2K finally announced what Hangar 13 has been working on at Gamescom Opening Night Live, and unsurprisingly, it’s the prequel to the Mafia games that we previously reported on back in 2022. After years of tumult, Mafia: The Old Country has finally emerged and it’s set to take us to the origins of the mafia in 1900s Sicily when it releases next year. That gives you all just enough time to play through the existing Mafia trilogy, which just happens to be remarkably cheap right now.
On Steam, Humble Bundle and Xbox, you can currently cop the entirety of the Mafia Trilogy—a compilation that gathers the definitive editions of the first three titles— for $15. That includes a remake of the first game, a remaster of the second (with all of its DLC included), as well as Mafia 3 and all of its DLC. I guess you could say that 2K Games is making you an offer you can’t refuse. You can also snag each one of the games individually on Steam.
Mafia: Definitive Edition will run you $8 on Steam, Humble Bundle and Xbox, but it’s also available on Game Pass for both systems, as well as the PS Plus catalog. Notoriously a bit of a slow burn, I recall the original game being incredibly moody, and a more direct parallel to its cinematic influences than other games around it at the time. It wasn’t at all what I expected out of an open-world crime game, though my experience was pretty limited to Grand Theft Auto back then, and I think these days I’d really find a lot to love about it and its atmosphere. Hell, if you want to stick to that classic feeling, the original version of Mafia is also on sale right now for just about $5.
Mafia 2 came about a decade later in 2010, and though it got knocked for its linearity—even if in my opinion, it means it doesn’t suffer from open-world bloat— it’s still probably my favorite. I remember being wowed by its production values, a staple which carried over from the original game, and its attention to detail. While other open-world games were certainly upping their fidelity and the sizes of their worlds, Mafia was always a series more interested in the minute details, which always led to interesting wrinkles and systems that flew under the radar despite the franchise’s clear success and longevity.
In Mafia 2, one of those systems was the ability to interact with certain objects in one of two ways: either neutrally, or in a more violent manner. It was a subtle system that might not have meant much to too many people back in the day, but as far as roleplaying tools that help build immersive worlds and characters, this was absolutely wonderful.
Mafia 2 was also just a tried-and-true mobster story, filled with the kind of deplorable characters and tragic twists one might expect from their favorite mob movie. Yeah, I’m a Mafia 2 apologist, and you can be too once you pick it up as part of the Mafia Trilogy or on Steam where it’s going for $7.49 right now.
Mafia 3 is the most recent entry, releasing back in 2016, and it and its DLC are now compiled into a definitive edition that you can pick up for $7.49. I admittedly haven’t played this game, but it’s at the top of my to-do list due to its main character, Lincoln Clay. A Black veteran of the Vietnam War, he returns from overseas only to be plunged into a life of crime in the deep South, where he still feels the effects of racism and segregation as he rises through the ranks. Games that are frank in their tackling of subject matter such as institutional racism in America aren’t exactly a dime a dozen, and though Mafia 3 sounds like it has trouble clearing some technical hurdles, I’m more than happy to hear it out.
Altogether, the Mafia series is one of the more interesting open-world crime franchises, departing from the do-anything zaniness of its closest competitors with more somber, linear stories and some unique systems. Everywhere they could (and maybe should) have zigged, the developers stewarding the series have zagged. I think that makes the series bolder and more unique than a dozen other GTA clones that have come and gone. And after all of this, the Mafia series is still standing, and even has a fresh new game on the horizon, so these games clearly stand the test of time.
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