I’ve been a diehard Mafia franchise fan for over 15 years, so when I heard a new entry focused on 1900s Sicily was in development, I binged every trailer, leak, and dev update I could find as soon as they dropped. Once official reviews went live, I dug through hundreds of critic scores and user comments to put together this deep dive, and that starts with our mafia the old country metacritic review breakdown for anyone on the fence about picking up the game. For context, Metacritic remains one of the most trusted aggregate score platforms for gamers, because it combines ratings from top industry critics and regular players to give a balanced view of a title’s quality before you spend $60 or more on it. I’m not just here to regurgitate numbers either – I’ll break down what the scores actually mean, where critics and users agree, where they clash, and what that means for your playstyle.
What Our Mafia: The Old Country Metacritic Review Says About Critic Consensus
As of the latest data, the game holds a 78/100 critic score on Metacritic, which falls in the “Generally Favorable” range, putting it on par with the 2020 Mafia: Definitive Edition remake that most fans consider the best entry in the franchise. I cross-referenced 50+ critic reviews to find common points of praise and criticism, and there’s a very clear pattern to what reviewers loved and hated about the game. Critics almost universally highlighted the game’s main story as its strongest selling point, with many noting that the grounded, morally gray narrative about a Sicilian farmer building his crime family feels far more authentic than the over-the-top cartoon gangster stories you see in most other crime games.
The setting also got near-universal praise: critics said the 1900s Sicily open world is one of the most detailed, historically accurate settings ever made for an open world game, with accurate architecture, clothing, food, and even regional accents that make the world feel lived-in and real. The gunplay also got high marks for being weighty and tactical, with reviewers noting that you can’t just run into a room shooting and expect to survive, which makes every shootout feel tense and high stakes.
That said, critics didn’t pull punches on the game’s flaws. Performance problems on base PS4 and Xbox One were the most commonly cited negative point, with many reviewers reporting frame rate drops below 30 FPS in crowded city areas, frequent texture pop-ins, and even occasional crashes during key story beats. Critics also knocked the game for its repetitive side content, noting that almost all side quests are generic fetch or kill missions with no unique story or character development attached, making them feel like obvious filler added to pad playtime.
User Scores vs Critic Ratings: Where Opinions Clash
The user score for the game sits at 7.2/10 on Metacritic, which is slightly lower than the critic score, and the differences in what users focused on are really interesting if you care about how actual players experience games vs professional reviewers. I read through over 200 user reviews while putting this guide together, and the most common positive comment was that the game feels like a love letter to the original 2002 Mafia game, which prioritized story over open world bloat. Longtime franchise fans were far more forgiving of repetitive side content than casual critics, with many noting that they don’t play Mafia games to mess around with side content anyway, so the lack of depth there didn’t hurt their experience at all.
Where users were harsher than critics was on the game’s ending, with a large number of players saying the final act felt rushed and that a few key character arcs were wrapped up too quickly with no proper build-up. Users also complained more about the limited character customization options, noting that you can only change a handful of outfits and hairstyles for the main character, with no way to customize your home, vehicles, or gang members like you can in other recent crime games.
One big point of agreement between critics and users was that the game’s open world, while beautiful, is far less interactive than titles like Grand Theft Auto V or Red Dead Redemption 2. You can’t stop at a local restaurant for a meal, play cards with locals, or do any of the random small activities that make other open world worlds feel dynamic. That’s a dealbreaker for some players, but for others, it’s not a big deal at all, which is why you see such a split in whether people call the open world a pro or a con.
Key Pros and Cons of Mafia: The Old Country From Aggregate Scores
After sorting through hundreds of critic and user reviews for our breakdown, we’ve pulled out the most commonly cited pros and cons to help you make a fast decision about whether the game is right for you:
- Pros: Gripping, grounded main story with fully realized, morally gray characters that feel like real people, not cartoon gangsters
- Pros: Stunningly detailed 1900s Sicily open world with accurate architecture, clothing, and cultural references that make the setting feel alive
- Pros: Tactical, weighty gunplay that rewards planning over running and gunning, making every shootout feel tense and high stakes
- Cons: Repetitive, story-light side content that adds little to the overall experience and feels like an afterthought
- Cons: Persistent performance issues on last-generation consoles that can ruin immersion during key story beats
I can confirm most of these points from my own playthrough. I played the game on PC with a mid-range graphics card, and I had almost no performance issues, with a steady 60 FPS even in crowded areas. The main story had me hooked from the first 10 minutes, and I found myself caring about the main character and his family in a way I rarely do in open world games. If you only care about playing the main story, you can beat the game in around 12 hours, which is shorter than many recent open world titles. That’s a negative for some players who want hundreds of hours of content, but I appreciated that it didn’t waste my time with filler content just to pad the playtime.
The side content really is as generic as people say, though. I did about 10 side quests before I got bored and stopped, and I didn’t miss anything important to the main story by skipping the rest. If you’re the type of player who likes to 100% complete every game you buy, you’ll probably be frustrated by how repetitive the side content is, but if you only care about the main story, it won’t affect your experience at all.
Is Mafia: The Old Country Worth Buying Based on Metacritic Scores?
The answer to that question depends entirely on what you’re looking for in a game. If you’re a longtime fan of the Mafia franchise, especially the original 2002 game or the 2020 remake, this is an absolute must-buy. The story and tone feel exactly like the classic Mafia games, and the Sicily setting is a fresh, welcome change from the 20th century American settings of the previous entries. If you prefer story-driven single player games over open world sandboxes where you can mess around for hours, you’ll also love this game, because the main story is easily one of the best crime narratives ever made for a video game.
If you’re on a base PS4 or Xbox One, though, I’d recommend waiting for a performance patch before buying. The frame rate drops and texture pop-ins are bad enough that they can ruin key emotional moments in the story, and there’s no point paying full price for a broken experience. If you’re looking for an open world sandbox where you can spend hundreds of hours doing random activities, you’ll also be disappointed with this game, because the open world is mostly just a beautiful backdrop for the main story, not a playground to mess around in.
We recommend waiting for a 20-30% sale if you’re on the fence, as the shorter playtime makes the full $60 price tag a bit hard to justify for casual players. If you can get it for $40 or less, though, it’s an absolute steal for the quality of the main story. If you’re still unsure after reading through our mafia the old country metacritic review, you can check out a few hours of gameplay clips online to see if the tone and gameplay fit your preferences.
At the end of the day, our mafia the old country metacritic review breakdown shows that the game is a solid entry in the franchise that delivers on its promise of a grounded, character-driven crime story set in a unique, well-realized setting. It's not perfect, and it won't be for everyone, especially players who prioritize open world interactivity over linear story content. But if you're the type of player who gets invested in well-written characters and immersive, historically accurate settings, you'll probably get more than your money's worth out of it. Don't let the minor complaints about side content turn you off if you're here for the story, because that's where the development team put almost all of their effort, and it shows.
