At a time when video games take the perfect a part of a decade to make, Mafia: The Previous Nation presents an antidote with a extra streamlined, story-focused single participant marketing campaign. Sadly, it additionally demonstrates the potential pitfalls of a undertaking like this, with a largely repetitive romp that someway manages to outstay its welcome regardless of its 12 or so hour operating time.
The issue with Hangar 13’s newest isn’t its size or dialled down ambition, however the truth that it quick runs out of concepts. By the point you’ve reached the halfway level you’ll have seen just about the whole lot the title has to supply, and from there you’re simply going by way of the motions to see the story by way of. It doesn’t assist that the plot is as predictable as will be.
This version turns again time to the early 1900s, and takes you to the idyllic countryside of Sicily, the place you’ll be surrounded by rolling mountains and sundried tomatoes. Protagonist Enzo is an orphan who shortly finds himself embroiled in a lifetime of crime, and the story takes place over a number of years, as he works his manner up the ranks of the Torissi household, performing more and more unscrupulous acts.
The performances are out of this world, with each single voice actor placing in a doubtlessly award successful flip as their respective character – particularly Don Torissi himself, whose husky voice is each light and intimidating all on the similar time.
However the writing is rote, and also you’ll see every twist coming sooner than a sledgehammer to the face. The man with the dangerous tooth and lazy eye? He’s a grass. The attractive daughter of your overprotective crime boss? She’s your love curiosity. You’ll have mapped out all the story in your head throughout the first few hours, and also you gained’t be unsuitable about any of it.
Fortuitously the cutscenes are actually entertainingly delivered, with nice facial animation and a few actually dramatic lighting and framing. It’s the type of sport that your loved ones will wish to watch you play, not as a result of it’s a very ground-breaking or authentic tackle the style, however as a result of the characters can’t assist however draw you in.
Much less participating is the gameplay, nevertheless. A lot has been fabricated from this outing adopting a extra linear format than previous Mafia video games, however it’s nonetheless open world in a way. Many missions will see you driving (or using horses) to mission markers, and there’s even a free roam choice for those who merely wish to discover.
The construction will be irritating as a result of for those who stray out of your mission markers, you’ll usually be instructed to return to the target in any other case you’ll immediately fail. This feels needlessly restrictive, particularly as there are sometimes issues of curiosity to search out close by, like collectibles. The sport doesn’t need you to poke at it, which begs the query why create a small sandbox in any respect.
When you’re in a mission it’ll play out in solely a handful of how: stealth, capturing, or strolling and speaking. Mechanically all three are inoffensive however uninspiring, with the sneaking gameplay being the worst of the three, as most of the missions consequence immediately failure the second you’re noticed. The covert gameplay isn’t dangerous, it’s simply restrictive and tedious, and repeated far too usually.
Oftentimes a mission will finish with a one-on-one knife struggle, much like the set-piece on the finish of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s Finish. However this doesn’t really feel notably nice; whilst you can parry, dodge, and break defences, you by no means actually really feel such as you’re doing a lot injury to your opponent, and this mechanic is repeated endlessly all through the marketing campaign.
In the meantime, the historic weapons really feel imprecise and floaty, so that you don’t get the identical sense of brutal satisfaction that was current with Mafia 3’s extra trendy weaponry. As with all of Mafia: The Previous Nation, these pop-and-stop fight encounters aren’t dangerous, they simply don’t really feel notably thrilling, and can shortly overstay their welcome.
The sport does often try to combine up its gameplay selection, with a few race missions that see you each using a horse and a classic automotive. These are attention-grabbing encounters, however for a sport that leans so closely into its marketing campaign, we really feel prefer it might have accomplished with a couple of extra tailor-made missions to maintain issues feeling contemporary and attention-grabbing.
We are going to say that the sport seems and sounds unimaginable; we completely love the cranking of cooling metallic whenever you park up your automotive and get out. Additionally, whereas the world serves as a type of museum – designed to solely be checked out however by no means touched – the artwork path is de facto spectacular, set in such an exquisite a part of the world that you simply simply can’t assist however drink within the surroundings.
On a normal PS5 we performed in efficiency mode at 60fps, and it does get framey whenever you’re driving at velocity by way of busy areas and when the sport transitions right into a cutscene. However these points don’t actually impede the gameplay an excessive amount of, so it’s not the top of the world.
Conclusion
Mafia: The Previous Nation doesn’t have sufficient gameplay concepts to hold its comparatively brief operating time. Whereas the basics listed here are positive, an overemphasis on insta-fail stealth sequences and floaty shootouts makes for a forgettable marketing campaign, even when it takes place inside a stunningly detailed world. The performances are extraordinary however the story itself is predictable, leaving you with a phenomenally acted crime story that you could be admire within the second however will wrestle to recollect as soon as the credit roll.
