Mafia: The Old Country review – by-numbers action game is elevated by Sicilian period setting

PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S; Hangar 13/2K
This Cosa Nostra caper has few fresh ideas to revitalise the cover shooter, but benefits from a well-researched time and place

Once upon a time, the industry was drowning in games like this. Single-player, story-led action experiences with a weekend's worth of choreographed set pieces and an open world glazed with a fine mist of collectibles ... But here in 2025, the age of the Battle Pass and live service forever games, Hangar 13's solo adventure about Sicilian crime families feels almost as dated as its 1900s setting.

In fact, The Old Country has few new ideas to contribute to the cover shooter genre, nor to the Mafia series itself. Hangar 13 already produced a remake in 2020 of the original Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, but in this game it often feels like the studio's remaking it yet again in a different setting. Both the storyline and structure of its individual missions seem to be at the very least giving a reverential nod of the fedora to that 2002 title.