Mafia: The Old Country

Image Credit: 2K & Wikimedia 

Mafia 4, officially called Mafia: The Old Country, has been revealed. we're still a long way away from release, but based on a number of older leaks, our experience of the first games, and the contents of the trailer, I think I can already make a number of predictions about the plot and the setting. 

When & Where Will Mafia: The Old Country Be Set? 

Mafia: The Old Country is going to take us back to where it all began for the infamous criminal organization, Sicily. Which is also where Don Salieri, the head of the crime family you work for in the first Mafia game, came from. And I’ve known that much for years, thanks to leaks that date way back to 2020.

In the trailer, I see a man (presumably a member of the early Mafia) standing in his study. And I can tell from the general decor of the room that this is taking place at some point in the latter half of the 19th Century. 

The man then turns to look out of the window, and in the final shot of the trailer I see a view of a small town built on a hill. I aren’t sure exactly where this is supposed to be in Sicily, or if it’s even supposed to represent a real world location, but it looks to us like Ragusa Ibla, which is also built on a hill. 

You can see a photo of Ragusa Ibla and the town from the Old Country trailer side-by-side here: 

Image Credit: 2K & Wikimedia 

The Sicilian Mafia, or Cosa Nostra, was the first such organization in the world, and although its origins are hard to trace, most scholars agree that it was born out of the unification of Sicily and Italy in 1861. 

Palermo is often cited as the specific location in Sicily where the Mafia were most active, and although that clearly isn’t the same city as was shown in the trailer (Palermo is on the coast), I think a huge part of the game will take place there. This is near-enough confirmed by the image of Saint Rosalia I see in the trailer, who is the patron saint of Palermo. 

Mafia: The Old Country — Story Prediction 

Based on the words you can hear spoken in the trailer, which welcome the listener into a brotherhood free from treachery and betrayal, and the small extract from the newspaper which I can read in the shot below, I think you will play as a young man who enters the Sicilian Mafia for the first time. 

Image Credit: 2K & Wikimedia 

I am confident that a lot of your escapades in Sicily will involve corrupting and threatening noblemen, who were once the feudal rulers of the island. And I am also quite certain that at the end of the game you will leave for America. This idea is subtly implied by the caption of the photo in the newspaper, which in English reads: “News from America: Saverio Ghillotti has been elected as a representative of the city of Lost Heaven” (the setting of the first game).

Will You Need To Play The Older Mafia Games First?  

No. All the Mafia games so far have been easy to enjoy as standalone games, and I expect The Old Country to be the same in this regard. It’s true that the games take place in the same universe, and sometimes major events in one game are referenced in another, but these are separate stories. 

If you really want to do your homework, I are given one description of life back in Sicily. In the first game, Frank Colletti, who grew up with Don Salieri, describes their life as boys in the “old country”. It’s pretty grim; Frank had a dog who they would use to win races, but when the dog fell pregnant it could no longer win the races, and so young Salieri tried to drown it. 

Image Credit: 2K & Wikimedia 

But Frank and the Don were only children during the time period in which The Old Country is set. I don’t therefore expect the game to focus on these two characters, although it wouldn’t be surprising to meet them as boys. 

And that’s everything I know or can predict so far about The Old Country. I can’t wait to visit Sicily and discover the roots of the Mafia, but what do you think, is this an exciting setting?