Mafia: The Old Nation not solely takes gamers again in time to the early 1900s, but in addition to a brand new place in Sicily. Recreation director Alex Cox just lately talked about why the group at Hangar 13 selected that setting and time for the brand new Mafia recreation after the most recent entries had been set in later time durations of mob historical past.
Cox stated in an interview with Xbox that whereas the primary three Mafia video games explored totally different eras of the American mafia, the group “liked the thought of heading to Sicily and exploring the early years of this fearsome crime group.”
For comparability, the unique Mafia occurred within the Nineteen Thirties, with Mafia II choosing up within the Nineteen Forties. Mafia III, in the meantime, was set within the late Sixties.
Cox went on to say that making The Old Nation has been a “refreshing departure” for Hangar 13, as its staffers started working on parts of the “rugged Sicilian countryside” versus the busy cities of the opposite Mafia video games.
“Constructing this story has been a terrific expertise for everybody at Hangar 13–first studying about Sicilian historical past and the origins of the Mafia, then adapting that into an thrilling legal journey,” Cox stated.
Particularly, although, Cox stated he is enthusiastic about parts of the time interval, together with horses, classic autos, and knife duels. Going down within the early 1900s means vehicles with hand-crank engines will seem in The Old Nation, he stated. “We have by no means had the participant using on horseback earlier than! Galloping throughout the Sicilian countryside feels extremely liberating and is not like something we have completed up to now,” Cox defined.
Whereas no entry within the Mafia sequence has been set fully in Sicily, the primary mission in Mafia II, titled The Old Country, takes gamers to Sicily in 1943.
Builders from Hangar 13 visited Sicily to get a firsthand feel and appear for the island and its tradition. Cox went on to say that Hangar 13 has been working with a “native Sicilian accomplice” that gave the studio “invaluable steerage.” The group additionally consulted Sicilian historical past specialists to assist the builders nail down issues like era-appropriate bricks, music, and even swear phrases.
As a result of The Old Nation is ready within the early 1900s, gamers will not have entry to trendy weapons, so the sport goals to make fight really feel “extra tactical and deliberate.”
“We have leaned closely into the ‘instruments of the commerce’ of a Sicilian Mafioso, from lupara shotguns to stiletto blades. There’s actual grit to those older, extra conventional weapons,” Cox stated.
Lastly, though The Old Nation includes a new major forged of characters and goals to attraction to newcomers to the sequence, Cox stated present followers “will get a kick out of how Mafia: The Old Nation connects to the remainder [of the franchise].”
The Old Nation releases Summer time 2025 for PS5, Xbox Collection X|S, and PC.