and these are the weak level of the sport. The concept is that you could parry weak assaults with one button, and dodge sturdy assaults (which have somewhat shine impact as they method) with one other.
Finally, although, it quickly turns into clear that as a substitute of conserving your wits about you and making an attempt to rapidly analyse and react to every assault, it’s simply as efficient to dodge the whole lot then slash.
I respect the try to combine issues up and make fights with key enemies extra significant, however when the taking pictures is so pleasing the knife fights really feel extra just like the skits in a rap album – they’re a enjoyable novelty at first however you quickly need it to stay to what it’s good at.
Given its linear nature, The Previous Nation was all the time going to dwell or die by its story, and fortunately it’s an pleasing yarn, if a comparatively secure one. The solid are distinctive throughout the board, helped in no small approach by the spectacular character fashions, that are able to delivering essentially the most refined expressions.
Every cutscene is a technical marvel, to the extent that you just’ll forgive the sport switching to 30fps each time one triggers (or not less than it does on a high-spec PC on Epic settings, so I’d think about it’s the case on console too). Quite a few character close-ups wring each element out of the facial performances, and the entire thing is a pleasure to observe.
(Talking of the efficiency, on the time of writing it’s not identified how the sport performs on consoles as a result of we got PC code. On a rig with an RTX 5090 and Ryzen 7 9800X3D it runs easily on Epic settings at 4K for essentially the most half, however there are nonetheless stutters right here and there. It’s going to be fascinating to see the way it runs on PS5 and Xbox Sequence X/S, particularly on condition that Hangar 13 has mentioned the sport will run at an “common” of 60fps in Efficiency mode on console, suggesting it might not all the time hit that.)
Enzo’s story is a fascinating one too. It’s actually not essentially the most unique – anybody who’s seen not less than a smattering of mafia films over time can be ticking off the clichés of their head alongside the way in which, and can see the ultimate essential twist coming earlier than the character in query does – however, as with the gameplay itself, the lesson right here is {that a} plot doesn’t need to be groundbreaking if it’s delivered successfully sufficient, and I used to be nonetheless very a lot invested in what occurred to him and people round him.
I performed a part of the sport with my spouse sitting subsequent to me on the sofa, and once I later informed her that I had completed it she insisted that I inform her the whole lot that occurred, one thing that not often occurs once I evaluate different titles. It might be a narrative all too completely satisfied to invoke each trope within the ebook, however typically essentially the most well-trodden floor offers essentially the most snug stroll.
“It might be a narrative all too completely satisfied to invoke each trope within the ebook, however typically essentially the most well-trodden floor offers essentially the most snug stroll.”
When the credit rolled after round 10 hours, I used to be left happy with what Mafia: The Previous Nation had provided. Its story stored me entertained with out overstaying its welcome, its gunplay was a blast (pun all the time meant), and Hangar 13’s distinctive consideration to graphical element did justice to each the achingly enticing solid and the idyllic fantastic thing about Sicily.
It’s the latter that appears like essentially the most missed alternative, nevertheless. I respect that followers of Mafia needed the collection to ditch the open-world nature of the third sport and return to one thing extra linear, so in a single sense by complaining that it’s too linear I’m at risk of criticising it for not being one thing it was by no means making an attempt to be.
That mentioned, Hangar 13’s depiction of Sicily is so wealthy in picturesque splendour, it’s a criminal offense – not fairly up there with the deeds of the Torrisi boys, however a criminal offense nonetheless – that such an in depth and interesting panorama is underused right here.
There may be an ‘Discover’ choice – which is hidden away within the sport’s chapter replay display and which I might by no means have identified about had I not been informed about it by the developer – which mercifully allows you to wander across the map, gathering many of the remaining collectibles scattered round.
Whereas this offers you time to soak up the sights at a extra relaxed place and examine the surroundings in additional element, nevertheless, it additionally makes it all of the extra disappointing that there isn’t extra to do there, as you stroll down empty roads and wander via streets crammed with individuals not saying something to you. Purists be damned – I’d carry out a success for an open-world sequel that fills the countryside and its surrounding areas with NPCs and facet quests.
“Hangar 13’s depiction of Sicily is so wealthy in picturesque splendour, it’s a criminal offense – not fairly up there with the deeds of the Torrisi boys, however a criminal offense nonetheless – that such an in depth and interesting panorama is underused right here.”
The extent of element in San Celeste alone is so placing – one mission teases what might have been with an Murderer’s Creed fashion rooftop chase – that it’s virtually comical that one of many few instances you go to it’s to participate in a race the place you zoom via it at excessive pace (and don’t fear Mafia 1 followers, the races listed below are a lot simpler).
It speaks volumes of the standard of the sport, nevertheless, that my essential problem is that I want there was extra of it. It’s been mentioned all alongside that this was all the time going to be a shorter, extra simple affair, so when it comes to what Hangar 13 got down to do, it’s very a lot mission achieved.
By and huge, Mafia: The Previous Nation is a good little journey which, with its Discover choice including some replay worth on high of the 13-15 hours it takes to beat the primary story, is properly definitely worth the $50 asking worth (by the way, the $60 Deluxe Version’s further skins and automobiles aren’t important, so it ought to solely be thought-about if you would like a digital soundtrack and digital artwork gallery, the latter of which comprises some fascinating developer notes).
So long as you go into this sport realizing that you just’re getting one thing ‘previous’ each by title and by nature – an journey that harks again to the PS2/3 period the place you simply performed via the story, reached the credit and moved on with none dwell service gubbins or microtransaction – and aren’t anticipating a lot of a post-game past gathering the remaining collectibles, it’s extremely beneficial.
