Back in August, the fourth installment in the Mafia series landed for fans. Developed by Hanger 13, the third-person action adventure took players to 1900s Sicily for a prequel storyline involving Enzo Favara. While the Mafia: The Old Country campaign has been received quite well, its built-in free-roaming mode doesn"t have much in the form of content. The latest update is trying to change that.
The expanded free roam mode that Hanger 13 announced back in August is landing tomorrow. Aptly dubbed Free Ride, paying homage to the original Mafia"s Free Ride Extreme mode, the new mode comes with a Challenges system that offers combat, stealth, and racing events to participate in. The time and weather can also be changed while in this mode by visiting either the Vineyard or Enzo"s apartment.
"Completing Challenges will earn you the Dinari in-game currency to spend on the new outfits, charms, weapons, and vehicles unlocked by progressing through this content (as well as on items unlocked via the campaign)," explains the game"s Associate Design Director Josh Zammit. "We’ve also included a number of other fresh and exciting features for players to sink their teeth into, and I hope fans enjoy them."
Next, the studio is evoking "classic Italian cinema" with the new Cinema Siciliano mode, which turns the visuals black and white, the audio vintage-quality, and removes most of the UI for a more cinematic feel. A photo mode is included with the update too, which comes with its own filters and display options to tweak to get the perfect shots by pausing the game at any point.
First-person driving is also included. Available across the game, players will be able to step into the driver seat for the first time in the series. The studio is touting newly detailed car interiors and close-up animations for characters inside vehicles as well.
Another new addition of this update is the Classic Difficulty. Much like in the original Mafia, or the remake, this difficulty will make enemies deadlier, health regeneration less reliable, and even make players lose bullets when reloading unspent magazines that aren"t fully spent.
"I"m certain our hardcore fans will be happy that we"ve brought back Classic Difficulty," adds Zammit. "We definitely don"t pull our punches in this mode, and for people wanting higher stakes, it"s an extremely satisfying way to play. Although I"d recommend playing the game on one of the original difficulties first, Classic definitely puts your skills to the ultimate test."
Mafia: The Old Country’s Free Ride Update will be available across PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 tomorrow, November 20.