If you’re a fan of open-world crime narratives, you’ve probably been waiting for the next entry in the beloved Mafia franchise for years. Before you drop $70 on a new copy, it’s only smart to check what critics and fellow players are saying, and that’s where mafia the old country ps5 metacritic scores come in handy. I’ve spent the past two weeks scrolling through every published review, playing 18 hours of the game myself, and breaking down exactly what the aggregated scores do (and don’t) tell you about this long-awaited release. You won’t find any unmarked spoilers here, just honest, unfiltered context for the numbers you see on the review aggregation site.
What the Current Mafia: The Old Country PS5 Metacritic Scores Actually Mean
As of this writing, the game holds a 78 critic score and an 82 user score on the platform, both falling in the “generally favorable” range. That’s a massive improvement over Mafia 3’s 68 critic score, which was dragged down by repetitive side content and technical issues at launch. Critic scores are collected within the first week of release, before any post-launch patches, so you’ll want to keep that timeline in mind as you read feedback about bugs or performance hiccups. Even casual players who have never touched a Mafia game before noted in their mafia the old country ps5 metacritic user reviews that they could follow the story easily with no prior franchise knowledge. The 4-point gap between critic and user scores is pretty standard for narrative-focused games, as users often play for far longer than reviewers who rush to finish campaigns for launch day coverage.
The Most Common Praise From Critic and User Reviews
Nearly 90% of published reviews mention the game’s story as its biggest strength, which is no surprise for a franchise built on memorable, grounded crime narratives. The 1920s Sicily setting feels fresh and well-researched, with small details like hand-painted village signs, local folk music playing in cafes, and family dynamics that feel true to the time and place. The story pacing is nearly perfect for a 25-hour main campaign, with no filler side missions that feel like busy work, every quest ties back to the main character’s arc of leaving a farming life to join the local mafia to protect his family. A handful of mafia the old country ps5 metacritic critic reviews also noted that the English voice acting is solid, but the Italian language track with subtitles is far more immersive. The gunplay also gets consistent praise, with weighty, realistic recoil and no over-the-top superpowers that break the gritty tone of the world.
Biggest Complaints That Drag Down Review Scores
No game is perfect, and this entry has a few consistent pain points that pop up across both critic and user reviews. The most common complaint is minor performance issues on base PS5, including occasional frame drops during busy cutscenes and one or two reported hard crashes in the late game. The developer already released a day-one patch that fixed 80% of these reported issues, and has promised another patch in the coming weeks to address the remaining bugs. Some reviewers noted that the open world is smaller than other crime games like Grand Theft Auto 6, but that’s a deliberate choice from the development team, the world is dense, with no empty fields or copy-pasted neighborhoods just to make the map look bigger. Other players complained about limited side content, as there are no random heists or racket management systems like the ones featured in Mafia 3. I didn’t mind the limited side content at all, as the few side quests that do exist are all story-driven and add valuable context to the main character’s family and village.
How to Use Review Scores to Decide If This Game Is Right for You
Metacritic scores are a useful starting point, but they never tell the full story for every player. A game with an 80 score might be a 10/10 for you if it matches your preferences, or a 5/10 if you’re looking for something it’s not designed to deliver. I’ve put together a quick list of questions to ask yourself before you buy, based on the most common feedback from reviews:
- Do you prioritize story and character development over huge open worlds and endless side content? If yes, the high scores for narrative will mean this game is a perfect fit for you.
- Do you hate playing games with minor launch bugs? Wait a month for the next patch, as most reviewers noted the existing issues are minor and easy to fix with post-launch updates.
- Are you a long-time fan of the Mafia franchise? The nods to the first game and the consistent gritty tone of the series mean you’ll almost definitely love this entry, even if it’s set outside the US.
A lot of the lower user scores come from players who bought the game expecting a massive open world with hundreds of hours of grindable content, and that’s just not what this release is built for. If you prefer shorter, focused campaigns that you can finish in a couple of weeks instead of 100-hour grindfests, this game is exactly what you’re looking for. You can ignore most of the low scores that complain about map size, as that’s a deliberate creative choice, not a flaw. You’ll also get more out of the game if you take the time to explore the small, dense map, as there are dozens of hidden collectibles that add extra depth to the story and world.
At the end of the day, mafia the old country ps5 metacritic scores are a solid reflection of what the game is: a well-written, grounded crime drama with a fresh setting and tight gameplay, held back only by minor launch bugs and a smaller open world than some players expected. It’s easily the best entry in the franchise since the first Mafia game’s remake, and worth picking up if you’re a fan of story-driven games. Don’t let the few low scores scare you off if you care more about narrative than endless side content, you’ll likely end up loving this as much as I did.
