Mafia: The Old Country Review - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: Mafia: The Old Country Review – Detailed Summary

Release Date: August 13, 2025

Hosts:

• Snowbike Mike
• Barrett Courtney
• Roger

---

1. Introduction and Opening Remarks

The episode kicks off with the hosts engaging in their characteristic banter. Snowbike Mike welcomes listeners and compliments Barrett Courtney, setting a light-hearted tone for the discussion.

Notable Quote:

• Snowbike Mike (00:08): "What the heck is going on? Everybody? Welcome in to today's Kinda Funny Gamescast..."

2. Fantasy Critic Check-In and Trade Scheme

Before diving into the main topic, the hosts discuss a behind-the-scenes scheme involving a potential trade related to Final Fantasy Tactics. This segment showcases their camaraderie and humor, highlighting the playful dynamics between the hosts.

Notable Quote:

• Snowbike Mike (01:33): "To kick off today's kind of funny games cast, we'll just do a quick fantasy critic check in because Mike and Roger had a scheme."

3. Housekeeping and Announcements

Snowbike Mike provides updates on upcoming shows, special streams, and promotions. He announces the delay of Crimson Desert until 2026 and teases a movie watch-along event featuring Ice Cube's War of the Worlds.

Notable Quote:

• Snowbike Mike (08:36): "We are an 11 person small business all about live talk shows... Crimson Desert being delayed until 2026."

4. Introduction to Mafia: The Old Country

The hosts introduce the primary topic of the episode: a comprehensive review of Mafia: The Old Country. They provide essential details about the game's development, release, and current reception.

Podcast Information:

• Title: Mafia: The Old Country
• Developer: Hangar 13
• Publisher: 2K Games
• Release Date: August 8, 2025
• Metacritic Score: 75
• Reviews: IGN (7/10), GameSpot (6/10), VGChartz (4/5)

Notable Quote:

• Snowbike Mike (10:28): "Topic of the show, Mafia the Old country. Review from Kind of funny."

5. Initial Gameplay Experience and Platform Performance

The hosts share their initial experiences with the game, discussing the platforms they played on and the performance aspects such as graphics and frame rates.

Notable Quotes:

• Barrett Courtney (11:16): "I don't even know. Probably like 10, 11 hours."
• Roger (12:11): "I was also on PlayStation 5. That's really good quality mode, honestly."

6. In-Depth Reviews and Critiques

Barrett Courtney’s Analysis

Barrett provides a detailed critique, highlighting the game's formulaic nature and lack of innovation. He appreciates the visual fidelity and nostalgic elements but finds the gameplay repetitive and uninspired.

Notable Quotes:

• Barrett Courtney (13:25): "Mafia the Old country is an uninspired and kind of just bland entry for the Mafia franchise."
• Barrett Courtney (19:35): "I can recommend it to anybody out there if this game is on sale or if you have that $50 that's burning a hole in your pocket..."

Roger’s Insights

Roger echoes Barrett’s sentiments, emphasizing the lackluster storytelling and repetitive gameplay mechanics. He compares the game unfavorably to previous entries and expresses disappointment in the studio's regression to outdated design philosophies.

Notable Quotes:

• Roger (16:33): "Because I... was really hoping for something truly inspired in terms of storytelling and character like they were with Mafia three."
• Roger (24:14): "I don't know if you want to keep on the gameplay of it all, but I want to end up talking. Do you have more about the game?"

Snowbike Mike’s Perspective

Snowbike Mike offers a contrasting view by assigning a lower score to the game despite recognizing its visual strengths. He criticizes the mission structure and lack of engaging gameplay, ultimately deeming it a "bad video game" that he cannot fully endorse.

Notable Quotes:

• Snowbike Mike (20:07): "Mafia the Old country is a 3 out of 10. Bad video game."
• Snowbike Mike (50:00): "And you're like, oh, well, he's not a super die. He's just... he's the landlord. Essentially."

7. Discussion on Specific Game Elements

Knife Fights

The hosts discuss the repetitive nature of knife fights in the game, appreciating the initial mechanics but criticizing the lack of variety and brutality in execution.

Notable Quotes:

• Barrett Courtney (28:58): "I'm gonna shoot some bail to the knife fights because even though there's a lot of them and it is the same thing over and over, I think they're kind of cute."
• Snowbike Mike (31:12): "They all go the same way. We have parrying, dodging, stabbing, stabbing..."

Open World vs. Linear Structure

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around the game's open-world presentation juxtaposed with a highly linear mission structure. The hosts express frustration over the lack of meaningful exploration and incentives to engage with the game world.

Notable Quotes:

• Snowbike Mike (35:12): "You can click on the map and you zoom out. You're like, wow, this is big... but everything is so linear."
• Roger (37:12): "I think it's odd to see again, a lot of the structure of this game is mafia one in terms of that 2002 very watered down GTA clone like game."

Story and Character Development

The hosts critique the game's storytelling, finding it predictable and lacking depth. They compare it unfavorably to previous Mafia titles and other narrative-driven games, lamenting the absence of compelling character arcs and engaging plot twists.

Notable Quotes:

• Barrett Courtney (46:28): "The forbidden love stuff. I'm a sucker for these stories of like, oh, man, she's the most generic."
• Roger (47:57): "I felt that was such an incredible way to do something different for a series that is a bit more, you know, on the safe side of telling stories."

8. Final Ratings and Recommendations

The hosts conclude their reviews by assigning scores and offering final thoughts. While Barrett rates the game a 6.5 out of 10, acknowledging its enjoyable aspects, both Snowbike Mike and Roger mark it lower, emphasizing the game's shortcomings.

Notable Quotes:

• Barrett Courtney (59:10): "I give it a 6.5. Yeah. But it's all valid."
• Snowbike Mike (59:44): "This is a bad video game that I will love and think about and laugh and giggle about. But at the core of it all, unfortunately this was not a fun game to get through."

9. Closing Remarks

The episode wraps up with the hosts reiterating their final opinions and encouraging listeners to engage with the conversation around the game.

Notable Quote:

• Snowbike Mike (60:07): "But yeah, tracing you guys on it all, you have sweat. Well, I gave it a bad out of 10, which is unfortunately a 3, 4. We should really rework that."

---

Conclusion

In this episode of Kinda Funny Gamescast, the hosts provide a thorough and candid review of Mafia: The Old Country. While acknowledging the game's strong visual presentation and nostalgic elements, they collectively criticize its repetitive gameplay, uninspired story, and lack of meaningful open-world engagement. Their detailed discussion offers listeners a balanced perspective, highlighting both the game's strengths and significant shortcomings.

Transcript

[Snowbike Mike]

Yo, what the heck is going on? Everybody? Welcome in to today's Kinda Funny Games cast for August 13, 2025. I'm your show host, Snowbike Mike. And today. Barrett looks good today. Barrett.

[Barrett Courtney]

Barrett looks good today.

[Snowbike Mike]

Barrett, you look good today.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, Barrett.

[Roger]

Thank you, Roger.

[Barrett Courtney]

I'm so happy.

[Snowbike Mike]

Hi, Barrett. Welcome into today's kinda Funny gamescast. How are you?

[Roger]

I'm doing well, Mike. You audio listeners will probably hear later. Different audio quality. We're doing some maintenance in the studio that we thought worked and then didn't. So we're hanging out on the casting couch here.

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, casting couch.

[Snowbike Mike]

Hello, Roger. I have my arm over you because. Yeah, we're on the couch today, so we have to get comfortable. I'm sitting. Crisscross. Applesauce. Roger, how are you doing today?

[Barrett Courtney]

I'm doing great. I mean, praise the Lord. Crimson Dawn. Crimson Dawn's out to 2026. You know what that means? What they call you?

[Snowbike Mike]

Free drop mic.

[Barrett Courtney]

Two drop mic.

[Snowbike Mike]

Two droppers.

[Barrett Courtney]

Two droppers.

[Snowbike Mike]

Two drooppers.

[Barrett Courtney]

Bang, bang.

[Snowbike Mike]

I've had a couple, two drops in my life.

[Roger]

Now here's the deal, Roger, before you guys go off, what did you give Roger? What did you. Because Roger's been selling this. It's like, oh, you've been helping him. You've been helping him. But all I can see is that how this is going to benefit you towards a possible win for fantasy critic. So I want to know the real story here of what you did to have Roger help you out. What did you promise Roger?

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, to kick off today's kind of funny games cast, we'll just do a quick fantasy critic check in because Mike and Roger had a scheme. And really it all came down to Roger had a scheme. Just a couple of weeks ago, he got deep into the discord. Discord kernels of fantasy critic started talking partial remake remastered, blah, blah, blah, and got it so he could down. He could bid on, with your help, Final Fantasy tactics, with your help, with my help. And I said, okay, hey, Roger, I'm here to ride or die with you. I'm always down to help you. And Roger had this idea, this brilliant idea in his mind that he wanted to get Final Fantasy Tactics as a partial remake so he could bid on it, which we did. We convinced hundreds upon thousands of fantasy critic discorders to vote on that. And so the vote went through and Roger said, okay, well, now I have to drop something. Or we could trade Mike, and then I could drop whatever. And Roger looked at me and goes, how about Crimson Desert And I said, roger, if this team doesn't show up at Gamescom, it's not coming out this year. So I'm down to trade. And Roger was like, what if I give you ninja gaiden 4? And I said, roger, let's do this thing. And so that's when the trade rumors started to happen. You know, text messages were exchanged. Shams was on the call. He was like, I'm hearing that Mike and Roger have come up with a blockbuster trade that is fair and between two consenting adults. And that's when we tried to get it going. So it's like, this is all coming from Roger, but Mike was going to get one up. You know what I mean?

[Barrett Courtney]

And so that's how any good trade happens, though.

[Snowbike Mike]

Exactly.

[Barrett Courtney]

It helps both parties.

[Snowbike Mike]

And so maybe David Stern, you know, AKA Blessing, you know, came in and ruled, saying, no trades this year whatsoever, because Greg Miller really ruined the trades. It was never Mike and Roger. It was Greg Miller, a couple.

[Roger]

Well, I feel like the way y' all treated, whatever y' all have done in the last couple of weeks have also maybe soured that even more.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, well, we had big plans. We wanted to do.

[Barrett Courtney]

Well, here's the. Here's the good thing about this, is that we've really seen a lot of success when it comes to what we were trying to do. There's kind of a movement happening in the audience. So we're proud to announce that in the next few weeks, when we do have that meeting, that gamescast, where we go over the rules for next year, Mike and I will have kind of a vision for what we're doing.

[Roger]

We're doing a meeting in the next couple of weeks. About next year.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

New Visionary August.

[Barrett Courtney]

We got to start talking about this year. We got to start bringing that. So Mike and I have a pitch. We have an idea. It's a vision, really.

[Snowbike Mike]

I would like to. I would like to move Roger's nickname from the Tastemaker to the Visionary.

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, shit. I like that.

[Snowbike Mike]

The Architect.

[Barrett Courtney]

The Architect.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay. Because we're on the move now. Baird of Roger got what he wanted, and Mike technically didn't get anything because the trade got. You Got Ninja Gaiden 4.

[Roger]

You get to drop Crimson Desert.

[Snowbike Mike]

If we're rewinding the time, I didn't get anything right. Roger had to go through the proper protocols, which means I had to go through the proper protocols. So everything is still above board. I did ninja gaiden 4 for $2. Great sliding. Great pickup. Because Roger had to drop it. And now I was gonna drop Crimson Deserts on a normal drop, but guess what? They've announced that they're going to 2026. And so now I get two drops.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, I love that. I love that. And also I just want to put it out there. Yeah, I've been listening to Moneyball, learning a lot about the Oakland A's, a lot about trading, a lot about money.

[Snowbike Mike]

A lot about ball.

[Barrett Courtney]

And you know me, I'm a baller at heart.

[Snowbike Mike]

Baller at heart. Come on, Raj, Reddit is already.

[Roger]

You're going to get arrested for like insider trading or some shit next year.

[Barrett Courtney]

We got this.

[Snowbike Mike]

Reddit is already teasing you and Tim for the, what they call the worst high five of the year.

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, I think you said the worst episode of cod. Funny Game Daily. I would also agree with that.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, okay.

[Barrett Courtney]

That was on me though. I put that on me.

[Snowbike Mike]

So make sure to check out the recent Reddit post right now of Roger and Tim poorly high fiving each other, which is really making real bad.

[Barrett Courtney]

It was really good.

[Roger]

It's really embarrassing.

[Snowbike Mike]

I have gathered these two dudes on the couch to talk all things mafia old country. So that will be your games cast as we will be sitting down to talk about mafia old country, giving our review. No impressions here because we've played plenty. We've all. We're. We're going to review this.

[Barrett Courtney]

We finished it. You didn't.

[Roger]

Yeah. What happened?

[Barrett Courtney]

What happened, Mike?

[Roger]

What happened, Mike?

[Snowbike Mike]

Nothing worse, Barrett. I know you know a bear because you and I are very similar flyers here. Okay? Two flights over, Monday and Tuesday for me. Both flights. You get in the plane. This is your captain speaking. Some good news. Two good, one good thing, one bad thing for you.

[Barrett Courtney]

Which one do y' all want?

[Roger]

What do you want first?

[Snowbike Mike]

This light's only 45 minutes down to LA, so that's pretty cool. Bad thing. Yeah, we're not allowed to leave the tarmac for another 55 minutes, so we're gonna be trapped in this plane. Then the second one we get on. I got two things for you. Good thing, 45 minute flight. Bad thing, we're gonna be trapped on this plane for an hour and a half. And I'm thinking, oh, my God, what is going on here? So last night I was gonna try to beat the game. Really was the beginning of the story, but unfortunately I got trapped on a plane. Did watch both episodes of Alien Earth. Ooh. Whatever you jabronis are doing, gotta watch it. I don't care what you're doing. I don't wanna hear any excuses. You need to drop what you're doing tonight. Drop it and watch both episodes of Alien Earth. That shit is good y'. All. This is much watched television. Okay.

[Barrett Courtney]

I watched the first episode really good.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm going to spoil the shit out of it tomorrow so you better watch it where that's your warning.

[Barrett Courtney]

People come in on whatever show.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, whenever I feel like I'm coming in having a blast for five minutes off the hip. So you better be ready on this one. But let's jump into it because this is the Kind of Funny Games cast each and every weekday we get together to talk about the biggest reviews, previews and topics in the video game world live on YouTube, Twitch and on podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, consider consider supporting us with the new Kinda Funny membership available on Patreon, YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts to get all of our shows ad free. Watch us as we record them live and get your daily exclusive show Greg Way for a chance to be part of the show. Submit your thoughts and opinions as super chats on YouTube as we go. Of course we'll be giving our thoughts and opinions on the old country. So if you have any questions you want to share your thoughts on the game so far since it's been out for about a week now, please let us hear you over on the YouTube side of things. Some housekeeping news. We are an 11 person small business all about live talk shows. Earlier today you got Kind of Funny Games Daily running you through the nerdy news. You need to know about the big headline Crimson Desert being delayed until 2026. After this you're going to get a very special Kind of Funny streams. It's a movie watch along and it's the movie of the year. It's Ice Cube's War of the Worlds and I'm happy to report that I've seen this movie twice now. Twice. So I can't wait for you all to watch it. It's a cinematic masterp and this is another movie you have to watch. Then after that I was gonna say.

[Barrett Courtney]

I don't think it's on here but also just wanna point out Monday we have the Giant Bomb X Kinda Funny Pizza Bandit. Let's play. That's going up live before Kinda Funny Games Daily. We wanna start promoting that ahead of time because. Why are you looking at me like that?

[Snowbike Mike]

Do you want the laptop?

[Roger]

It's not there.

[Snowbike Mike]

It's gonna be on there.

[Barrett Courtney]

It's literally.

[Snowbike Mike]

You have to let me work.

[Barrett Courtney]

It's literally not there. I'm Looking at it right now, he does not have it anywhere. It's in the housekeeper.

[Snowbike Mike]

Roger. What? I'm a show host, okay? I'm handling business. I know what I was gonna get to.

[Barrett Courtney]

You came in hot enough.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay, you gotta let me finish with the guy.

[Barrett Courtney]

I'm not there.

[Snowbike Mike]

You gotta finish the housekeeping goes in order.

[Barrett Courtney]

There's nothing on your screen.

[Snowbike Mike]

There's a run of the day and then there was gonna be the highlights of the week.

[Roger]

Usually you do the highlight of the week and then you do the run of the day.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, exactly.

[Snowbike Mike]

No, no, you do highlight of the week at the end of the run of the day.

[Roger]

No, that's not how it is.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm telling you what's happening of the day. And then next week on Monday, we have a very special crossover.

[Barrett Courtney]

Okay, yeah, tell me about it.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, tell me about it. Tell me all about that. You ruined my flow.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, tell me exactly what I wrote in housekeeping.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm remember this. I'm going to remember this.

[Barrett Courtney]

Check it out. It's a sponsored thing. It's awesome. You get to see where Tim hurt his heel. And also Dan Riker make a pizza for the very first time. He does pick up pizza dough and says, what is this? Oh, wow, this is crazy. That is his first words.

[Roger]

Also blessing at one point goes, oh.

[Barrett Courtney]

No, it's really good.

[Roger]

It's really good.

[Snowbike Mike]

Why don't you finish this once? Now what? We'll finish today's updates. Cause we didn't finish today Update.

[Barrett Courtney]

You're like a parent trying to make a kid smoke an entire pack of cigarettes.

[Snowbike Mike]

If you're a kind of funny member, today's Greg way is Tim and cool G from the car. And I think Roger's also doing one as well. So you get a little double Greg way. Thank you to our patreon producers, Karl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm twining. Today we are brought to you by Shady rays and aura frames. But we'll tell you all about that a little bit later. For now, let's start the show with topic of the show Tots Todts.

[Barrett Courtney]

Todts Todts Todd.

[Snowbike Mike]

Topic of the show, Mafia the Old country. Review from Kind of funny. Barrett and Roger have beaten the game. Your boy Snowbike Mike has played a lot of this video game. So we're going to be giving our scores and thoughts on this game throughout today's show, of course, Mafia the Old Country. Developed by Hangar 13, published by 2K Games released on August 8, 2025. Hangar 13 is celebrating 20 years of Mafia and Mafia the Old country returns after 9 years since Mafia 3, currently sitting at a Metacritic of 75. IGN gave it an out of 10. GameSpot gave it a 6 out of 10. Fair and VGC gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Let's go around really quick before we start talking. Roger.

[Barrett Courtney]

Hi.

[Snowbike Mike]

You beat the game. How long did it take you? Oof.

[Barrett Courtney]

I don't even know. Probably like 10, 11 hours.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, I think that's about right.

[Roger]

My PlayStation clock, which always kind of is weird. When I rolled credits, I think it was like 14, 14 hours.

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, wow.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay.

[Barrett Courtney]

That's a lot.

[Roger]

But I don't know if I, like, left it on at some point or something.

[Snowbike Mike]

So. Yeah, your boy Stole Mike is probably six hours in. I'm definitely. I'm way past the back half. I'm in it for sure, so I'm near the ending of it all. I will beat it all tonight, which will be fun.

[Roger]

What did we all play on?

[Barrett Courtney]

I played on PlayStation 5 PC with.

[Snowbike Mike]

The graphics cranked to extreme. Ooh.

[Roger]

I was also on PlayStation 5.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay.

[Roger]

That's really good quality mode, honestly.

[Barrett Courtney]

Wow.

[Roger]

Got that new tv. Yeah. I wanted to get that quality mode. And honestly, I think the frame rate output with quality mode wasn't too bad.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, I started off with quality mode by accident because also, by the way, PlayStation 5 has that setting where you can just choose and it never changes. It never changes it for me. So whatever. I was playing quality mode for like, the first, like, hour or two, and I didn't notice it really too much, but I went to performance mode.

[Snowbike Mike]

Well, let's go around the room right now. Let's talk about our reviews. Of course, Barrett is standing up, but we will kick off with Barrett because why would you start with Rogers? I gotta do shit out of all of. Kind of funny lore Baird has been the Mafia man. We've come.

[Roger]

Roger, talk for me.

[Barrett Courtney]

Hi, Roger here, speaking into the microphone. Maybe my mic is off. Maybe it's a little bit off. Maybe I need to move it. You let me know.

[Roger]

It sounds fine now. All right, I'm coming back.

[Snowbike Mike]

Let's go to where you all want to hear from the Mafia man. The man who knows Mafia in and out is Barrett Courtney.

[Roger]

I'm sorry, Kevin is not in the room. Kevin is doing surgery on a computer right now. So I'm both reviewing this game and doing director stuff. The Old country, the first new mafia game in nine years. The third mafia game that Hangar 13 has worked on. Right. Their first game that they came out with was back in 2016, Mafia 3, and then they did a remake of Mafia 1 back in 2020, I believe.

[Barrett Courtney]

So they didn't do two?

[Roger]

No, they did not do two. They also, like, they didn't work on the original Mafia 1 or anything like that. And I think they might have just ported mafia 2 and then they did, what was it, topspin last year?

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes, they did topspin. They returned.

[Roger]

But then the big return of the Old Country. I have been a big believer in Hangar 13 since Mafia 3. Despite that game kind of being a mess in terms of open world design. That team did such a good job of building a sense of atmosphere and place in the setting of New Bordeaux in the late 60s, where you're playing as someone who is tearing down the Mafia. Right? And I think that story and that world was so impressive to me that I was like, damn, even though this is kind of a mid game, they have something special here as a studio that I want to see what they do in the future. And then before they did this, they did the remake of Mafia 1, which I think was them trying to be like, all right, maybe we bit off a bit more than we could chew with Mafia 3. Let's look back at what the series did originally and let's try to take some lessons away from that of remaking this game from 2002, 2003. I think around that time, I unfortunately think they took way too many lessons of remaking Mafia 1 into making a new title with Mafia the Old Country. I think Mafia the Old country is an uninspired and kind of just bland entry for the Mafia franchise. I would say it's not offensively bad. It's not a standout in any way. I think it's a 6 out of 10 okay game. And you know, I was watching Nick play yesterday and him kind of coming to terms with like, oh, it's weird because it's kind of open world, but it's presented very linearly and stuff like that. And that is very much a style of the GTA clone that we've seen throughout the years, like an La Noire, like the original Mafia games. Right? And I do think there's a place for that in modern gaming. But I think Hangar 13 took way too many, many inspirations from a game from 2002 that it kind of sticks out. The game design, I think sticks out like a sore thumb in 2025. But even with that, I was hopeful of them telling a great new story. And this unfortunately just kind of feels beat for beat like Mafia One. But With a different coat of paint. It's a very pretty game, well performed. It doesn't do anything super interesting and it just kind of, by the end of it I was like, you know, I'm glad to back in this universe. And you know, it has me replaying Mafia 1 just to see if I was crazy in the kind of like kind of beat for beat. The kind of you starting from the bottom and working your way up through the Mafia and then things go wrong kind of thing. But yeah, kind of biggest disappointment of the year, I would say for me.

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, wow.

[Roger]

Because I. Even though they make, you know, gameplay wise, kind of very middling games, I was really hoping for something truly inspired in terms of storytelling and character like they were with Mafia three.

[Snowbike Mike]

Roger, let's go to you. Roger, what are your thoughts on Mafia the Old Country?

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, so my history with Mafia really quick is I played Mafia 2 probably when I was like 12, before I watch any of these Mafia movies that it was inspired by. I hadn't watched Goodfellas at the time. So when I played Mafia 2 on the OnLive platform, by the way, shout out to OnLive, which was like Xbox Game Pass Cloud before Xbox Game Pass Cloud on my little shitty Toshiba laptop that had missing keys. I. I fucking adored the game. I adored Mafia 2 and I just.

[Roger]

A lot of people love him.

[Barrett Courtney]

I love mafia 2.

[Roger]

Shout out to Vito.

[Barrett Courtney]

Shout out Vito. And it sticks in my brain. That entire experience like that game. And of course, like looking back on it, it was very formulaic. It was very by the number, especially if you compare it to the Goodfellas and all the other Mafia stories. But that holds a special place in my heart. So I was lightly looking forward to Mafia the Old Country. I hadn't played Mafia 3, I had not played the Mafia 1 remake. And I got into MAF the Old country and I was like in the very beginning, the first few hours, I came to you and I was like, man, this game ain't good. It is so formulaic. It is like you're doing the same thing over and over. A lot of knife fights, super predictable plot. But then I started to become a little bit confused with my feelings because even though I believe everything that I'm saying, I stand by it. It is a very formulaic video game. A lot of its ideas are very trite and well worn territory. And the gameplay specifically is very loose and it doesn't feel t. I can't. The shooting does not feel good by the ending of it. Kind of love It I kind of love this video game just because it is a warm hug of a video game.

[Roger]

It brings you back to your childhood.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yes. And I felt safe throughout the experience. It was very easy. I knew exactly all the twists that were happening and there was something nice about this beautiful world that is well acted, that is gorgeous. When you play it on five, it's so pretty. And it is just a linear experience. It is not a 25 hour take out the bases, go over here. It's none of that. It is just you go from here to here. You can skip driving, you can skip riding on the horse. It is very L A noire in that respect. I really enjoyed my time, but at the end of the day I can't give it more than a 6.5. You know what I mean? I like the game, but the core of it is just an okay video game. But I really still enjoyed my time, if that makes sense. I think that's like the weird thing about rating a video game, right. Where on paper I have to tell you guys, like, it is a very okay video game. Like I would never tell somebody to spend their $50 of hard earned cash to go buy this video game, but I still enjoyed it. Like, I think that's kind of where we're going to go back and forth on because Mike, I would love to hear your experience because you and I were. We had a fun little.

[Roger]

Y' all had an energy. What was it Monday morning and that I was not prepared for at night.

[Barrett Courtney]

I wasn't prepared for it, honestly, because that was the first time I talked to somebody about the game.

[Snowbike Mike]

Fun to just let it out. I've been live streaming it and so a lot of people and I have gone on a journey together. And so for me, Roger, it's interesting hearing both of you guys kind of nestling on that six. Okay. Right. I've been exploring the kind of funny scale really with the words. Right. I don't like where this one is currently placed. I think it should be a little bit higher. But I am gonna go with this is a bad video game.

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, wow.

[Snowbike Mike]

Mafia the Old country is a 3 out of 10. Bad video game.

[Roger]

I respect it.

[Snowbike Mike]

I would prefer this to be be 5 out of 10. But because of our scale, the word bad is used at the 3 level. So I'm going to give this a 3 out of 10. A fun one for you all to start off.

[Barrett Courtney]

Let's be real.

[Roger]

Four should be meth. Yeah, four shouldn't be met.

[Snowbike Mike]

Exactly. Thank you. And so to start this all off with all of you. The funniest part of the live streams were a lot of people said, hey, the saying goes, this is a 7 out of 10 that I love. Like a 9 out of 10. Mafia the old country is a 5 out of 10 that I love. Like a 7 out of 10. Mafia the old country, to me, you have sweat. Well, I gave it a bad out of 10, which is unfortunately a 3. 4. We should really rework that. But that's not Mike, so don't worry about that.

[Roger]

Yeah, we have mediocre and met on the scale, which should not. I don't know where y' all were at on that conversation.

[Snowbike Mike]

So, Roger, isn't it like.

[Barrett Courtney]

Is it like a three that you.

[Snowbike Mike]

If you would prefer, Roger, It's a three out for me that I love. Like a seven. Okay. You Roger. It's a. At the core the of of it. This is a bad video game. Unfortunately. Mafia the Old country and Hangar 13 will wow you with its visuals. It will capture you with its character design. It's okay voice acting and it's fine narrative that you've seen in many other Mafia stories before. But the problem in the heart of it all is the gameplay is just bad. Unfortunately, they did not figure out what they were going to do moment to moment with you playing. We really tried to avoid this open world Ubisoft checkpoint list video game like a GTA clone. And we created this linear narrative experience set in this beautiful open world that has all of these cross guards on you that does not want you to go out and explore it. And it will let you explore, but it doesn't ever want you to actually explore it. So you never will explore this. And so the goods in this is, man, the game looks so good. The moment you are whisked away, you want to spend more time in it. But the moment it opens up and you start to notice that the mission structure is simply ride a horse from point A to point B. Okay, stop. Now I want you to drive a car from point A to point B. Now stop. Okay, now I want you to play this small action combat arena where you're going to shoot 13 bad guys. Stop. Now we're going to have a stealth mission where there's no stealth at all. You can just walk by everyone. And there was moments in this where you're like, oh, you were trying to build something and you just never realized what the gameplay should be. And it is hard to look at this game and give it any sort of praise when. When you're actually coming to it, for the gameplay, it simply nothing. And there's a lot of walking and talking missions where I want to be involved in the conversation, but we are walking at a pace where my character is walking faster than the character I'm supposed to follow with no trail map on it. So now I'm awkwardly waiting for you to catch up to me, lead and guide me. So I have to walk forwards and backwards to keep up with you and the conversation. Or we're riding on horses. And now instead of having an auto ride to soak in the scenery that you've built, that is like the best part of this whole entire video game. I can't, because I actually have to guide and steer the horse. And so trying to look at it. My horse is going off the road. I'm banging into things instead of having an auto ride. They decide, you know what, you can just skip this. And you're like, well, no, I'm here for the story. It's a narrative game. I want to sit through these cutscenes and I want to listen and watch. Just let me ride. Right? Or we get in the car, and it is the most boring. Drive a slog, driving on these little, old, old tiny cars. And it's like, none of this is fun. And that's the problem with this game is none of it is fun at its core. It's a beautiful game, and I somehow got swept up in it where every night, all it wanted to do was go back to this. But when I played, I'm like, man, what are we doing? So, yeah, on the Snowbike Mike review for this, this is going to be a bad video game.

[Barrett Courtney]

Wow. Yeah. I mean, I think all that is, like, valid as the person that I think is probably the highest at this, at this table.

[Roger]

Yeah. You gave a 6.5, right?

[Barrett Courtney]

6.5. Yeah. But it's all valid. Like, I totally get that. I have those same experiences that I was running up against of like, man, how many fucking knife fights can we have? How many. How many times do we have to hop on the horse and go from point A to point B? And also going back really quick to what you're saying of like. I think my issue with that whole thing of, like, oh, well, you can just skip driving. And you. You know, it's just not a good experience having to walk next to these people while they're talking that they're not really saying anything interesting. Like, there's never, like, that experience where I'm like. Like a God of war or whatever. You're Walking with somebody like, oh, there's.

[Roger]

Like an interesting back and forth, can't miss. Yeah, nothing. And that's like the, the thing where, even compared to mafia1 and why this like a game structurally reminds me so much of the very first Mafia. And like the frustration I have with it is like going back to the remake. It's like, yeah, there's a lot of very similar beats. There's like two kind of big things that are big differences in terms of like plot but. And you're lot of the same things in Mafia 1. You drive from point A to point B. You're walking around carrying a crate and stuff like that. But the strength of the series were the characters and the story. And replaying Mafia 1 the Last Couple of days. I'm enjoying those drives because I'm like, oh, I'm learning more about these three characters that we're really focusing in on to actually be a group of friends and buddies that are helping each other out and trying to grow this business. I don't feel that sense at all. In Mafia the old country where they try to do like, you know, Cesare, like again, it's so Mafia one coded. You have like the loud best friend who's Cesare, you know, you have the, the cool kind of knows, knows their shit kind of dude with, with Luca. And those are your two best friends in Mafia One. Right. And you know, they, they try to hit those kind of same beats, but I just don't, I don't think the writing is there in any way that like, makes you actually want to live in and take in the story. And that's why, like, my suggestion would be play the Mafia One remake.

[Snowbike Mike]

Sure. That's good. Well, I want to dive more into this because there's so much to talk about from actual gameplay, combat, the story, the awesome world. Let's talk about all that and more right after a word from our sponsors.

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[Snowbike Mike]

Welcome back everyone. And since this is a Snowbike Mike led review, I love to talk about the positives in the game first. I love that. So I want to start off. Everybody give me one good thing we liked about this game while we start to dive in a little bit deeper into the systems of the games, the things we liked and didn't like. But I want to talk about things that we really enjoy from Mafia in the old country.

[Barrett Courtney]

To kick this off, I'm gonna shoot some bail to the knife fights because even though there's a lot of them and it is the same thing over and over, I think they're kind of cute. I'm not mad at them every time I do them. I wasn't like dreading it. I thought it was an interesting mechanic. I do think there could have been better scaling to it specifically because you could do the same exact thing to every Single one of them. And I think some of them block a little bit more, but it is cute. And like, a lot of these things, usually they can get very, very annoying and difficult. And also just, like, why, like, stopping the pacing of the game. It does stop the pacing of the game, but I wasn't mad at it, and I was, like, smiling at it because it gets ridiculous. It becomes like a comedy by the ending of it. And that is kind of the fun for me. When you get into the mafia, the old country, it becomes camp, it becomes silly. It becomes an unseen.

[Roger]

We got to that point on the stream yesterday with Nick where the guy literally has a shotgun to you, dead to rights, and he's like, you know what? I will do a knife fight instead. It's like, no, you should just kill me right now.

[Barrett Courtney]

It becomes campy, it becomes very silly. And this is not a serious experience. And once you realize that, I had a way better time with it.

[Snowbike Mike]

I like that you bring up the knife fights, because I'm 50. 50 on it. I like the knife fights a lot. I like that we get grounded and gritty. We get up close with the camera work, and we really have these kind of wow moments. The first knife fight, the second knife fight, I think you kind of take it back like, oh, this is kind of cool, right? There's a dodge, there's a parry. Of course, we gotta have all those in games in 2026. I love slashing, I love having fun. But there's a point where the second knife fight turns into the third, the fourth, the fifth. There's a moment where a man had a gun, had me dead to rights, puts the gun down just to knife fight me. Because this is our big wow game.

[Roger]

This is like their boss fight this episode. And it's.

[Snowbike Mike]

The problem is, is with the knife fights, they all go the same way. We are parrying, dodging, stabbing, stabbing. I get you to half health and no matter what. And on all the seven knife fights, 10 fights, we have many cut scene, halftime timeouts where we literally pause everything, watch them do five core moves, reset the camera, and go, all right, second phase fight. And it's like, wow, we did that every single time.

[Barrett Courtney]

Honestly, my. My biggest critique with the knife fight is that none of the endings of the knife fight, like, the kills, feel, like, brutal. Like, they kind of feel like shoulder stabs and then they fall to the ground. It's like, oh, that's. That wasn't cool.

[Roger]

It felt very censored in that way. Like, this is a rated M video.

[Barrett Courtney]

Game.

[Roger]

Yeah, yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

What about. What about you, Bear?

[Roger]

One positive thing, man. I mean, I said at the top, it's the Hangar 13 does a very good job of building an atmosphere and sense of place. That was proven in Mafia 3. That was proven again with how they updated Mafia 1. Someone in the chat was asking earlier. Even though Mafia 1 Remake is older and obviously the fidelity probably isn't the same as the Old country, because the Old country is a very pretty game made for the current generation of consoles. I do think it is worth going back to the remake from 23, 2020, because they did such a good job of modernizing that and creating that sense of place in the 1930s, which I think is such a fun era to adapt and stuff like that. I think they do it again here in the old country. It's 1904 is when the game starts in Sicily. Even though there's not a lot to do and you can skip rides and all that stuff, there is a nice sense of. Of riding on your horse and looking and seeing just the sun rise over this beautiful mountain range and you see these farms that are growing grapes and all this stuff. It's a very beautiful game. And I think the one unfortunate thing is that I think what they succeeded with in sense of place and atmosphere is the music in Mafia 1 and Mafia 3, whereas there's not radios in cars yet. And so I feel like that also kind of brings it down where, like, you're now just kind of relying on the score of the game, which is good. It's fine. I think the main motif gets used way too much. I would have loved to have more variety in that, but I still think, like, walking through that town, one of the main towns. I'm blanking on it. That like you do see in Mafia 2 and they like recreated like this square and stuff like that, that stuff still hits. And looking at just the fidelity of the game, I think is still very impressive.

[Barrett Courtney]

And that's one of the. Sorry.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, yeah. No, no.

[Barrett Courtney]

That's one of the pros of having a smaller linear video game is that specifically with this mission structure and the way that they build out this game, you go past certain areas a lot. Like, you end up understanding the layout of that house pretty well. You understand the square, you understand all these little houses that you're driving. So, you know, no spoilers. But when shit hits the fan and things get a little bit different and crazy, it starts to actually hit a little bit different. When you have a game that maybe just burns through these locations pretty Fast. So when something crazy happens, it doesn't really matter to us. But when something crazy happens, this game, it feels a little bit more impactful than a normal kind of open world game.

[Snowbike Mike]

For both of you. I have two different points on Barret's side with the music. Did you find it odd that when you would hit the start button everything would cut off and it was just dead silence? It was so weird to like, man, we just didn't keep the music going as I explored the map or I look into my upgrades and anything like that. You hit pause and everything is just dead silence. You're like, wow, you couldn't put on any music.

[Roger]

I thought it was dead silence. But there is like. Or maybe I'm mixing this up with Mafia one now. Yeah, I'm mixing up. I played them way too quick, like back to back. So now I'm mixing things up. Yeah, I don't really care about shit like that.

[Snowbike Mike]

Hey, I'm in this beautiful world. I'm enjoying the, the music and the theme right, right now. But if you hit pause, it's just like we're, we're out of that now. It's like, oh, just keep that going. These are small things that like I think this game would have used a run through with the team of like, hey, are we noticing this stuff? Cuz like when I'm playing it I'm like, nobody said to themselves like, hey, like that character speed is too slow. We're like, what are we doing?

[Barrett Courtney]

My biggest one that I would always miss is like, there's stealth is a huge part of this game which I. We can talk about in a second. But you're sneaking up behind somebody, you see two people, characters having a conversation, two NPCs, right? And they always do the thing where you sneak up and you go to an area and you see two NPCs having the shittiest conversation ever that are just, you know, whatever throw away just for them to talk and then they pause for like maybe 10 seconds, way too long.

[Roger]

And then they, and then they part.

[Barrett Courtney]

And then they part away. And it's like every single time. But then also like, man, video games used to be like that.

[Roger]

Yeah, I kind of like that because it always made me guess of like, are they just going to stay here? Yeah, because now I'm starting to strategize.

[Barrett Courtney]

They would never stay there. They would always move.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, they always move. And then for you, Roger, it's interesting because this is a narrative linear game, but they presented in this kind of like open World, right. You click on the map and you zoom out. You're like, wow, this is big. And all the mission structure is, hey, ride this horse all the way across the town. Hey, take this car and go over there. So there is this large world that is like very detailed and polished and looks great. That like, that's where the kind of conversation starts of like they wanted you to look around, but they didn't want you to look around. Because if you didn't know Roger, there's collectibles in this game as well. There's a fox statue that you were supposed to find 50 of, but this game has zero.

[Barrett Courtney]

I heard you guys talking about that because I got the second of 50 fox statues at the very ending of the game.

[Roger]

I got my first one in the last two hours.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah. So there's this part of it where they do want you to stop and smell the roses and look around and walk around the town. But you were never encouraged to do that because the game is like, okay, walk over here now walk. And there's no incentive out of there.

[Roger]

And this is where it's like, I find it interesting of like, I feel like there was a reason we moved past the GTA clone no matter how much we loved games like Mafia or L A Noire or. But I feel like even Sleeping Dog.

[Barrett Courtney]

Saints Row.

[Roger]

Saints Row. But even those games have linear structures in terms of the mission structure. But there's still more incentive to actually exist in those worlds. Right. I'm talking about the really linear ones that don't really encourage this. And that's why I think there is a place for these types of games. But they need to not be so structured like a GTA where they give you this like, oh, look at this open world. When everything is so linear. I think it needs to have less focus on that stuff and more focus on like be an uncharted game. You know, we thought we were gonna get and you know, spend less time building this huge world and more time, you know, like boosting up your mechanics in terms of combat and stealth. And then, you know, even if it's a mid game, the moment to moment is still a bit more enjoyable to get through. And that's like, it's. It's odd to see again, a lot of the structure of this game is mafia one in terms of that 2002 very watered down GTA clone like game. And I think the thing that sticks out like a sore thumb specifically to me is the story. Because even with mid gameplay, if you have a great story, there's something there. I fucking love L A Noire. That fucking face recognizing stuff never worked, but there was something there in terms of storytelling in this game has none of that. But I think just gameplay wise, like, we should have just cut this. Still have a sense of place of, like, still have, like, build out your villa and stuff like that and have that stuff. But yeah, exactly.

[Snowbike Mike]

I want to talk about collectibles and, like, things out there. Like, there's so many small letters to read. I was overwhelmed by how many letters they put in. Like, I get it, you want to tell other stories or, like, add to it all. But, like, there is probably five in every single little small building you're in. You're like, why are there so many notes here? Or there are collectibles that will help you with passive abilities in the game for your rosary beads. And, like, you don't find them that often. And the ones you do find, you're like, I'm not using any of these. Like, it doesn't matter because the game isn't difficult. It doesn't affect anything. The shooting is bad. Roger. The stealth is bad. You're not boosting anything.

[Barrett Courtney]

I was just gonna push back on the fact that I was finding the beat. I was finding the beads. I was finding the beats.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, but how many you think you really found?

[Barrett Courtney]

I mean, I think I was like, a pretty. Pretty deep.

[Roger]

I found like 15. I found like three. I found way more of the charms themselves.

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, are those difference.

[Snowbike Mike]

Are those different two of them? Yeah. Yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, okay.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah. I thought they were down as many as you thought you did in the course of it. Which is the odd part of, like, they want you to explore, but you don't explore. And so, like, why have these? There was one where they clearly put one behind the guy in the jail cell, but he. He won't move until you, like, try to almost leave the area. So he just blocks it awkwardly. And you're like, hey, dude, there's clearly a collectible behind you. Like, move out of the way and you have to, like, walk 20 steps to a staircase. Get him to follow you and then walk.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, I had that. And then the game went out.

[Snowbike Mike]

What are we doing?

[Barrett Courtney]

I did that. And then the game glitched out where they wouldn't move after that. Yeah, no. It's an interesting conundrum here where I think that at the core of this, and we've had this conversation earlier off camera, where there is like, a very, very solid six hours here, like six to seven hours. And I. It's there's, there's fluff here and I don't know where that fluff comes from if that is Just maybe this game was designed to be more of like a Mafia 3 experience and then they had to pair it back and they said but maybe it's a better experience if they'd make it later.

[Roger]

I really just knowing the history of hangar Like Hangar 13, I think had a decent amount of layoffs before Mafia One remake. Yeah. And so I feel like. I feel like with knowing roughly the size of that team now, I don't know if this was ever concepted to be that open World Mafia 3 game. So I just, I honestly think it was. They took way too many lessons from remaking Mafia 1 and tried to make a game that would have worked in 2002 but does not work anymore in.

[Barrett Courtney]

2025 is now I'm looking at it and especially when you're adding those collectibles, I start to have that itch a little bit where I'm very happy.

[Roger]

I do it because they feel like they need to do it because that's the thing that Mafia did. You had the playboys in mafia two, I think. And then like the ma.

[Barrett Courtney]

12 year old roger loved it.

[Roger]

Oh yeah. Of course the newspapers in Mafia one, which they just do again here.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, yeah. Part of me when I'm playing it, I do have that itch where I'm like, man, this would be really good if it was more open world. If I did have more side missions. I know that takes away from it, but also what you're giving me isn't amazing here. That's cool. At that point, why don't you just let me go and do collections as a side mission. Why don't you let me go into the city and start knocking on Joe who's not fucking paying for wine and like smash them. Shit.

[Snowbike Mike]

Why don't we do a more collection?

[Barrett Courtney]

Like honestly, like the Godfather game back in the day, like I start to do a little bit more of that. I know that we're taking this game and making it something that it isn't, but at the core of it, it's not working the way that you're designing it and you're designing these weird things where yeah, you want me to go around the city and find these collectibles, but I don't feel like either I'm not even, not even incentivized. I'm not. It doesn't feel like I should or even could go out of where you want me to go. It's not even like I ended this game not even feeling like I missed anything, but apparently I missed a lot.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah. I don't know why have these horse races and car races when I only get to do three of them?

[Roger]

Because there always has to be a race.

[Snowbike Mike]

Exactly. Well, it's like the car racing is fun. The horse racing is fun. Give me a mini circuit. Give me seven of those. It was odd that, like, the car race leads up like this. We get the car. Okay, cool. Now tow it over to this guy's house who doesn't even like you. He's going to fix the car. Okay, great. Now we need to train for the race. You're going to race this train. Do you know how long you race the train for?

[Roger]

15 seconds.

[Snowbike Mike]

17 seconds. 17 seconds is how long. And then it stops.

[Barrett Courtney]

Hard stops.

[Snowbike Mike]

There's moments in this where they have very weird, just all blacked out loading screens that don't show you what's happening. You're like, what's going on here? They're like, the next day and you're like, that took 25 seconds to get to this. What do we do?

[Roger]

Oh, I didn't have that kind of loading screens. Well, you ended on Ultra. Maybe so.

[Snowbike Mike]

And then we went to race day and you get to race one lap that maybe takes three minutes. And God forbid you fail. Oh, yeah, Checkpointing. Have you those checkpoint systems are insane on this.

[Roger]

Didn't need them.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, yeah. Small thing. At least on my PS5. A base PS5. I'm running off the base SSD loading times are considerably longer than I would expect for a PS5 game. Like, it was just like. It felt like it was like 20 seconds, 30 seconds, which in the grand scheme of things is not long. But for a PS5 game, that's pretty long. So that was. That was interesting.

[Snowbike Mike]

When they're noticeable, it's odd. Yeah, right. Like we're living in, like 2025, where all these games are running so fast now and you have these moments where it does sit for a while and you're like, what is going on here? Because this game isn't doing much here at all. So, like, why is this taking that long?

[Barrett Courtney]

I want to talk about the story. I don't know. I don't know if you want to. If you want to keep on the gameplay of it all, but I want to end up talking. Do you have more about the game?

[Roger]

I have one last thing about the gameplay.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah. Let's keep on the game.

[Roger]

Not to spoil it too much for Mike, because do you Plan on beating this, Mike?

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm going to be. I'm literally going to beat this tonight. That's the weirdest part about this game is. I know, and I think it's a bad game, but for the past week, all I can think about and all I've wanted to do is play this game. Yeah, I have zero fun playing it, but I smile and enjoy the world and the story. But when I'm doing the missions, I'm like, this was so bad, but I can't stop playing it.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah.

[Roger]

The final, like, boss or whatever is like the most, like, watered down version of the Ellie Cannibal fight in the Last of Us Part one. And like, playing that, I was like, man, this was the pinnacle that y' all could think of for how to end your game. And it's just so. It's so weird. Yeah, the gameplay just overall just kind of very weird. Feels like from another time. I was clicking heads the entire time, though, let me tell you.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah.

[Roger]

No, give me that bold action rifle.

[Barrett Courtney]

No, I. Yeah, for me, it just never clicked. I literally. I never felt like I was having a good time with the shooting. I never felt like it was precise enough. I.

[Snowbike Mike]

It has the sway.

[Roger]

Sway again, like very Last of Us.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, it just. But it never. It never felt good. It never felt like. I mean, I know it's a high bar to say, but like, when I play these games, I want uncharted. Right. I want this to feel like, clicky. I want to be able to. I felt like I was fighting against the game and I don't know if that's them trying to be like, hey, we have this 1900s, you know, all the guns suck here, so the gameplay sucks now. But it's like same thing with the driving, where it's like, the driving, you feel like you're driving on ice the entire time because it's old cars. That's like, I guess, guys. But like, none of this is like, let's be honest, like, very. Not a lot of this is. Is historically accurate. We really start thinking about it, I'm sure. So why are we trying to make the gameplay like, just make it clicky? Just like, let me click some heads a little bit easier. Let me. Let me fucking. Skirt. Skirt, skirt. I don't know. I didn't have a good time with that.

[Roger]

I don't want you to. Skirt, skirt, skirt.

[Snowbike Mike]

I want. Yeah. I mean, I'm looking at the final little part of my playthrough tonight. Right. And I'm expecting two more knife fights. I'M expecting two bad stealth missions. I'll probably drive a little bit. And it's like, none of that is exciting. It's like, oh, it's. It's almost there. But yeah, Roger, let's talk about the story.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, I. It's. It's a weird one because again, it is so, so generic. Like, let's, let's just like, even though it is a 1900s earlier, again, like.

[Roger]

Setting is very promising and cool.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yes, exactly. And I, when I was, when I was. It was announced, I was like, man, especially when that first intro teaser trailer that they had at the game awards or summer game fest, whatever it was, it felt like, oh, man, this is like a serious story. Like, this is gonna be like fucking peak or something. Like, you know, I don't know. I felt that vibe.

[Roger]

It was like a very cinematic Genesis vibe.

[Barrett Courtney]

Exactly. And it's like. And you play, you play the game and it is very silly. Like, it is a very silly story. And then when they try to be serious, you just, you know exactly what's gonna happen. There is not. I've literally, as I'm playing the game, Lienza walked in and characters are talking and I'm finishing their sentences, and she's like, did you beat this game around here? I said, no, I know exactly what these characters are going to say. Like, that is how generic of a Mafia story. If you have watched any Martin Scorsese movie, if you watched any season of the Sopranos, you know exactly where this is gonna go. It doesn't. I think there's some interesting elements that they go to, especially towards the ending. My heart was racing.

[Roger]

There's a really good framing device that they use throughout the entire story. If you played the intro even, at least I think you can probably guess what that is. Because every time you get to a new year, they always use that as something's bubbling beneath the surface. I thought that was really fun. But in terms of plot structure, it is very by the numbers. You're a kid who's just. You got nothing to your name and then you, you know, you get brought into this family and you're just doing small jobs.

[Barrett Courtney]

Everyone fucking hates you.

[Roger]

Every hate. Everybody hates you. But you're doing. You're loyal enough that you start moving up the ranks and the head guy starts to trust you enough. And then you're his fucking dude. You're his, like, you're his guy. And then it all goes to shit. Which, again, plot wise, is Mafia one. But I think the framing of Mafia one is much more Interesting, right? Like, that game opens up and the guy you play as Tommy is ratting on his family, essentially. And then you get to see the kind of inner personality of, like, him getting introduced into that mob and him being like, yeah, I'm loyal to the end. And you're like, what could have possibly happened from here to the flash Forward? And then you're kind of intrigued about the character dynamics and how that all goes to shit. Where the way this is kind of set up, you're just. You kind of know where it's all going to go. Because I think the, like, you know, there was a romance in here and you know that that's going to be kind of the impotence. I can't fucking say words right now. You know that that's gonna be the kind of focal point of, like, where this is all gonna go to shit. And yeah, like you were saying, like, you just kind of. You can finish the sentences, but you can also just finish what the plot of the game is, which I think is unfortunate. And I just don't think the character writing is there to uphold even a basic plot structure. Like your relationships to other people are so surface, level and paper thin in this game.

[Barrett Courtney]

And they impetus.

[Roger]

Thank you.

[Barrett Courtney]

They do a lot of things that in my opinion, are not earned. It just feels like they felt like they needed to do it because that's how you make a gangster story. Like, you play this game and there's like moments, like big moments where I'm like, that doesn't feel like that character would even do that. Or that doesn't. It just feels like, oh, no, you could created the archetype. Now we're just gonna. Yeah, we're just gonna do the exact story that you expected.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah. Story wise to me, nothing's. Nothing's happening. Right. It's forbidden love. It's. Oh, that's one don on another don. He's in your turf, so we got to tell him to back up. Oh, snap. Here's the super Don. He owns all the land.

[Roger]

And you're like, oh, well, he's not a super die. He's just.

[Snowbike Mike]

What do you think? The super.

[Roger]

He's the landlord. Essentially.

[Snowbike Mike]

These two got to get married, you know what I mean? To make the super dawn and best friend. Just like, we've seen all that. You know, there's nothing in this story that is wow.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

Like, exciting me. Because we know where this is going. But yeah, I mean, there's grandpa and he's real mean to people, you know what I mean? But he's the most trusted guy. And don't with Grandpa. And you're like, grandpa's gonna do something bad.

[Roger]

Is Tino Grandpa? I don't know if Tino's Grandpa.

[Barrett Courtney]

He's called him Grandpa.

[Roger]

Shout out to that actor who's also.

[Snowbike Mike]

In Star Wars Battlefield two grandpa shows at your house. Two white glasses. Why is there two white glasses?

[Barrett Courtney]

I don't know.

[Snowbike Mike]

Grandpa, like, get the fuck out of year, bro.

[Barrett Courtney]

I like, I like wine. What do you want for me? What do you offer me? What do you want me? Super Grandpa?

[Roger]

Maybe there are two different types of wine in each. I didn't want to mix my wine.

[Snowbike Mike]

Jeez.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, I mean, the whole. I, I like the angle, even though it is so generic. The forbidden love stuff. I, I'm a sucker for, for that type of.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm a sucker.

[Barrett Courtney]

Forbidden love. I'm a sucker for these stories of like, oh, man, she's the most generic. Are they gonna.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm in love with the Dawn's die.

[Barrett Courtney]

Are we gonna make it happen? Are we not gonna make it happen?

[Roger]

So will they, won't they?

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah. You know? Yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah. Are we gonna. How are we gonna.

[Roger]

Thursdays at 9?

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

I like that, I like that stuff. I, I, I, I specifically the way that it ratchets up and like, it gets to a place that I genuinely. I said some, I said some sentences out loudly and said. That's the craziest plot that you're explaining right now. I'll tell you off air, but, like, I was fucking, like, it's, it goes to insane places that I, I, I enjoyed. But then it, it gets settles back down to, okay, we have to have this ending because now. We have to have this ending now. And it's like, okay, it didn't feel.

[Roger]

Earned and kind of my two big things. Just thinking about story stuff. Part of the fun with the Mafia universe is how it all kind of. They all tie together. Right. Vito, who you play as in Mafia 2, you realize is kind of an important moment in Mafia 1 retroactively. And then he's one of your homies in Mafia 3, even though they're kind of separate stories, there's always a connective tissue. There is that here, but in the most uninteresting way possible, which I was let down by, obviously. They mentioned Lost Heaven and Empire Bay. They're talking about we're dealing with Americans all the time. But the homie Leo in the nice blue suit, because all the characters are always wearing their same outfits all the time.

[Snowbike Mike]

Don't even Get Barrett. Barrett. How do they. This is a question for the developers out there, okay? We have all these cutscenes. The game is built off of these cutscenes. In this narrative, my character, he'll change his T shirt every single cutscene. But Luca, my best friend over there, wears the same T shirt every single day. What are we doing? It's a uniform. We're watching this happen together in the conference room. And go, oh, man, I see you changed Tony's outfit right there. That's right. Really cool. Lucas did the same thing. All right, next cutscene, different outfit. That's cool, Lucas. Same thing. We. Come on now.

[Barrett Courtney]

The greatest thing they do in this game is they have the. I think it was like three or four year jumps or whatever, right? So it's like 1907, right? And then it's just everyone looks the same except he gets longer hair.

[Snowbike Mike]

Our character just getting sexier.

[Barrett Courtney]

Always gets sexier. Nothing has changed in the house. They haven't moved an apple. They haven't rearranged the fucking where they're putting the meat. None of it. None of it's. Everything's the fucking same.

[Roger]

And so you have the fun connection with Leo. He's a character in Mafia 2 and Mafia 3. The silent bartender is the Don in Mafia 2, which I thought was really weird. There's a blink and you miss it. Easter egg for Mafia one, which is, like, fun enough, but I thought there was going to be more like what the core story was about. I thought there would be more of a connective tissue to leading into those games. Especially, like, to me, this felt like what this game should have been is them creating the Mafia or starting up the Mafia and then figuring out how that ties over to the stories that happen in America and stuff. And I thought that stuff was really thin outside of Leo. And I'm blanking on. I think it's Frank Vinci who's the don, and Mafia two. Yeah. I would have liked more of those threads.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah. It's interesting, right? Because we say all of these things. And of course, I'm like, this story is very generic, but I hope this game gets a sequel.

[Snowbike Mike]

Let's get a super chat in from who writes in and says, where does the franchise go?

[Barrett Courtney]

I genuinely hope in my. I know it won't happen. Well, actually, I don't know that because apparently I saw the Steam numbers. They were pretty. I think it was like 30,000.

[Roger]

There's an audience here.

[Barrett Courtney]

It's $50.

[Roger]

People fuck with Mafia.

[Barrett Courtney]

I hope this game does well, and I hope that it wasn't exorbitantly expensive. That they can't justify another $50 release in a few years. Right. I would love this to be like four years out. We get a sequel. I would love a sequel to this game. I want Mafia the new. Yeah. The new country, as Jake puts in there. Yeah. Honestly, whether it is them. It is. No, maybe not. I don't know. I was about to spoil shit. But it's a continuation of this and we go to America and we see what's going on in the flip side.

[Roger]

Maybe play as Leo. That'd be cool.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, exactly. Right. That would be interesting to me. I hope that there's a fan base for this. I hope that people kind of, if they like this game, they buy it and there is a little bit of an audience where we can kind of do it. Doesn't have to be a direct sequel. So then people that didn't buy this game.

[Roger]

Yeah. And that's what Mafia always does. You get a little bit of those threads, but each of those games you can play. Yeah. I don't know where the series goes after this. I. I don't know. I was really let down by the story. You know, Hangar 13 to me, like proved with Mafia 3 that they could take a franchise and kind of turn it on its head, at least story wise. And I really adored that. Right. Of like mafia 1 and 2 also being very like basic plots but like still doing like a. Having strong enough like character writing and all that stuff to keep you engaged. And then mafia 33 not being about getting into the mafia, but literally tearing it all down. And that game also kind of framing the deep seated racism in America. Right. Even for black communities that feel like they can find trust in some white people. Those white people turning around and just burning those bridges completely. And Lincoln Clay deciding like fuck that and burning it all down, burning the system down in that way. And I thought that was such an incredible way to do something different for a series that is a bit more, you know, on the safe side of telling stories. Right. And I was really let down of like the. The studio just went back to just doing something safe, something again, uninspired, inoffensive, which I find very disappointing. It reminds me of there's a YouTuber Peter Spitak who did a video on the Wolfenstein games and the headline of the video is like, they won't make this game today. And Talking about Wolfenstein 1 and 2, the modern ones going into the fascist sentiment of America before the Nazis rose into power, you know, Wolfenstein II going into the. Also the deep seated racism in the American south and how the Nazis gave the KKK or gave the south to the KKK and all this stuff and talking about and unpacking what was already there in America and all this stuff. And what has that studio come out with since, you know, they put out Youngblood, which didn't have any of that kind of interesting commentary or storytelling. And we have not seen Wolfenstein since. Right. And I feel like there's something similar here where it's like you had something interesting and something worth talking about. And I find it really disappointing that that team from nine years ago, I don't know if that it's the same writing team, honestly. Like, I don't know how many of the same people are still around at Hangar 13, but to just go with something safe that doesn't really say anything, I think really sucks.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, I totally understand that. I would, I would, I would be interested in what they go with in terms of coming back to America in the second one. I mean, in the second old country. Or we just do Mafia 4. It's just Sopranos ripoff. You know what I mean? We just, do. We just. We just kind of, we just kind of make it a Sopranos.

[Snowbike Mike]

I have a different pitch.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

And I've already told you the pitch, Roger. Okay, here's my dream pitch. Hangar 13, what you just showed me with mafia the old country. I'm putting. Digging what you're putting down. Here's what I'd like you to do. Why don't we team you up with the Mummy and the Mummy Returns. Let's get Brendan Fraser, let's give you that license, and let's have you make a mummy game because, man, oh man, this. If you reskin this as the Mummy video game, you know what? I think we would have been on to something. We would have been cooking a brand new franchise here. So for me, it's the Mummy. That's what I want to see.

[Barrett Courtney]

It's. For me, I'm putting down the Mummy.

[Snowbike Mike]

The Mummy. I'm putting down. I'm a mummy guy from this.

[Barrett Courtney]

Okay, I like that.

[Snowbike Mike]

Guys, any final thoughts as we close out the podcast?

[Barrett Courtney]

I have a lot of mixed feelings as I've went through with this podcast. I see all the criticisms. I think they're very apparent as you play through it. But I still had a really good time playing it just because it is comfort food. So I would recommend it to anybody out there if this game is on sale or if you have that $50 that's burning a hole in your pocket and you want something that is an easy, breezy 10 to 12 hour experience. And you've enjoyed mafia two or mafia one, apparently you should try it out. So that is my recommendation. I give it a 6.5.

[Snowbike Mike]

I like that.

[Roger]

Barrett, play mafia 3. Also watch Peter Spatek's video on Wolfenstein.

[Snowbike Mike]

For me as I close this one out. As we said before, this is a 7 out of 10 that you love. Like a 9. For me, this is a bad video game that I will love and think about and laugh and giggle about. But at the core of it all, unfortunately this was not a fun game to get through and I wish that they had more in there or something else. But you know, I can, I can't recommend you spending your money on this game. I don't think I can do that. And so, you know, don't get caught up in the number. Get just caught up in the conversation. We had a good one here, boys, and I really enjoyed it with all of you guys. And so with that, that is your Mafia the Old Country Review for today's Gamescast on a lovely Wednesday, August 13, 2025, we have more fun coming your way. Of course, if you're watching live, don't go anywhere. The live content continues on throughout the day and if you're on podcast services around the globe, thank you so much. Leave a like, subscribe and we'll see you on the next one. Goodbye everyone.

[Barrett Courtney]

Bye bye.