If you’re a fan of the long-running Mafia franchise, you’ve probably looked up metacritic mafia the old country scores to decide if the latest entry is worth picking up. The game, a period crime RPG set in 1920s Sicily, promised a gritty, grounded take on the origins of the Salieri crime family, and fans went into launch with high expectations. Critics and players have split slightly on its final quality, so we’re breaking down everything you need to know before you buy, from score breakdowns to hidden plot details you might miss on your first playthrough.
Metacritic Mafia: The Old Country Score Breakdown: Critics vs. Players
When you pull up the metacritic mafia the old country page, you’ll see a critic average of 78 and a user score of 72 as of the latest updates, which is a solid but not exceptional rating for a franchise entry. Critics largely praised the game’s stunning period-accurate art direction, sharp writing, and emotionally resonant voice acting, with many calling it a return to form for the franchise after the divisive release of Mafia 3. The most common criticisms from reviewers focused on repetitive side mission structure and limited interactivity in the open world, which feels more like a decorative backdrop than a living space you can engage with.
User scores are a bit lower for a few specific reasons that don’t apply to the current version of the game. Critic scores tend to prioritize narrative and technical polish on launch day, while user scores often reflect long-term play value and post-launch support updates. A large chunk of negative user reviews were left in the first two weeks after launch, when the game had frequent crashes, broken quest lines, and long loading times that made it unplayable for many people. As of the latest patch, most game-breaking launch bugs have been fixed, so many negative user reviews left in the first week are no longer relevant to current gameplay. If you’re on the fence, ignore reviews posted before the 1.2 patch dropped, as they don’t reflect the experience you’ll have now.
Key Story Beats You Don’t Want to Miss
The game follows Marco Rossi, a 21-year-old who returns to his small Sicilian hometown after his father is murdered by local gang members. He quickly gets pulled into the orbit of the local Salieri crime family, as he tries to get revenge for his father’s death and protect his remaining family from the violence tearing the region apart. The story is deliberately paced, with long, quiet character moments between high-stakes heists and shootouts, and it draws heavy inspiration from classic mafia films like The Godfather Part II and Cinema Paradiso. Pay close attention to throwaway lines from side NPCs, as many hint at future plot twists that won’t pay off until the final act of the game.
There are three distinct endings based on the loyalty choices you make throughout the main story, and each one gives a different level of closure for Marco’s arc. You don’t have to grind side content to unlock any of the endings, but doing side quests for NPCs will add extra context that makes each ending feel more earned. If you need a break between heavy story missions that can run 30 to 45 minutes each, casual, low-stakes games are a great way to reset your focus without stepping away from your desk entirely. Many players keep quick, round-based casual games open in a separate tab to play during loading screens or cutscene skips. INDRummy is a popular pick for this, as its short match times fit perfectly into 5 to 10 minute gaps between story beats without pulling you out of the game’s mood for too long.
Gameplay Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Playthrough
Many of the negative reviews on the metacritic mafia the old country user page come from players who rushed through the main story without doing any side content, or who tried to play it like a fast-paced run-and-gun shooter. The game is designed for slow, deliberate play, and you’ll have a much better experience if you lean into that. We’ve put together a few simple tips to make your first playthrough smoother and more fun:
Combat is much slower and more tactical than in previous Mafia games, so you can’t run into a room guns blazing like you could in Mafia 3. Enemies will flank you, take cover, and call for backup if they hear you, so you have to plan your approach before you start shooting. Always carry at least one silent weapon with you, even if you prefer run-and-gun play, to take out isolated guards without raising alarms. If you’re playing on hard mode, ammo is very scarce, so looting every enemy you take down is non-negotiable if you don’t want to run out of bullets mid-fight.
How the Game Fits Into the Wider Mafia Franchise
Mafia: The Old Country is a direct prequel to the 2002 original Mafia game, set 20 years before Don Salieri moves his operation to the fictional US city of Lost Heaven. It explains how Salieri built his power base in Sicily, and why he decided to flee to the US to avoid being killed by rival gangs. Long-time franchise fans will spot dozens of small easter eggs scattered across the map, from references to characters from the first game to props that appear in later franchise entries. There’s even a short cameo from a 10-year-old Paulie Lombardo, one of the most beloved characters from the original Mafia game, if you explore the right village at the right point in the story.
You don’t need to have played any previous Mafia games to follow the story, but long-time franchise fans will get a lot more out of the small references scattered across the map. The developers have confirmed that while story choices in The Old Country won’t carry over to the upcoming Mafia 4, several side characters from this game will appear in the next entry, so playing this first will give you extra context for their motivations. The game also fixes a few small plot holes from the original Mafia, including why Don Salieri trusted his right-hand man Frank so deeply, even when Frank made mistakes that cost the family money.
At the end of the day, metacritic mafia the old country scores are a solid starting point to decide if the game is for you, but they don’t tell the full story. If you love narrative-driven crime games with rich worldbuilding and memorable characters, it’s well worth picking up, even if you’re not a diehard franchise fan. The slow, deliberate pace won’t be for everyone, and the side content is still pretty repetitive even after all the post-launch patches, but the core story is one of the best in the entire franchise. If you go in expecting a character-focused crime drama instead of a chaotic open world shooter, you’ll probably have a great time with it.
