STACK #250 August 2025

GAMING FEATURE

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brickwork just right, to selecting the perfect folk music, to choosing the juiciest Sicilian profanities, we’ve done everything we can to ensure a unique sense of place permeates every moment of the experience.” Being set further back in time than previous Mafia outings naturally saw the need to change up the weaponry. “Our approach to 1900s weaponry has been to make combat more tactical and deliberate than in previous Mafia titles,” Cox reveals. “Gunfights in Mafia: The Old Country are rarely about raw firepower; players will need to make the best use of whatever resources they have at hand. “To deliver a hefty dose of period flavour, we’ve leaned heavily into the ‘tools of the trade’ of a

environments and characters are more lifelike and believable than ever before. We’re doing everything we can to make our story completely immersive, whether through seamlessly transitioning into cinematics or allowing the player to explore highly detailed narrative scenes during gameplay.” Cox tells us that a priority for the development team was to ensure historical accuracy, even in fictional settings. “What made our renderings of Lost Heaven, Empire Bay, and New Bordeaux successful was the studio’s commitment to authenticity and attention to detail, which enabled players to truly inhabit those locations and immerse themselves in bygone eras. “In much the same way, the team’s first priority when developing Mafia: The Old Country was to make Sicily herself feel like a character central to the story. This time, working in Unreal Engine 5, we’ve been able to make Sicily even more visually impressive than the locations we built before.” If you’re new to the franchise, you won’t miss out on anything - and even have the opportunity to play all four games chronologically. “Because this story takes place before the events of the other Mafia games, we’ve been able to create a new entry point to the franchise narrative while still tying in with characters and events from later in the timeline,” Cox explains. “You absolutely don’t need to have played the other Mafia games to appreciate this story, as the main cast is entirely new - but fans of the series will get a kick out of how Mafia: The Old Country connects to the rest.” Ultimately, Cox believes that series fans will relish the new setting. “Exploring a beautifully realised interpretation of 1900s Sicily - from citrus farms and vineyards to the stunning hilltop town of San Celeste and the rolling countryside in between - has been core to our vision for Mafia: The Old Country since day one. “It’s hard to overstate the impact our new setting has had on the experience, even when it’s all still rooted in that classic Mafia gameplay.”

THE STORY SO FAR…

2002 Mafi a Taking place within the fictional American city of Lost Heaven in the 1930s, we follow the rise and fall within the Salieri crime family of taxi driver-turned-mobster Tommy Angelo. 2010 Maf ia II Set in the fictional city of Empire Bay from 1945 to 1951, we follow young Sicilian-American mobster and war veteran Vito Scaletta, who gets caught in a power struggle amongst the city's Mafia crime families. 2016 Mafia III Taking place in the fictional city of New Bordeaux in 1968, we follow former criminal and Vietnam veteran Lincoln Clay, who returns to a life of crime to help his adoptive family settle issues with the local Mafia.

Sicilian Mafioso, from Lupara shotguns to stiletto blades. There’s real grit to these older, more traditional weapons.” The means of transportation of the time period also provided new challenges. “Every game in the Mafia series has authentically recreated the vehicles of its era - but we’ve never had the player riding on horseback before!” laughs Cox. “Galloping across the Sicilian countryside feels incredibly freeing and is unlike anything we’ve done in the past. “Meanwhile, the automobiles presented a fun challenge for the team. Capturing the feel of vehicles from the dawn of motoring means you won’t be hitting highway speeds on Sicily’s dirt roads, but it’s still thrilling to be behind the wheel of a getaway car as rival gangs give chase.” Having established a rich tradition of immersive storytelling in previous series entries, the challenge was to maintain that set standard, which started with casting. “Our cinematic storytelling is only made possible thanks to our incredible, Hollywood-calibre cast,” Cox says. “Every Mafia game has been blessed with top-quality acting talent, but I honestly feel that Mafia: The Old Country features our strongest performances to date. As with previous Mafia titles, we’ve used state-of-the-art motion capture technology to convey every nuance and emotion our cast brings to the stage.” That’s not the only latest technology used in making Mafia: The Old Country look special. “We’ve switched to Unreal Engine 5 for the development of Mafia: The Old Country , which has allowed for an even higher level of visual fidelity than previous Mafia titles,” states Cox. “Our

• Mafia: The Old Country is out Aug 8

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AUGUST 2025

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