Mafia: The Old Country is one to watch for anyone who plans to obey traffic laws in GTA 6

There is a certain subset of sickos who love to turn gaming into a job. If you're wondering whether you fall into that category, ask yourself: Does the thought of meticulously organizing ammo by armor penetration values in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl set your heart aflutter? Do you find yourself obeying traffic laws in Grand Theft Auto 5? If your answer to any of this is yes, allow me to sell you on Mafia: The Old Country – the latest in a series built upon following rules to the letter.

After a nine-year hiatus following Mafia 3's controversial open world pivot, The Old Country will bring us back to where our well-dressed capers started: Sicily in the 1900s, birthplace of the Cosa Nostra crime family. There's a lot to be excited for – including, as contributor Jeremy Peel puts it, cars that "are so slow they go backwards" – but for many, Mafia's less-is-more open worlds and granular approach to game mechanics will make the wait until launch feel unbearably long.

Big in 2025 is the annual new year preview from GamesRadar+. Throughout January we are spotlighting the 50 most anticipated games of 2025 with exclusive interviews, hands-on previews, analysis, and so much more. Visit our Big in 2025 coverage hub to find all of our articles across the month.

The old ways are better

When Mafia: The Old Country's 2025 release window was announced last December, fans wondered whether publisher 2K's other upcoming crime game – this little-known thing called Grand Theft Auto 6 – would overshadow its long-awaited return. After all, they're both third-person action games with an emphasis on dangerous driving, gang warfare, and shooting (all what we call "crimes") in that order.

But really, the series' similarities are skin-deep. Where Grand Theft Auto has thrived in making increasingly vast sandboxes – a do anything, crash anywhere approach – the Mafia series' strengths lie in a more linear, narrative-driven experience. Mafia (presumably) won't let you seamlessly jump to a protagonist halfway across a horizon-spanning map, or rain missiles from above in a flying murder-bike. But you know what it will let you do? Obey traffic laws or get fined – or in the case of The Old Country's old-timey setting, ogle at one of them fancy automobiles while traipsing behind its fumes on horseback.

While Mafia 3 took a shot at emulating Grand Theft Auto's formula, the result was a game that buried its fantastic story beneath a convoluted open world. Now, The Old Country is going back to its roots as a narrative-first action game. Throw in the fact we'll likely be playing 100 years or so in the past, and there's plenty to separate the two – something that The Old Country game director Alex Cox has already pointed out.

"If you track both GTA and Mafia since 2000-ish, 2002 when GTA 3 and Mafia came out, they were mechanically very similar games," Cox told IGN last month. "But Mafia's always had a bit more focus on its linear narrative versus the sandbox experiences, which Rockstar does industry super-best quality. Actually Mafia over time has become increasingly more about the linear story, and so I don't think the games are fundamentally that similar other than they have a shared theme."

Meanwhile, we've seen an increasing amount of games play with more systemic pushback. Some of that is big – sequels like Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 are taking their series' infamously-challenging worlds and doubling down on their survival elements and realism-driven combat – while other instances are far smaller. Think of the way Baldur's Gate 3 necessitates sleep, appropriating D&D's long rests rather than smoothing over it in a way we're more familiar with. Dragon's Dogma 2 made fast-travelling time-consuming or costly depending on whether you jumped on a wagon or used a pricey crystal to teleport, forcing players to plan for long journeys between settlements.

Game worlds are being designed less for players to steamroll through, and more to feel lived within. It's something Mafia has always been ahead of the curve on. Its prime example is having to obey traffic laws – speeding, skipping through red lights, and otherwise being a menace on the road will result in you being pulled over by the police. That sort of attention isn't ideal for the mob shenanigans you're very likely on the road for, so throughout the game it's in your best interest to behave whenever possible.

Pair all of that with more and more players falling out of love with endless open worlds, and 2025 begins to feel like the perfect storm for Mafia: The Old Country. I'm hoping our trip to Sicily has more of that mechanical texture – whatever shape that may entail, given 20th century Sicilian traffic laws may be a little early for speeding tickets. Dated automobiles should feel awkward to drive, and I'd love for melee weapons to be as much of a necessity as they've felt through trailers so far. Throw in a linear mob story as personable as the first two titles, and this thing of ours could be onto a winner.

Stay up-to-date with what's coming up with our list of upcoming game release dates for 2025