If you’re a fan of gritty open-world crime games that lean into immersive storytelling, you’ve probably already searched for Mafia the Old Country on PlayStation Store. The latest entry in the long-running Mafia franchise trades the familiar streets of Lost Heaven and New Bordeaux for a sun-soaked, dangerous 1900s Sicilian setting, and it’s already drawing rave reviews from long-time series fans and new players alike. I’ve spent the past three weeks playing through the PS5 version after buying it directly from the store, so I’m breaking down everything you need to know before you hit that purchase button, plus little-known tips to make your first playthrough far more enjoyable.
What You Get When You Buy Mafia the Old Country on PlayStation Store
When you navigate to Mafia the Old Country on PlayStation Store, you’ll see three separate purchase options listed right at the top of the page: standard, deluxe, and the limited collector’s edition that only comes with a physical copy, so you won’t find that one in the digital store. All digital purchases include cross-gen support, meaning if you buy the PS4 version you get a free PS5 upgrade at no extra cost, no strings attached. The PS5 version runs at a smooth 60 FPS in 4K, while the PS4 version runs at 30 FPS in 1080p, so keep that in mind if you’re planning to upgrade your console in the next few months.
File sizes are 72GB for the PS5 version and 61GB for the PS4 version, so make sure you have enough free storage on your console before you buy, especially if you’re using the base PS5’s internal SSD. All digital purchases also come with cloud save support, so you don’t lose progress if your console breaks or you sign into your account on a friend’s PS5. You also get access to the exclusive Sicilian Raid side mission, which is only available for PlayStation players for the first 12 months after release, no matter which edition you buy.
Beginner Tips for Your First Playthrough of Mafia the Old Country
The game does a decent job of explaining core mechanics in the opening hour, but there are a lot of small details it doesn’t tell you that can make your first playthrough way less frustrating. Don’t skip the weapon upgrade tutorial early on—a lot of players rush through the opening quests to get to the open world, but upgrading your basic revolver in the first hour makes the first 10 hours of combat way easier, especially when you run into groups of enemy enforcers out in the countryside.
The notoriety system works differently than other Mafia games too. If you commit a crime in front of a local villager, they’ll alert the local mafia enforcers way faster than the police, so stick to back alleys if you’re doing something illegal like stealing a car or robbing a store. Reputation matters more than money for most of the early game. You can bribe police easily enough, but if local families hate you, you’ll get locked out of high-paying side quests that give you rare weapon skins and permanent stat boosts.
There are three small things you should do in your first two hours of play to set yourself up for success:
- Unlock the fast travel points in every small village first, instead of sticking only to the main city of Palermo. You’ll save hours of driving across rocky country roads later.
- Build positive reputation with the local bakery owner in your home village as soon as possible. They’ll give you free healing items every time you visit once your reputation hits level 3.
- Turn off the driving assist setting in the options menu. The default assist makes old 1900s cars feel way clunkier than they actually are, and turning it off makes driving far more responsive.
I made the mistake of ignoring the local reputation system for my first 8 hours of play, and I ended up locked out of a quest that gives you a free vintage sports car that’s way faster than any of the cars you can buy early on. I had to spend two hours running small errands for local villagers to build my reputation back up, which is time I could have spent playing the main story. That's the kind of mistake you can easily avoid if you prioritize reputation over quick cash grabs early on.
Is the Deluxe Edition of Mafia the Old Country Worth the Extra Cost?
This is the most common question I see from people browsing the game’s store page, and the answer depends on how much you enjoy the Mafia franchise and how much time you plan to spend playing the game. The standard edition costs $59.99 and comes with the full base game, which has 25 to 30 hours of main story content, plus dozens of side quests that add another 15 to 20 hours of playtime. The deluxe edition costs $79.99, and adds the season pass with 3 major story DLCs coming in the next year, an exclusive character outfit pack, the digital art book, and the official game soundtrack.
I bought the deluxe edition, and I don’t regret it, but I’m a huge fan of the Mafia series and I’ve played every entry multiple times. If you’re just dipping your toes into the franchise for the first time, you’re probably better off starting with the standard edition, and buying the season pass later if you finish the main story and want more content. The PS Store often runs 20% off sales for deluxe edition copies 2 to 3 months after release, so if you can wait, you can save a lot of money without missing out on any content.
One thing to note is that the PS exclusive Sicilian Raid mission is included with both standard and deluxe editions, so you don’t have to pay extra to access that content. The only digital content locked behind the deluxe edition is the season pass, art book, soundtrack, and outfit pack, so if you don’t care about any of those, the standard edition is more than enough for most players.
Common PlayStation Store Purchase Issues & How to Fix Them
I ran into a couple of small issues when I bought the game, so I’m sharing the fixes that worked for me to save you the time of troubleshooting on your own. First, if your download gets stuck at 90%, don’t panic—this is a common issue with large PS Store files, and the fix is simple: pause the download, restart your PS5 or PS4, then resume the download. I spent 45 minutes trying other fixes before I tried that, and it worked immediately.
Second, if you bought the PS4 version but can’t access the free PS5 upgrade, you don’t have to contact support to fix it. Make sure you’re logged into the same PSN account you used to buy the game, go directly to the game’s store page, and select the PS5 upgrade option manually. It won’t show up in your game library automatically, so you have to go to the store page to claim it, which is a mistake a lot of players make.
Third, if your pre-order bonus content isn’t showing up in your game, restart the game first, then check the “downloadable content” section in the main menu. If it still isn’t there, go to your PSN account’s transaction history and confirm the purchase went through, then restore your licenses in the console settings. You have 14 days to request a refund for any digital PS Store purchase as long as you haven’t downloaded or played more than 2 hours of the game, so if you change your mind right after buying, you can easily get your money back with no hassle.
At the end of the day, Mafia the Old Country on PlayStation Store is one of the best open-world crime releases of the past few years, especially if you love story-driven games with rich, historically accurate settings. Whether you grab the standard edition on sale or splurge on the deluxe version for all the extra DLC, you’re getting a polished, engaging experience that lives up to the Mafia franchise’s reputation. If you follow the tips I shared earlier, you’ll avoid a lot of the frustrating mistakes most new players make in their first few hours, and you’ll get way more out of your time exploring the streets of 1900s Sicily.
