The Old Country Might Be the Closest Thing to Red Dead for a While

Mafia: The Old Country‘s release is just about a month away, with it set to hit the market on August 8. For the fourth main installment, and second in the series developed by studio Hangar 13, Mafia: The Old Country will be covering a new chapter in the gritty crime series while also making some big changes from the previous entries. Most notably, the upcoming title will take players the furthest back into the past for the franchise so far, being set a number of years before even the 1930s Prohibition era of the first game.

Mafia: The Old Country will send fans to Old World Italy during the early 1900s in a story about the formation and rise of the infamous Family. And given this shift, along with some of its other related designs, The Old Country could be well-suited for fans of Rockstar Games’ renowned Red Dead Redemption series, and serve to provide a generally adjacent experience.

Why you should Play or Replay Mafia in 2025

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Why Now is the Time to Check Out or Replay the Mafia Series

Mafia: The Old Country is shortly set to bring fans into another criminal underworld, making it a great moment to revisit or try out the prior games.

With Red Dead Redemption Remaining Quiet on the Western Front, Mafia: The Old Country Could Be the Next Best Thing

Mafia: The Old Country’s Premise and Tone Closely Resemble Red Dead Redemption’s

While previous Mafia games drew comparisons to Grand Theft Auto, they were never really quite the same. Admittedly, these two IPs do share some surface elements, but the differences between their designs are significant enough to prevent the former from being a straight-up “GTA clone”, as the term has sometimes been applied. Mafia: The Old Country, though, does look to contain many traits that resemble Rockstar Games’ other massively popular franchise, Red Dead Redemption, in a variety of ways.

Similar to how Red Dead Redemption 2 served as a prequel to the 2010 original, following the life and adventures of Arthur Morgan and John Marston with the Van der Linde gang before the events of the first RDR, Mafia: The Old Country will place fans in the shoes of protagonist Enzo Favara. Young and eager to prove himself, he will become involved with and be inducted into a budding version of the Family. Like John and Arthur, Enzo will then wrestle with this and have to deal with the consequences of his choice to turn to a life of crime.

Why Mafia: The Old Country Might Help Scratch the Red Dead Redemption Itch

Red Dead Redemption has become known as one of, if not the ultimate, Old Western gaming experiences. Many fans have thus been hoping for new content ever since its release in 2018. Despite this, though, Rockstar Games so far has not expressed much interest in doing so. The studio has since largely been focused on its hugely anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, which was delayed earlier in February this year and is currently slated to launch on May 26, 2026.

Footage in the trailers for Mafia: The Old Country shows chase scenes and intense shootouts through the city of Sicily and the surrounding countryside. Characters are seen wielding period-appropriate weapons like revolvers, bolt-action rifles, and dynamite. Along with these gameplay aspects and the third-person perspective, The Old Country will feature a cinematic narrative approach with high production values, something both Red Dead Redemptions also did incredibly well.

Fans should note, however, that Mafia: The Old Country will be a much more linear experience versus a large open-world, and temper expectations in this regard compared to the RDR games. Nevertheless, given that there likely won’t be more RDR coming any time soon, The Old Country touches on a lot of other aspects that set it up to potentially provide an experience that those looking for something along the lines of Red Dead Redemption will enjoy.