After years of attempting to be an open-world franchise, Mafia: The Old Country is doing something different by being linear. This is a first for the series, as driving around these cities was always a key feature, even if they were mostly there for set dressing. It’s a welcome change, especially for fans who prefer linear games.
Mafia: The Old Country can finally play to its strengths now that the open-world feature is gone. Fans know that the series’ strengths are its narrative and shooting gameplay, so the linear structure can finally focus on these positives. Having an open world is always fun, but this change can finally differentiate the series from Grand Theft Auto.
That might sound blasphemous to fans of this long-running series, but it's true. Even if the Mafia games never attempted to compete with GTA, later entries were influenced by Rockstar’s series. They were also inspired by other open-world games, especially those side activities that Ubisoft games popularized.
While some fans still enjoy the second and third games in this series, there’s no doubt that the side activities were there because other titles used them. Admittedly, the second and third games played fine, but many felt they were unoriginal and bland because of them. It doesn’t help that open-world fatigue was rampant then, with some fans arguing that the symptoms are still there.
Mafia was always better at delivering entertaining shootout missions, with the occasional driving quest to break things up. There were also great set pieces where driving and shooting were mixed, which was another strength of this series. None of these really needs the open world to be better.
Everything we’ve seen in the recent Mafia: The Old Country trailer shows they’re learning from this. Instead of endless side missions, a linear structure with good-looking combat and stealth is enough to sell people on games. The narrative also looks pretty good, and some unique set-pieces will keep the gameplay exciting.
Now that gamers are older and value their time more, linear games are welcome for most of them. That’s not to say people hate 100-hour RPGs, because they’re still great, but not every game has to reach those numbers. Giving fans a manageable experience with a good story and better gameplay isn’t bad, so we’re glad the Mafia series is embracing that.
It also helps that Mafia: The Old Country is bucking a current trend by being $50 at launch. This used to be the standard price of video games, but now that we’re inching towards $80-$100 titles, this seems cheap in comparison.
We’ve seen how Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 can give fans a quality $50 experience, and if everything goes to plan, The Old Country can do the same.
Mafia: The Old Country is finally letting its open-world structure sleep with the fishes for a more compact and focused experience. Let’s hope this trend continues and more publishers follow suit.