There was an outpouring of support for developer Hangar 13 this week when it announced that Mafia: The Old Country would ditch its open world, and focus on a “linear, narrative-driven” gameplay experience instead.
Historically, publishers like Take-Two would have probably tried to hide this detail, but as games have gotten bigger and more time consuming, there’s an increasing demand for simpler, shorter experiences.
To be fair, the company has priced the sequel accordingly: the Sicily-set outing will cost $49.99/£44.99 at launch, a far cry from the $79.99 titles that are about to become the norm.
And the vast majority of you are satisfied with this direction: in a Push Square poll, an impressive 64% of you said you are glad the game isn’t open world. Just 19% argued you want a sandbox, with the remaining 18% satisfied either way.
It’s perhaps worth pointing out at this stage that Mafia has always done its open worlds a little differently from the likes of GTA, with the exception of perhaps Mafia 3, which was roundly criticised for its repetitive gameplay structure.
The first two Mafia games had what’s colloquially referred to as a “faux-pen world” – a largely non-interactive backdrop which you could explore, but which served little purpose beyond giving you a means to travel from A-to-B. They were undoubtedly atmospheric and cool, but they added little to the experience.