The history behind Mafia: The Old Country and its development, everything you should know before its arrival on August 8

This is all you can expect from Mafia: The Old Country before its release on August 8.

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Mafia: The Old Country is not just an action game with a cinematic setting: it’s a deeply personal story built around characters that the player can connect with from the very beginning.

The development team has focused particularly on creating believable characters that seem like real people living in their world. The game has already completed its development, as we shared with you last Friday, so here’s a summary of what to expect on August 8th.

Enzo Favara: The Rise of a Man of Honor

In Mafia: The Old Country, we take on the role of Enzo Favara, a young man marked by a brutal childhood of forced labor and hardship in early 20th-century Sicily. Enzo is not your typical gangster: he’s a survivor with a clear dream, and he’s willing to sacrifice everything for a better future. His goal: to join the Torrisi family, one of the most influential and dangerous mafia organizations in southern Italy.

• Enzo starts his journey as a simple pawn, but as he gains the trust of his superiors, his role becomes more complex. Far from glorifying the mafia lifestyle, the game shows the personal cost of this rise. The promise of respect and power comes with betrayals, relentless violence, and a code of silence as fierce as it is bloody. His oath to the family will also be his condemnation: “The family sacrifices”.

A World Dominated by the Mafia

The story of Mafia: The Old Country takes place in an era where the values of organized crime prevail over the law. The streets are controlled by rival families that wage hidden territorial wars through attacks, ambushes, and blackmail. Trust is a luxury, and loyalties change like the tides. All this is experienced through the eyes of Enzo, trapped between ambition, loyalty, and survival.

• The title faithfully recreates the years 1910-1920 in Sicily: from stone-paved streets and clandestine cafes to large country villas guarded by armed thugs. The era’s weapons, such as the lupara (sawed-off shotgun) or the Sicilian stiletto, take center stage, as do early combustion vehicles and horseback rides.

The Torrisi Family

• Don Salvatore Torrisi – The family leader. A man of unyielding principles, ruthless with his enemies and protective of his own. He sees Enzo as a rough diamond, but doesn’t hesitate to put him to the test.

• Rosina Torrisi – The Don’s daughter. Intelligent, brave, and with her own ideas. She has an ambiguous relationship with Enzo: trust or betrayal?

• Franco Bellini – Salvatore’s right-hand man. Sadistic, calculating, and a veteran of many clan wars. He doesn’t look favorably on Enzo’s rise.

• Vito Mancuso – An old friend of Enzo’s from his days of hunger and street life. He’s trapped in his own path within the crime world, with decisions that will mark their intertwined destinies.

• Madonna Elisabetta – The silent matriarch. A mysterious figure who knows the family’s deepest secrets and pulls the strings from the shadows.

A Story of Honor, Betrayal, and Blood

Mafia: The Old Country doesn’t limit itself to a story of revenge or ambition. It focuses on identity, duty, and loss, all with a cinematic narrative approach reminiscent of The Godfather or Gomorrah. The mafia lifestyle is presented as a gilded cage: fascinating, but deadly.

• As the campaign progresses, we’ll see how Enzo loses his innocence, makes tough decisions, and faces moral dilemmas that will define his destiny and that of the Torrisi family. All this is accompanied by detailed scenarios, powerful dialogue, full Spanish dubbing (as we confirmed weeks ago), and a visually stunning aspect, driven by advanced motion capture techniques and top-notch performances.

The Casting, a Fundamental Pillar

One of the most notable aspects of the creative process was the selection of the cast. In story-driven games like this, casting becomes a critical phase. The actors not only lend their voices to the characters but also bring essential emotional nuances for the player to feel what the studio aims to convey.

• It was thus that the character of Enzo emerged, a central figure in the game. Ricardo, the actor who portrays him, brought a unique vision that directly influenced the character’s evolution. Enzo began as a more innocent and clean-cut young man, but as the story progressed and the actor became more involved, he transformed into someone more dangerous, human, and complex. A “badass,” as the developers themselves describe him.

A Collaborative and Living Process

The development of the character passed through many hands: from writers to the art director, including animators. Each one contributed unique elements that ultimately shaped Enzo. The studio describes this process as a natural evolution, where each iteration added layers of depth.

• Additionally, there was a significant effort to listen to the ideas of the actors and directors, so that the interpretations felt authentic and the artists felt comfortable in their roles.

Motion Capture as a Language

One of the biggest challenges was working with motion capture, especially with actors not accustomed to this environment. The team used studios in both Europe and California and resorted to total capture techniques: body, face, and audio at the same time, which allowed for outstanding emotional fidelity.

• The direction of actors and the visual aid with virtual environments were key for the performers to correctly imagine the scenes. Despite the demanding process, the actors enjoyed the creative freedom that motion capture gave them.

A Bond Between Player and Character

The chemistry between the actors, and especially Ricardo’s interpretation of Enzo, has been one of the most celebrated pillars by the team. The ambition is clear: to make the player form a lasting bond with the characters, with the music, with the places… and for Mafia: The Old Country to be an unforgettable experience from the first encounter.