Mafia: The Old Country gets an August release date, and don't worry, I won't be cracking a joke about making an offer you can't refuse
I confess that I'd forgotten all about Mafia: The Old Country, the fourth game in the long-running series and the second developed by Hangar 13 (not including its remake of the OG Mafia). Indeed, the last time I'd thought about Hangar 13 was a few years ago, after it laid off a substantial amount of staff not long after it promised it wouldn't be doing that exact thing.
Who can keep track of all these games? Oh right. Anyway! Mafia: The Old Country is indeed a thing that is happening, and it is actually happening quite soon. We're off to Sicily on August 8, it turns out. And in the meantime, you can direct your eyes towards a new trailer and a dev diary.
Hangar 13's first Mafia, Mafia 3, was not very good, but it was surprising. Rather than another traditional, overdone mafia romp, it followed the misadventures of Black Vietnam vet Lincoln Clay in a facsimile of New Orleans. Sadly it quickly devolved into rote open-world busywork and a tired quest for revenge, but there was a welcome attempt to tell a slightly different kind of mafia story.
Mafia: The Old Country, though, is kicking things back to Sicily in the early 1900s, which has piqued my interest for different reasons. Shittier guns. Slower cars. Horses! I'm here for it. That said, Hangar 13 head honcho Nick Baynes' description is sending me right to sleep.
“Mafia: The Old Country is a focused, linear experience that combines quality storytelling, authentic era immersion and a refined take on the familiar Mafia gameplay. That focus allows us to deliver a story that’s gritty, grounded, brutal and emotional. Embracing early 1900s era Sicily, this is a mafia origin story that follows our protagonist, Enzo Favara, as he takes the oath and works his way up Don Torrisi's crime family.”
Granted, "focused, linear experience" does suggest it will sidestep some of the last game's exhausting open-world bits, but this premise does sound a wee bit tired. The same goes for the description of Enzo elsewhere in the press release. This guy, apparently, is loyal, honourable and obedient. Sounds like a hoot!
It is interesting, though, how much Hangar 13 and 2K are pushing the whole 'this isn't a big game' aspect. "We think there's a large audience for compelling stories that don't require massive time commitments," says 2K prez David Ismailer. The cynic in me reads this as "We're worried about having another huge, expensive flop on our hands," but god knows I need more short games in my life, so this is pretty appealing.