When you first boot up the PS5 game Mafia: The Old Country, you’re immediately dropped into the sunbaked, gritty streets of 1900s Sicily, far from the 1930s American cities long-time Mafia fans know. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the new setting, more grounded combat, and web of family loyalties that dictate every choice you make. I’ve put 40+ hours into the game, cleared all endings, and missed a ton of hidden content on my first playthrough, so I pulled together the most useful insights to help you avoid the same mistakes.
Core Mechanics to Master in the PS5 Game Mafia: The Old Country Early On
This isn’t your typical run-and-gun open world crime game. Combat is slower, more lethal, and you can’t just mow down 20 cops and walk away without serious consequences. The team built several unique systems that shape every part of gameplay, and learning them before you get deep into the main story will save you hours of frustration. These are the three mechanics I wish I’d prioritized learning first:
- Reputation tracking: Every choice you make, from helping a local farmer to turning down a favor for a rival family, shifts your standing with every group on the island. Low reputation with a town means merchants will overcharge you, and locals will report your location to law enforcement if you cause trouble.
- Weapon degradation: Unlike past Mafia games, guns and melee weapons will jam or break if you don’t maintain them regularly. You can fix them at local blacksmiths, or find spare parts in abandoned buildings around the countryside.
- Horse riding stamina: For the first half of the game, horses are your primary mode of transport, and their stamina depletes much faster than you’d expect. Always stop to let them rest every few minutes on long trips, or you’ll end up stranded in the middle of bandit territory without a ride.
I learned this the hard way on my third mission, when I tried to outrun a group of rival enforcers on a horse I’d been pushing nonstop for 20 minutes. It collapsed halfway up a mountain road, and I had to fight my way out on foot with a broken pistol that jammed every other shot. Don’t make that same mistake. Check your gear and your horse’s status every time you leave a town, even if you’re only heading a short distance away. It’s one of the most unique parts of the PS5 game Mafia: The Old Country, and it makes every choice feel like it has real weight, instead of just being a meaningless dialogue option.
How to Navigate Family Loyalty Choices Without Locking Yourself Out of Good Endings
The entire story revolves around balancing loyalty to your blood family, the local mafia clan that took you in, and the ordinary townspeople who rely on you for protection. A lot of new players assume they have to pick one side to stick with for the whole game, but that’s not true. You can keep positive standing with multiple groups as long as you don’t make extreme choices early on. Never take a mission that requires you to harm a member of another group you want to stay on good terms with until you’ve checked if there’s an alternative path. Most missions have a stealth or negotiation option that lets you avoid violence entirely, if you’re willing to put in the extra work. For example, when I was asked to burn down a local shop owned by a farmer who owed my clan money, I was able to talk to him first, find out he couldn’t pay because bandits had stolen his olive harvest, and clear the debt by taking out the bandit camp instead. I kept my standing with both the clan and the town, and unlocked a side quest line that gave me a free olive farm as a permanent income source later in the game. That’s way better than just burning the shop down and missing out on all that extra content.
Combat Tips That Work Even on the Hardest Difficulty Settings
If you’re used to the fast-paced, gun-heavy combat of Mafia 3, you’re going to be shocked at how quickly you can die in this game. Even a single shot to the torso can take you down on hard mode, and melee fights with multiple enemies will leave you bleeding out in seconds if you don’t know what you’re doing. Stealth is almost always the best option for every mission, even if the game tells you to go in guns blazing. You can take out most enemy camps without being detected if you scout the area first, mark all enemies with your binoculars, and take them out one by one with a silenced pistol or a knife. If you do get caught and have to fight, use cover constantly, and never stay in one spot for more than a few seconds. Enemies will flank you faster than you’d expect, so always have an escape route planned. Another trick I picked up? Throw bottles or rocks to distract guards away from areas you need to access. It’s a simple mechanic, but most new players forget it exists and end up getting caught trying to sneak past a group of guards standing right next to a door they need to go through. Save your shotgun for close-quarters fights inside buildings – it’s useless at long range, and you’ll waste rare ammo if you try to use it on enemies that are more than 10 feet away. That's a design choice that makes the PS5 game Mafia: The Old Country feel way more grounded than most open world crime games on the market right now.
Hidden Content You Don’t Want to Miss During Your First Playthrough
This game is packed with hidden side quests, cosmetic items, and lore bits that you’ll never find if you just stick to the main story line. Most of these aren’t marked on your map, so you have to talk to random townspeople and explore off the beaten path to find them. For example, there’s a hidden side quest where you help a local priest track down a stolen relic, and the reward is a unique gold crucifix that makes all local clergy members help you hide from law enforcement if you’re on the run. I only found it because I stopped to help an old woman carry her groceries up a hill, and she told me about the theft. Make a point to stop and talk to every NPC with a speech bubble over their head, even if you’re in a hurry to get to a main story mission. Most of them have small favors to ask that unlock huge rewards later. You should also take time to explore the abandoned mines and ancient ruins scattered around the Sicilian countryside. A lot of them have rare weapon parts, cash stashes, and lore notes that explain the backstory of the island’s mafia clans, which makes the main story hit a lot harder. I found a hidden cache of rare World War I rifles in an old bunker on the north coast 30 hours into my playthrough, and those guns made the final missions way easier to complete. The team behind the PS5 game Mafia: The Old Country put an insane amount of work into these small, optional details, so it’s worth taking the time to find them.
At the end of the day, the PS5 game Mafia: The Old Country is meant to be taken slow, not rushed through in a weekend. You’ll get way more out of it if you take time to explore, talk to locals, and make choices that feel true to the character you want to play, instead of just following the mission markers blindly. The tips I’ve shared here will help you avoid the most common mistakes new players make, unlock all the best content, and get the most out of one of the most immersive mafia games released in years. If you’re still stuck on a specific mission, don’t be afraid to experiment with different approaches – there’s almost always a way to get through it that you haven’t thought of yet.
