Take-Two Interactive is taking a big step in the gaming world, much like Michael Corleone did at the end of The Godfather (1972) when he “destroyed” all of his enemies in one fell swoop. We already know that Grand Theft Auto VI will conquer the world when it launches in fall 2025, but with Mafia: The Old Country also gearing up for a 2025 launch, Take-Two will soon be shouting “You did it, mom! At the top!” (White Heat, 1949).
The Gamescom “One More Thing” trailer for Mafia: The Old Country, unofficially Mafia 4, blew everyone away, although the overall presentation was pretty strong. We all heard the rumors that the next installment might take place in Sicily, so expectations were already high.
Fortunately, Hangar 13’s trailer for the upcoming “Timey Mob Simulator” did not disappoint, but exceeded expectations. As soon as it rolled, leaden words were spoken: “This is our thing. It’s a brotherhood.“The fans knew exactly at that moment what was happening before their eyes.
The sacred Omerta ritual was depicted with a knife next to Santa Rosalia, the patron saint of Palermo (the capital of Sicily). The voice from the video also asks an unknown person, probably the player’s character: “Would you like to dedicate your life to this family?“
The last thing we see is a cathedral with two towers, which could be a custom-made replica of the Cathedral of Palermo, inspired by the Cathedral of Cefalù. Whatever the case, it’s obvious that the developers are taking creative liberties with the architecture, like the developers at Ubisoft do with Assassin’s Creed, and that can only be good news.Never let the truth get in the way of a good story,“, as Mark Twain once said.
Photo: 2K
And now back to our regularly scheduled tinfoil hat conspiracy program! The trailer doesn’t give too much away, but the Steam page offers a pretty interesting collection of “photos” from the game.
Sure, they look stunning, but one in particular raises frowns and questions: the period vehicle parked in a field at night with a shotgun leaning against it, its headlights illuminating what looks like dug-up earth and, more importantly, a shovel sticking out of the ground.
Anyone who has ever seen a mafia movie would have understood the task immediately. Does this mean there will be a gameplay feature where we drive around with corpses in the trunk of our cars and wait for nightfall, only to dump them six feet underground? That could be the case, but it could also mean it’s a one-off during a story mission or something similar.
The vehicle is not immediately recognizable because it is so dark. Nevertheless, attentive observers claim that the grille comes from an Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (1924-1931), while the fenders resemble an Alfa Romeo. One could say there is a similarity to the ALFA 24 from 1910-1914 HP Equipped with a 4.1-liter four-cylinder in-line engine.
About two years ago, Jay Leno drove a 1928 Isotta Fraschini Landaulet Type 8A, a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. The luxurious carriage was designed specifically for the wealthy residents of Wall Street and Hollywood.
Photo: 2K
The 96-year-old gem was not for nothing and had a 7.3-liter inline eight-cylinder engine with a 3-speed manual transmission on board. According to local legend, it was the most powerful series-produced inline eight-cylinder engine at the time, with 113-158 hp.
The game will likely begin in the early 1900s, when at most we’ll be driving horses or a carriage. However, it’s not inconceivable that we’ll see more vehicles as the decades progress. Perhaps a “20 years later” screen will appear after a job goes horribly wrong, and we’ll see that the streets are full of motorized vehicles.
There’s currently no information on gameplay, story, or anything else aside from the fact that it’s a gritty mafia story set in a brutal underworld. But we do know that there will be Sicilian voice actors. For many fans, that means they’ll have to play through the game at least twice, once in Sicilian and then in English. An Italian localization will also be available, but only in the form of in-game UI and subtitles, with no dubbing.
The official website says it’s due out in 2025 for current consoles and PC. Thankfully, we’ll be seeing more of the game soon, at Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards on December 12, 2024. Delays aren’t out of the question, but if it does come out in the release window, we’ll get Mafia: The Old Country and Grand Theft Auto VI in the same year, which is mind-blowing. Take-Two really has our money (pun intended) next year.
If you grew up watching gangster movies, you may have done more than just watch and picked up video games like the Mafia trilogy, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Saints Row, The Getaway, Empire of Sin, and even Scarface: The World is Yours (2006), The Godfather (2006), or The Sopranos: Road to Respect (2006). Well, Mafia 4 or The Old Country seem like a great candidate for any fan of period games, although we’ll have to wait to get more info from TGA. Fingers crossed for an eight-minute gameplay trailer.
Photo: 2K
In the meantime, remember that Mafia Definitive Edition is free to play on Xbox or PC Game Pass. The remake is an amazing experience, with superbly rendered period-accurate vehicles modeled after the 1937 Cadillac V16, the 1934 Chrysler Airflow, the 1926 Ford Model T, the 1929 Stutz Blackhawk, the bizarre but gorgeous 1938 Phantom Corsair, or the amazing 1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow.
You can also bribe cops to give you a speeding ticket, if that helps. All jokes aside, Mafia: Definitive Edition is one of the best-looking third-person action games ever, and it accurately depicts the 1930s.
Although it’s available for free on Game Pass, there’s one unfortunate piece of news about the console version: it only runs at 30fps, as it never received a proper “next-gen” performance patch. As always, a buttery smooth gaming experience is best enjoyed on the old PC, blue screen or not.
It’s not that demanding either. The recommended specs call for at least 16GB of RAM, 50GB of storage, and an Intel Core i7 3770 or AMD FX-8350 CPU paired with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 or AMD Radeon RX 5700 GPU.
Mafia 4 is only available for current generation and according to the official images, we’ll have to maintain pretty high PC specs to run it at 4K Ultra settings and at least 60 fps, not counting ray tracing, global illumination, shadows, reflections and all that “nonsense”. Maybe it will take advantage of the elusive PS5 Pro.
