Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast - Mafia: The Old Country Review - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

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Starting point is 00:00:07 Yo, what the heck is going on, everybody? Welcome in to today's Kind of Funny Gamescast for August 13th, 2025. I'm going to show, Oh, Snowbike, Mike. And today, Barrett looks good today. Barrett looks good today. Yeah, Barrett. Thank you, Roger. Oh, thank you.
Starting point is 00:00:25 I'm so happy. Hi, Barrett. Welcome into today's Kind of Funny Gamescast. How are you? I'm doing well, Mike. You know, as audio listeners will probably hear later. Different audio quality. We're doing some maintenance in the studio that we thought worked and then didn't.
Starting point is 00:00:40 So we're hanging out on the casting couch here. Oh, a casting couch. Hello, Roger. I have my arm over you because, yeah, we're on the couch today, so we have to get comfortable. I'm sitting crisscross, applesauce. Chris cross. Roger, how are you doing today? I'm doing great.
Starting point is 00:00:55 I mean, like, praise the Lord, Crimson Don. Crimson Dawn's out. Out of 2026. You know what that means. What they call you? Afraid drop Mike. Two drop Mike? Two droppers.
Starting point is 00:01:05 Two droppers. Two dropper. Bang, bang. I've had a couple two drops in my life. Now, here's a deal, Roger. Before you guys go off, what did you give Roger? What did you, because Roger's been selling this,
Starting point is 00:01:19 it's like, oh, you've been helping him, you've been helping him. But all I can see is that how this is going to benefit you towards a possible win for fantasy critic. So I want to know the real story here of what you did to have Roger help you out. What did you promise Roger? Yeah, to kick off today's kind of,
Starting point is 00:01:35 games cast, we'll just do a quick fantasy critic check-in because Mike and Roger had a scheme and really it all came down to Roger had a scheme just a couple of weeks ago. He got deep into the discord kernels of fantasy critic, started talking partial
Starting point is 00:01:51 remake, remaster, blah, blah, and got it so he could bet on Final Fantasy tactics. With your help. With my help. And I said, okay, Roger, I'm here to ride or die with you. I'm always down to help you. And Roger had this idea, this brilliant idea in his mind, that he wanted to get Final Fantasy Tactics as a partial remake so he could bid on it, which we did. We convinced hundreds upon thousands
Starting point is 00:02:17 of fantasy critic discorders to vote on that. And so the vote went through. And Roger said, okay, well, now I have to drop something, or we could trade Mike, and then I could drop whatever. And Roger looked at me and goes, how about Crimson Desert? And I said, Roger, if this team doesn't show up at Gamescom, it's not coming out this year. So I'm down to trade. And Roger was like, what if I give you Ninja Guide and four? And I said, Roger, let's do this thing. And so that's when the trade rumors started to happen.
Starting point is 00:02:51 You know, text messages were exchanged. Shams was on the call. He was like, I'm hearing that Mike and Roger have come up with a blockbuster trade that is fair and between two consenting adults. And that's when we tried to get it going. So it's like, this is all coming from Roger, but Mike was going to get one up, you know what I mean? And so- That's how any good trade happens, though. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:03:12 It helps both parties. And so maybe David Stern, you know, aka blessing, you know, came in and ruled saying no trades this year whatsoever. Because Greg Miller really ruined the trades. It was never Mike and Roger. It was Greg Miller a couple years. Well, I feel like the way y'all treated whatever y'all have done in the last couple weeks have also maybe soured that even more. Yeah. Well, we had big plans.
Starting point is 00:03:35 We wanted to do this. Here's the good thing about this, is that we've really seen a lot of success when it comes to what we were trying to do. There's kind of a movement happening in the audience. So we're proud to announce that in the next few weeks when we do have that meeting, that games cast,
Starting point is 00:03:48 where we go over the rules for next year. Mike and I will have kind of a vision for what the next year. We're doing a meeting in the next couple of weeks about next year. Yeah, yeah. We're going to start talking about next year. We've got to start bringing it. So Mike and I have a pitch.
Starting point is 00:04:01 We have an idea. It's a vision, really. I would like to move, Roger's nickname from the tastemaker to the visionary. Oh, shit. I like that. The architect. The architect.
Starting point is 00:04:10 Okay, because we're on the move now, Baird, of Roger got what he wanted. And Mike technically didn't get anything because the trade got... You got Ninja Guiden for... You get to drop Crimson Desert. I technically didn't get anything. If we're rewinding the time, I didn't get anything, right? Roger had to go through the proper protocols, which means I had to go through the proper protocols. So everything's still above board.
Starting point is 00:04:33 I did get Ninja Garden 4 for $2. Great sliding, great pickup, because Roger had to drop it. And now I was going to drop Crimson Deserts on a normal drop. But guess what? They've announced that they're going to 2006. And so now I get two drops. Yeah, I love that. Two drops.
Starting point is 00:04:52 And also, I just want to put it out there. Yeah. I've been listening to Moneyball. Learning a lot about the Oakland A's, a lot about trading, a lot about money, a lot about ball. And you know me, I'm a baller. at heart. Baller at heart. Oh, boy. Look out. Reddit is already...
Starting point is 00:05:07 You're going to get arrested for like insider trading or some shit next year. We got this. Reddit is already teasing you and Tim for the, what they call the worst high five of the year. Oh, I think he said the worst episode of Cutter Funny Game Daily. I would also do that. Okay, okay. That was on me, though. I put that on me.
Starting point is 00:05:21 So make sure to check out the recent Reddit post right now of Roger and Tim poorly high-fiving each other, which is really making mind. It was so bad. It was really good. It was really embarrassing. I have gathered these two dudes on the couch to talk. all things mafia old country. So that will be your games castes. We will be sitting down to talk about Mafia
Starting point is 00:05:39 old country giving our review. No impression tears because we've played plenty. We've all, we're going to review this thing. We finished it. You didn't. Yeah, what happened? What happened, Mike? Nothing worse, Barry. I know you know a bear because you and I are very similar flyers here. Okay? Two flights over
Starting point is 00:05:55 Monday and Tuesday for me. Both flights you get in the plane? This is your captain speaking. Some good news. Two good things. One good thing, one bad thing for you. Which one do you all want? Good thing. What do you want for us?
Starting point is 00:06:08 This light's only 45 minutes down to L.A., so that's pretty cool. Bad thing. Yeah, we're not allowed to leave the tarmac for another 55 minutes, so we're going to be trapped in this plane. Then the second one, we get on, I got two things for you. Good thing, 45-minute flight. Bad thing. We're going to be trapped on this plane for an hour and a half.
Starting point is 00:06:29 And I'm thinking, oh, my God, what is going on here? So last time I was going to try to beat the game really was the beginning of the story. But unfortunately, I got trapped on a plane. Did watch both episodes of Alien Earth. Whatever you gibronies are doing out there, I don't care what you're doing. I don't want to hear any excuses.
Starting point is 00:06:47 You need to drop what you're doing tonight and watch both episodes of Alien Earth. That shit is good, y'all. This is much watched television, okay? I watched the first episode, really good. I'm going to spoil the shit out of it tomorrow. So you better watch it. Where?
Starting point is 00:07:04 That's your warning now. People come in on whatever show. Yeah. Whatever I feel like I'm coming in, I'm going to blast for five minutes off the hip. So you better be ready on this one. But let's jump into it because this is the kind of funny games cast each and every weekday. We get together to talk about the biggest reviews,
Starting point is 00:07:21 previews and topics in the video game world live on YouTube, Twitch and on podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, consider supporting us with the new kind of funny membership available on Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, or Apple. podcast to get all of our shows ad-free, watch us as we record them live, and get your daily exclusive show, Gregway. For a chance to be part of the show, submit your thoughts and opinions as super chats on YouTube as we go.
Starting point is 00:07:46 Of course, we'll be giving our thoughts and opinions on Mafia, the Old Country. So if you have any questions, you want to share your thoughts on the game so far, since it's been out for about a week now, please let us hear you over on the YouTube side of things. So to housekeeping news for you, we are an 11-person small business, all about live talk, shows earlier today. You got kind of funny games daily running you through the nerdy news you need to know about. The big headline, Crimson Desert, being delayed until 2026. After this, you're going to get a very special kind of funny streams. It's a movie watch-along, and it's the movie of the year. It's Ice Tubes, War of the Worlds. And I'm happy to report that I've seen this movie twice now.
Starting point is 00:08:25 What? Twice. So I can't wait for you all to watch it. It's a cinematic masterpiece. And this is another movie you have to watch. Then after that, I was going to say, I don't think it's on here, but also just want to point out, Monday, we have the Giant Bomb X Kind of Funny Pizza Bandit, let's play that's going up live before Kind of Funny Games Daily. We want to start promoting that ahead of time because why are you looking to me like that? Do you want the laptop? It's not there. It's going to be on there.
Starting point is 00:08:53 It's literally. You have to let me work. It's literally not there. I'm looking at it right now. He does not have it anywhere. It's like, the housekeeping. Roger, what, I'm a show. I'm handling business. I know what I was going to get to. You came in hot. Okay. You got to let me finish with the great way.
Starting point is 00:09:08 You got to finish. The housekeeping goes in order. There's nothing on your screen. There's a run of the day. And then there's going to be the highlights in the week. Usually you do the highlight of the week and then you do the run of the day. Yeah, exactly. No, no.
Starting point is 00:09:20 You do a highlight of the week at the end of the run of the day. No, that's not how it goes. I'm telling you what's happening of the day. And then next week on Monday, we have a very special crossover. Oh, okay. Tell me about it. Tell me about it. You ruined my flow.
Starting point is 00:09:32 exactly what I wrote in housekeeping. I'm going to remember this. I'm going to remember this. Okay? Check it out. It's a sponsor thing. It's awesome. You get to see where Tim hurt his heel. And also, Dan Reiker make a pizza for the very first time. He does pick up pizza dough and says, what is this? Oh, wow. This is crazy. That is his first words.
Starting point is 00:09:49 Also, blessing at one point goes, oh, no. It's really good. It's really good. Why don't you finish this one, so? What? We'll finish today's updates. Because we didn't finish today update. You're like a parent trying to make it.
Starting point is 00:10:02 Your kids smoke an entire bag of cigarettes. If you're a kind of funny member, today's Gregway, is Tim and Cool G from the car. And I think Rogers also doing one as well, so you get a little double Gregway. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster, and Delaney, the Somme Twining. Today, we are brought to you by Shady Rays and ORAFrams,
Starting point is 00:10:22 but we'll tell you all about that a little bit later. For now, let's start the show with topic of the show. Touch, touch, touch, touch. Topic of the show. Mafia, the old country. review from Kind of Funny Barrett and Roger have beaten the game. Your boy Snowbike Mike has played a lot of this video game. So we're going to be giving our scores and thoughts on this game throughout today's show. Of course, Mafia, the Old Country, developed by Hangar 13, published
Starting point is 00:10:47 by 2K games released on August 8, 2025. Hanger 13 is celebrating 20 years of Mafia. And Mafia the Old Country returns after nine years since Mafia 3. Currently sitting at a Metacritic of 75. IGN gave it an 8 out of 10. GameSpot gave it a 6 out of 10, fair, and VGC gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Let's go around really quick before we start talking. Roger, you beat the game.
Starting point is 00:11:17 How long did it take you? I don't even know. Probably like 10, 11 hours. Okay. Yeah, I think that's about right. My PlayStation clock, which always kind of is weird, when I rolled credits, I think it was like 14 hours. Oh, wow.
Starting point is 00:11:31 Okay. That's a lot. But I don't know if I, like, left it on at some point or something. So, yeah. Your boy still bike, Mike, is probably six hours in. I'm definitely, I'm way past the back half. I'm in it, for sure. So I'm near the ending of it all.
Starting point is 00:11:46 I will beat it all tonight, which will be fun. What did we all play on? I played on PlayStation 5. PC with the graphics crank to extreme. Ooh, I was also on PlayStation 5. Yes. Okay. Performance mode?
Starting point is 00:11:58 Quality mode, honestly. Wow. Got that new, uh, got that new, uh, TV or LGC Yeah, I wanted to get that quality mode and honestly I think the frame rate output with quality mode wasn't too bad. Yeah, I started off with
Starting point is 00:12:12 quality mode by accident because also by the way PlayStation 5 has that setting where you can just choose and it never changes it. It never changes it for me. So whatever. I was playing quality mode for like the first like hour or two and I didn't notice it really too much but I wanted to prefer with much. Well let's go around the room right now. Let's talk about our reviews. Of course
Starting point is 00:12:28 Barrett is standing up but we will kick off with Barrett. No. Why would you start with Rogers? He got up. I got to do shit. Out of all of kind of funny lore, Barrett has been the mafia man. Roger, talk for me. Hi, Roger, here speaking into the microphone.
Starting point is 00:12:46 Maybe my mic is off. Maybe it's a little bit off. Maybe I need to move it. You let me know. It sounds fine now. All right, I'm coming back. Let's go to where you all want to hear from the mafia man. The man who knows mafia in it out is Barrett Courtney.
Starting point is 00:12:58 I'm sorry. Kevin is not in the room. Kevin is, you know, doing surgery. on a computer right now, so I'm both reviewing this game and doing a director stuff. Mafia, the old country, the first new mafia game in nine years.
Starting point is 00:13:12 The third mafia game that Hanger 13 has worked on, right? Their first game that they came out with was back in 2016, Mafia 3, and then they did a remake of Mafia 1 back in 2020, I believe. So they didn't do two. No, they did not do two.
Starting point is 00:13:28 They also, like, they didn't work on the original Mafia one or anything like And I think they might have just ported Mafia 2. And then they did, what was it, Topsman last year. Yes, they did Topspin that returned. But then the big return of Mafia, the old country. I have been a big believer in Hanger 13 since Mafia 3, despite that game, kind of being a mess in terms of open world design.
Starting point is 00:13:55 That team did such a good job of building a sense of atmosphere and place in the setting. of New Bordeaux in the late 60s where you're playing as someone who is tearing down the mafia, right? And I think that story and that world was so impressive to me that I was like, damn, even though this is kind of a mid-game, they have something special here as a studio that I want to see what they do in the future.
Starting point is 00:14:22 And then, you know, before they did this, they did the remake of Mafia One, which I think was them trying to be like, all right, maybe we bit off a bit more than we could chew with Mafia 3. Let's look back at what the series did originally, and let's try to take some lessons away from that of remaking this game from 2002, 2003, I think, around that time.
Starting point is 00:14:47 I unfortunately think they took way too many lessons of remaking Mafia 1 into making a new title with Mafia the Old Country. I think Mafia the Old Country is an uninformed, inspired and kind of just bland entry for the mafia franchise. I would say it's not offensively bad. It's not a standout in any way. I think it's a six out of 10 okay game.
Starting point is 00:15:18 And, you know, I was watching Nick play yesterday and him kind of coming to terms with like, oh, it's weird because it's kind of open world, but it's presented very linearly and stuff like that, and that is very much a style of the GTA clone that we've seen throughout the years, like an LA noir, like the original mafia games, right? And I do think there's a place for that in modern gaming, but I think Hanger 13 took way too many inspirations from a game from 2002, that it kind of sticks out, the game design, I think, sticks out like a sore thumb in 2025. But even with that, I was hopeful of them telling a great new story, and And this unfortunately just kind of feels beat for beat like Mafia 1, but with a different
Starting point is 00:16:03 coat of paint. It's a very pretty game, well-performed. It doesn't do anything super interesting, and it just kind of, by the end of it, I was like, you know, I'm glad to be back in this universe. And, you know, it has me replaying Mafia 1 just to see if I was crazy in the kind of, like, kind of beat for beat, the kind of you starting from the bottom and working your way up through the mafia, and then things go wrong. kind of thing. But yeah,
Starting point is 00:16:30 biggest disappointment of the year, I would say, for me. Oh, wow. Because I, even though they make, you know, gameplay-wise, kind of very middling games, I was really hoping for something truly inspired in terms of storytelling and character like they were with Mafia 3.
Starting point is 00:16:47 Roger, let's go to you. Roger, what are your thoughts on Mafia, the old country? Yeah, so my history with Mafia really quick is I played Mafia 2 probably when I was like 12, before I would watch any of Mafia movies that it was inspired by and had them watch Goodfellas
Starting point is 00:17:02 at the time. So when I played Mafia 2 on the On Live platform, by the way, shout out to On Live, which was like Xbox Game Pass Cloud, before Xbox Game Pass Cloud, on my little shitty Toshiba laptop that had missing keys. I fucking adored the game. I adored Mafia 2.
Starting point is 00:17:19 A lot of people love them. I love it. Shout to Vito. Shout out Vito. And it sticks in my brain that entire experience like that game. And of course, like looking back It was very formulaic. It was very, you know, by the number, especially if you compare it to the Goodfellas
Starting point is 00:17:32 and all the other Mafia stories. But that holds a special place in my heart. So I was like lightly looking forward to Mafia, the Old Country. I hadn't played Mafia 3, I had not played the Mafia One remake. And I got into Mafia, the old country. And I was like, in the very beginning, the first few hours, I came to you.
Starting point is 00:17:51 And I was like, man, this game ain't good. It is so formulaic. It is like, you're doing the same thing over and over. A lot of knife. fights, super predictable plot. But then I started to become a little bit confused with my feelings. Because even though I believe everything that I'm saying, I stand by. It is a very formulaic video game.
Starting point is 00:18:11 A lot of its ideas are very trite and well-worn territory. And the gameplay specifically is very loose and like it doesn't feel tight. I can't, the shooting does not feel good. By the ending of it, kind of love it. I kind of love this video game just because it is always. a warm hug of a video game. It brings you back to your child. Yes, and I felt safe throughout the experience.
Starting point is 00:18:35 It was very easy. It was like, I knew exactly all the twists that were happening. And there was something nice about this beautiful world that is well-acted, that is gorgeous when you play it on T's 5. It's so pretty. And it is just a linear experience. It is not a 25-hour, take out the bases, go over here to... It's none of that. It is just you go from here to here.
Starting point is 00:18:57 You can skip driving. You can skip riding on the horse. It is very L&OR in that respect. I really enjoyed my time. But at the end of the day, I can't give it more than a 6.5. You know what I mean? I liked the game, but the core of it is just an okay video game. But I really still enjoyed my time, if that makes sense.
Starting point is 00:19:17 I think that's like the weird thing about rating a video game, right? Where on paper, I have to tell you guys, like, it is a very okay video game. Like, I would never tell somebody to spend their $50 of hard-earned cash to go buy this video game. But I still enjoy. enjoyed it. I think that's kind of where we're going to go back and forth on because Mike, I would love to hear your experience because you and I were, we had a fun little... You all had an energy
Starting point is 00:19:36 what was it Monday morning and that I was not prepared for at 9 o'am. I wasn't prepared for it honestly because that was the first time I talked to somebody about the game. Fun to just let it out. I've been live streaming it and so a lot of people and I have gone on a journey together and so for me, Roger, it's interesting hearing both of you guys
Starting point is 00:19:52 kind of nestling on that six okay, right? I've been exploring the kind of funny scale really with the words. Right? I don't like where this one is currently placed. I think it should be a little bit higher, but I am going to go with this is a bad video game. Mafia, the old country, is a three out of ten.
Starting point is 00:20:10 Oh, my God. Bad video game. I expect it. I would prefer this to be five out of ten, but because of our scale, the word bad is used at the three levels. So I'm going to give this a three out of ten. A fun one for you all to start off this. Let's be real.
Starting point is 00:20:26 The fortune to be mad. Yeah, it shouldn't be mad. Exactly. Thank you. To start this all off with all of you, the funniest part of the live streams were a lot of people said, hey, the saying goes, this is a seven out of ten that I love like a nine out of ten. Mafia the old country is a five out of ten that I love like a seven out of ten. Mafia the old country to me,
Starting point is 00:20:47 well, I gave it a bad out of ten, which is, unfortunately, a three for us. We should really rework that, but that's not Mike, so don't worry about that. Yeah, we have mediocre and met on a scale, which should not. I don't know where y'all were at on that conversation. So, Roger, is it like a three? If you would prefer, Roger, it's a three out of them. Don't put it from me, you can. That I love like a seven.
Starting point is 00:21:10 Okay, yeah, yeah, Roger. It's a, at the core of it, this is a bad video game. Unfortunately, Maffrey the Old Country and Hanger 13 will wow you with its visuals. It will capture you with its character design. It's okay voice acting, and it's fine narrative that you. you've seen in many other mafia stories before. But the problem in the heart of it all is the gameplay is just bad. Unfortunately, they did not figure out what they were going to do moment to moment with you
Starting point is 00:21:39 playing. We really tried to avoid this open world. Ubisoft checkpoint list video game like a GTA clone. And we created this linear narrative experience set in this beautiful open world that has all of these cross guards on you that does not want you to go out and explore it. and it will let you explore it, but it doesn't ever want you to actually explore it, so you never will explore this. And so the goods in this is, man, the game looks so good.
Starting point is 00:22:06 The moment you are whisked away, you want to spend more time in it. But the moment it opens up and you start to notice that the mission structure is simply ride a horse from point A to point B. Okay, stop. Now I want you to drive a car from point A to point B. Now stop. Okay, now I want you to play this small action combat arena where you're going to shoot, 13 bad guys, stop.
Starting point is 00:22:29 Now we're going to have a stealth mission where there's no stealth at all. You can just walk by everyone. And there was moments in this where you're like, oh, you were trying to build something and you just never realized what the gameplay should be. And it is hard to look at this game and give it any sort of praise
Starting point is 00:22:45 when you're actually coming to it for the gameplay. It's just simply nothing. And there's a lot of walking and talking missions where I want to be involved in the conversation. But we're walking at a pace where my character is walking faster than the character I'm supposed to follow with no trail map on it. So now I'm awkwardly waiting for you to catch up to me slash lead and guide me. So I have to walk forwards and backwards to keep up with you and the conversation.
Starting point is 00:23:11 Or we're riding on horses. And now, instead of having an auto ride to soak in the scenery that you've built that is like the best part of this whole entire video game, I can't because I actually have to guide and steer the horse. And so trying to look at it, my horse is going on. off the road, I'm banging into things. Instead of having an auto ride, they decide, you know what, you can just skip this. And you're like, well, no, I'm here for the story. It's a narrative
Starting point is 00:23:34 game. I want to sit through these cutscenes, and I want to listen and watch. Just let me ride, right? Or we get in the car, and it is the most boring drive, a slog driving on these little old tiny cars, and it's like, none of this is fun. And that's
Starting point is 00:23:50 the problem with this game. It's none of it is fun at its core. It's a beautiful game, and I somehow got swept up in it where every night all it wanted to do was go back to this but when I played I'm like man what are we doing so yeah on the snow bike mic
Starting point is 00:24:05 review for this it's going to be a bad video game well yeah I mean I think all that is like valid as the person that I think is probably the highest at this at this table yeah you get it's 6.5 right 6.5 yeah but it's all valid like I totally get that I have those same experiences that I was running up against
Starting point is 00:24:22 of like man how many fucking knife fights can we have how many times do we have to hop on the horse and go from point A to point B? And also, going back really quick to what you're saying of like, I think my issue with that whole thing of like, oh, well, you can just skip driving and it's just not a good experience
Starting point is 00:24:38 having to walk next to these people while they're talking. They're not really saying anything interesting. Like, there's never like that experience where I'm like a god of war or whatever where you're walking with somebody. Like, oh, there's like an interesting back and forth. That I can't miss. Yeah. Nothing. And that's like the thing where
Starting point is 00:24:52 even compared to Mafia 1 and why this like a game structurally reminds me so much of the very first Mafia. And the frustration I have with it is, like, going back to the remake, it's like, yeah, there's a lot of very similar beats. There's, like, two kind of big things that are big differences in terms of, like, plot. And you're doing a lot of the same things in Mafia One. You drive from point A to point B. You're walking around carrying a crate and stuff like that.
Starting point is 00:25:18 But the strength of the series were the characters and the story. And replaying Mafia won the last couple of days. I'm enjoying those drives because I'm like, oh, like, I'm learning more about, like, these three characters that are, like, really focusing in on to actually be, like, a group of friends and buddies that are helping each other out and trying to grow this business where, like, I don't feel that sense at all in Mafia, the old country, where they try to do, like, you know, Cheshire, like, again, it's so Mafia one-coded. You have, like, the loud best friend who's Cheseray, you know, you have the cool kind of
Starting point is 00:25:53 knows their shit kind of do with Lucas. and those are your two best friends in Mafia One, right? And, you know, they try to hit those kind of same beats, but I just don't, I don't think the writing is there in any way that, like, makes you actually want to live in and take in the story. And that's why, like, my suggestion would be, play the Mafia One remake. Sure.
Starting point is 00:26:15 That's good. Well, I want to dive more into this because there's so much to talk about from actual gameplay, combat the story, the awesome world. Let's talk about all that and more right after a word. from our sponsors. This episode's brought to you by Shady Ray's. You know that moment. The one when you realized you left your favorite pair of sunglasses at the beach.
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Starting point is 00:28:38 And since this is a Snowbike Mike-led review, I love to talk about the positives in the game first. I love that. So I want to start off. Everybody give me one good thing we liked about this game. while we start to dive in a little bit deeper into the systems of the games, the things we liked and didn't like.
Starting point is 00:28:54 But I want to talk about things that we really enjoyed from Mafia in the old country to kick this off. I'm gonna shoot some bail to the knife fights because even though there's a lot of them and it is the same thing over and over,
Starting point is 00:29:08 I think they're kind of cute. I'm not mad at them. Every time I do them, I wasn't like dreading it. I thought it was an interesting mechanic. I do think there could have been better scaling to it, specifically because you could do the same
Starting point is 00:29:18 exact thing to every single one of them, and I think some of them block a little bit more. But it is cute, and like a lot of these things, usually they can get very, very annoying and difficult and also just like stopping the pacing of the game. It does stop the pacing of the game, but I wasn't mad at it, and I was like smiling at it because it gets ridiculous. It becomes like a comedy by the ending of it, and that is kind of the fun for me when you get into the mafia, the old country. It becomes camp. It becomes silly, it becomes an unsubriced thing. We got to that point on the stream yesterday was Nick, or the guy literally has a shotgun to you dead to rights.
Starting point is 00:29:52 And he's like, you know what? I will do a knife fight instead. It's like, no, you should just kill me right now. It becomes campy. It becomes very silly, and this is not a serious experience. And once you realize that, I had a way better time with it. I like that you bring up the knife fights because I'm 50-50 on it. I like the knife fights a lot.
Starting point is 00:30:09 I like that we get grounded and gritty. We get up close with the camera work. And we really have these kind of wow moments. The first knife fight, the second night fight, I think you kind of take it back, like, oh, this is kind of cool, right? There's a Dodge. There's a Perry, of course. We've got to have all those in games in 2026.
Starting point is 00:30:25 I love slashing. I love having the fun. But there's a point where the second knife fight turns into the third, the fourth, the fifth. There's a moment where a man had a gun, had me dead to rights, puts the gun down just to knife fight me. Because this is our big, wow game. This is like their boss fight. Yeah. And it's the problem is with the knife fights.
Starting point is 00:30:47 They all go the same way. We are parrying, dodging, stabbing, stabbing. I get you to half health, and no matter what, and on all the seven knife fights, ten fight fights, we have to have a semi-cutting. Half-time time-out, where we're like literally pause everything, watch them do five-quartered half-moves,
Starting point is 00:31:05 reset the camera, and go, all right, second-phase fight. And it's like, wow, we did that every single time. Honestly, my biggest critique with the knife fight is that none of the endings of the knife fight, like the kills, feel like brutal. They kind of feel like shoulder stabs
Starting point is 00:31:23 and then they fall to the ground. It's like, oh, that wasn't cool. It felt very centered in that way. This is a rated-up video game. Yeah. It's fucking. Yeah. What about how I looked at my... What about you, Burt? One positive thing, man.
Starting point is 00:31:41 I mean, I said at the top, it's the Hanger 13. does a very good job of building an atmosphere and sense of place that was proven in Mafia 3, that was proven again with how they updated Mafia 1. Someone in the chat was asking earlier, like even though Mafia 1 remake is older, and obviously like the fidelity probably isn't the same as the old country, because the old country is a very pretty game made for the current generation of consoles.
Starting point is 00:32:05 I do think it is worth going back to the remake from 2020 because they did such a good job of modernizing that and, you know, creating that sense of place in the 30, like the 1930s, which I think is such a fun place, era to adapt and stuff like that. And I think they do it again here in the old country, right? It's 1904 is when the game starts in Sicily. Like, you know, even though there's not a lot to do and you can skip rides and all that stuff, there is a nice sense of, like, riding on your horse and, like, looking and seeing just, like, the sun kind of rise over, like this beautiful mountain rains.
Starting point is 00:32:42 and you see like these farms that are growing like grapes and all this stuff. It's like a very beautiful game. And I think the one unfortunate thing is that like I think what they succeeded with in sense of place and atmosphere is like the music in Mafia 1 and Mafia 3, whereas, you know, there's not radios and cars yet. And so I feel like that also kind of brings it down where you're like you're now just kind of relying on the score of the game, which is good, it's fine. I think the main motif gets used way too much.
Starting point is 00:33:12 much. I would have loved to have more variety in that. But I still think, like, walking through that town, one of the main towns, I'm blanking on it, that, like, you do see in Mafia 2, and they, like, recreated like this square and stuff, like, that stuff
Starting point is 00:33:28 still hits. And, like, looking at just, like, the fidelity of the game, I think is still very impressive. And that's one of the pro, sorry. Oh, yeah, no, no. That's one of the pros of having a smaller, linear video game, is that specifically with this mission structure, in the way that they build out this game,
Starting point is 00:33:43 you go past certain areas a lot. You end up understanding the layout of that house pretty well. You understand the square, you understand all these little houses that you're driving past. So, you know, no spoilers, but when shit hits the fan and things get a little bit different and crazy, it starts to actually hit a little bit different when, you know, you have a game that maybe just burns through these locations pretty fast.
Starting point is 00:34:06 So when something crazy happens, we just, it doesn't really matter to us. But with something crazy happens this game, it feels a little bit more impactful than, a normal kind of open world game. For both, you have two different points. On Barrett's side with the music, did you find it odd that when you would hit the start button, everything would cut off,
Starting point is 00:34:21 but it was just dead silence. It was so weird to me of like, man, we just didn't keep the music going as I explore the map or I look into my upgrades and anything like that. You hit pause, and everything is just dead silence. You're like, wow, you couldn't put on any music here. I thought it was dead silence, but there is, like, or maybe I'm mixing this up with Mafia 1 now.
Starting point is 00:34:40 Yeah, I'm mixing up. I played them way too quick, like back to back, so now I'm mixing things up. Yeah, I don't really care about shit like that. It's like, hey, I'm in this beautiful world. I'm enjoying the music and the theme right now. But if you hit pause, it's just like,
Starting point is 00:34:55 we're out of that now. It's like, oh, just keep that going. These are small things that, like, I think this game would have used a run through with the team of like, hey, are we noticing this stuff? Because, like, when I'm playing it, I'm like, nobody said to themselves, like, hey, like, that character's speed is too slow.
Starting point is 00:35:11 We're like, what are we doing? My biggest one that I would always do is, like, there's stealth is a huge part of this game, which we can talk about it in a second, but you're sneaking up behind somebody, you see two people, characters having a conversation, two NPCs, right? And they always do the thing where you sneak up and you go to an area and you see two
Starting point is 00:35:26 NPCs having the shittiest conversation ever that are just, you know, whatever, throw away. Just for them to talk, and then they pause for like maybe 10 seconds way too long, and then they part away. And then they part away. And it's like every single time. But then also, like, man, video games is
Starting point is 00:35:42 be like that. I kind of like that because it always made me guess of like, are they just going to stay here? Because now I'm starting to strategize. And they never sat there. They always move. Yeah, they always move. And then for you, Roger, it's interesting because this is a narrative linear
Starting point is 00:35:58 game, but they presented in this kind of like open world, right? You click on the map and you zoom out, you're like, wow, this is big. And all the mission structure is, hey, ride this horse all the way across the town. Hey, take this car and go over there. So there is, this large world that is like very detailed and polished and looks great that like that's where
Starting point is 00:36:18 the kind of conversation starts of like they wanted you to look around but they didn't want to look around because if you didn't know roger there's collectibles in this game as well there's a fox statue that you were supposed to find 50 of but this game has zero reason for you to explore I heard you guys talking about that because i got the second of 50 fox statues at the very ending of the game i got my first one in the last two hours So there's just part of it where they do want you to stop and smell the roses and look around and walk around the town. But you were never encouraged to do that because the game is like, okay, walk over here. And there's no incentive.
Starting point is 00:36:56 And this is where it's like I find it interesting of like there. I feel like there was a reason we moved past the GTA clone. No matter how much we loved games like Mafia or L.A. Nour or but I feel like even sleeping dogs. Saints Row. Saints Row. But even those games have linear structures in terms of like the mission structure,
Starting point is 00:37:20 but they're still more incentive to actually exist in those worlds, right? I'm talking about like the really linear ones that don't really encourage this. And that's why I think there is a place for these types of games, but they need to not be so structured like a GTA
Starting point is 00:37:37 where they give you this like, oh, look at this open world when everything is so linear, I think it needs to have less focus on that stuff and more focus on, like, be an uncharted game. Yeah. You know, and like... And, you know, spend less time building this huge world
Starting point is 00:37:54 and more time, you know, like, boosting up your mechanics in terms of combat and stealth. And then, you know, even if it's a mid-game, the moment-to-moment is still a bit more enjoyable to get through. And that's, like, it's just... It's odd to see. again, a lot of the structure of this game is Mafia 1 in terms of like that 2002
Starting point is 00:38:16 very watered down GTA clone-like game and I think the thing that sticks out like a sore thumb specifically to me is the story because even with mid-game play like if you have a great story like there's something there like I fucking love L.A. Noir that fucking face recognizing stuff never worked but there's something there in terms of storytelling
Starting point is 00:38:37 and this game has none of that but I think just gameplay-wise, like, we should have just cut this. Still have a sense of place of, like, still have, like, build out your villa and stuff like that and have that stuff. But, yeah, exactly. I want to talk about collectibles and, like, things out there.
Starting point is 00:38:53 Like, there's so many small letters to read. I was overwhelmed by how many letters they put in. Like, I get it. You want to tell other stories or, like, add to it all. But, like, there is probably five in every single little small building you're in. You're like, why are there so many notes here? Or there are collectibles that will help you with passive abilities in the game for your rosary beads. And like, you don't find them that often.
Starting point is 00:39:20 And the ones you do find, you're like, I'm not using any of this. Like, it doesn't matter because the game isn't difficult. It doesn't affect anything. The shooting is bad, Roger. The stealth is bad. You're not boosting anything. I was just going to push back on the fact that I was finding the beat. I was finding the beat.
Starting point is 00:39:37 How many of you think you really found? I mean, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, you're not. I think I was like a pretty, pretty deep. I found like three. I found like three. I found way more of the charms. Oh, are those difference? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:47 Okay. Those two of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah. I don't think you found as many as you thought you did in the course of it, which is the odd part of like, yeah. They want you to explore, but you don't explore.
Starting point is 00:39:57 And so like, why have these? There was one where they clearly put one behind the guy in the jail cell, but he won't move until you, like, try to almost leave the area. So he just blocks it awkwardly. You're like, hey, dude, there's clearly a collectible behind you, like, move out of the way, and you have to, like, walk 20 steps to a staircase, get him to follow you, and then walk you behind. Yeah, I had that, and then the game, what are we doing? I did that, and then the game glitched out where then he wouldn't move after that.
Starting point is 00:40:21 Yeah, no, it's, it's an interesting conundrum here where I, I think that at the core of this, and we've had this conversation earlier off camera, where there is, like, a very, very solid six hours here, like six to seven hours, and I, it's, there's, there's fluff here, and I don't know where that fluff comes from, if that is just maybe this game was designed to be more of like a Mafia 3 experience, and then they had to pair it back, and they said, maybe it's a better experience if they'd make it linear. I really, just knowing
Starting point is 00:40:48 the history of Hangar 13, like, Hanger 13, I think, had a decent amount of layoffs before Mafia 1 remake. Yeah. And so I feel like with knowing roughly the size of that team now, I don't know if this was ever concepted to be that open world mafia 3 games. So I just,
Starting point is 00:41:03 I honestly think it was, they took way too many lessons from remaking Mafia 1 and try to make a game that would have worked in 2002, but does not work anymore in 2020. Now I'm looking at it, and especially when you're adding
Starting point is 00:41:17 those collectibles, I start to have that itch a little bit where I'm very happy. And they do it because they feel like they need to do it because that's the thing that Mafia did. You had the Playboys in Mafia 2, I think, and then like the magazines.
Starting point is 00:41:28 12-year-old Roger loved that. Oh, yeah, of course. The newspapers in Mafia 1, which they just do again here. Yeah. Yeah, part of me, when I'm playing it, I do have that it. I'm like, man, this would be really good if it was more open world.
Starting point is 00:41:41 If I did have more side missions, I know that takes away from it, but also what you're giving me isn't amazing here. At that point, why don't you just let me go and do collections as a side mission? Why don't you let me go into the city and start knocking on Joe, who's not fucking paying for wine? Yeah, yeah. Why don't we do more collections? Honestly, like the Godfather game back in the day.
Starting point is 00:41:59 I started to do a little bit more of that. I know that we're taking this game and making it something that it isn't, but at the core of it, it's not working the way that you're designing it, And you're designing these weird things where, yeah, you want me to go around the city and find these collectibles, but I don't feel like either, I'm not even incentivized. I'm not, I doesn't feel like I should or even could go out, go out of where you want me to go. Yes, exactly.
Starting point is 00:42:20 So it's not even like, I ended this game not even feeling like I missed anything, but apparently I missed a lot. Yeah. I don't know. Why have these horse races and car races when I only get to do three of them? Well, because there always has to be a race. Exactly. And there was, well, it's like, the car racing is fun. The horse racing is fun.
Starting point is 00:42:36 Give me a mini circuit. Give me seven of those. It was odd that, like, the car race leads up like this. We get the car. Okay, cool. Now, tow it over to this guy's house who doesn't even like you. He's going to fix the car. Okay, great.
Starting point is 00:42:49 Now we need to train for the race. You're going to race this train. Do you know how long you race the train for? 15 seconds. 17 seconds is how long? And then it stops. Hard stops. There's moments in this where they have very weird,
Starting point is 00:43:02 just all blacked out loading screens that don't show you what's happening. Also, you're like, what's going on here? They're like, the next day. And you're like, that took 25 seconds to get to this. What do we do? Oh, I didn't have that kind of loading on PS5. Well, you added on Ultra, maybe. And then we went to race day, and you get to race one lap.
Starting point is 00:43:21 Maybe takes three minutes, and God forbid you fail. Oh, yeah. These checkpointing, have you, those checkpoint systems are insane on this game. Didn't need them. Yeah. Yeah, small thing. At least on my PS5, a base PS5, I'm running off the base SSD. loading times were considerably longer
Starting point is 00:43:37 than I would expect for a PS5 game. It felt like it was like 20 seconds, 30 seconds, which in the grand scheme of things is not long, but for a PS5 game, that's pretty long. So that was interesting. When they're noticeable, it's odd. Yeah. Like we're living in like 2025
Starting point is 00:43:51 where all these games are running so fast now and you have these moments where it does sit for a while and you're like, what is going on here? Because this game isn't doing much here at all. So like, why is this taking so long? I want to talk about story. I don't know if you want to keep on the gameplay of it all, but I want to end up
Starting point is 00:44:09 talking, do you have more about the game play? I have one last thing about the gameplay. Yeah, let's keep on the game. Not to spoil it too much for Mike, because do you plan I'm beating this mic? I'm literally going to beat this tonight. That's the weirdest part about this game is I know and I think it's a bad game, but for the past week, all I can
Starting point is 00:44:25 think about and all I've wanted to do is play this game. I have zero fun playing it, but I smile and enjoy the world and the story, but what I'm doing the missions, I'm like, this was so bad, but I can't stop playing it. Yeah. The final, like, boss or whatever is, like, the most, like, watered-down version of the
Starting point is 00:44:45 L.E. Cannibal Fight in The Last of Us Part One. And, like, playing that, I was like, man, this was the pinnacle that y'all could think of for how to end your game. And it's just so, it's so weird. Yeah, the gameplay, just overall, just kind of very weird. It feels for, like, from another time. I was clicking heads the entire time, though. let me tell you. Yeah, no. You give me that bold action
Starting point is 00:45:07 rifle? No, yeah, for me, it just never clicked. I literally I never felt like I was having a good time with the shooting. I never felt like it was precise enough. It has the sway always. Again, like very last of us. Yeah, but it never felt good. It never felt like, I mean, I know it's a high bar to say, but like, when I play these games,
Starting point is 00:45:25 I want uncharted, right? I want just to feel like clicky, I want to be able to... I felt like I was fighting against the game, and I don't know if that's them trying to be like, hey, we have this 1900s, you know, all the guns suck here. so the gameplay sucks now, but it's like, same thing with the driving, where it's like the driving, you're feeling like you're driving on ice the entire time
Starting point is 00:45:41 because it's old cars, that's like, I guess guys, but like, none of this is, like, let's be honest, like very, not a lot of this is historically accurate. We really start thinking about it, I'm sure. So, why are we trying to make the gameplay, like, just make it clicky. Let me click some heads a little bit easier. Let me, let me fucking skirt, skirt, skirt, skirt. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:45:57 I didn't have a good time with that. I don't want you to skirt, skirt, skirt, skirt, scourt. Yeah, I mean, I'm looking at the final little part of my play-through tonight, right, and I'm expecting two more night fights. I'm expecting two bad stealth missions. I'll probably drive a little bit and it's like none of that is exciting. It's like, oh, it's almost there. But yeah,
Starting point is 00:46:16 let's talk about the story. Yeah, I it's a weird one because again, it is so, so generic. Like, let's just like, even though it is a 1900's earlier mafia story. I get like setting is very promising and cool. Yes, exactly. And I, when I was it, when I was announced, I was like, man, especially when that first intro,
Starting point is 00:46:36 teaser trailer that they had at the Game Awards or Summer Game Fest, whatever it was. It felt like, oh, man, this is like a serious story. Like, this is going to be like fucking peak or so. Like, you know, I felt that vibe. It was like a very cinematic, Genesee quiet about it. And it's like, and you play the game and it is very silly.
Starting point is 00:46:53 Like, it is a very silly story. And then when they try to be serious, you just, you know exactly what's going to happen. There is not, I've literally, as I'm playing the game, Leanza walked in and characters are talking and I'm finishing, their sentences. And she's like, did you beat this game already? I said, no. I know
Starting point is 00:47:08 exactly what these characters are going to say. That is how generic of a mafia story. If you have watched any Martin Scorsese movie, if you watched any season of the Sopranos, you know exactly where this is going to go. I think there's some interesting elements that they go to, especially towards the ending. My heart was
Starting point is 00:47:25 racing at certain moments. There's a really good framing device that they use throughout the entire story. If you if you played the intro even at least, I think you can probably guess what that is. because like every time you get to a new year, they always use that as like a, oh, something's bubbling, you know, beneath the surface.
Starting point is 00:47:41 And I thought that was really fun. But in terms of like, yeah, plot structure, it is very by the numbers. You know, you're a kid who's just, you know, you got nothing to your name, and then you, you know, you get brought into this family, and you're just doing small jobs, man. Everyone fucking hates you.
Starting point is 00:47:59 Everybody hates you, but you're doing, you're loyal enough that you start moving up the ranks and the head guy. starts to trust you enough, and then you're his fucking dude. You're his like, you're his guy. And then it all goes to shit, which again, plot-wise is Mafia One. But I think the framing of Mafia One is much more interesting, right?
Starting point is 00:48:17 Like, that game opens up, and the guy you play as Tommy is ratting on his family, essentially. And then you get to see the kind of inner personality of, like, him getting introduced into that mob, and him being like, yeah, I'm loyal to the end. And you're like, what could have possibly happened from here to the first, flash forward, and then you're kind of intrigued about the character dynamics and how that all goes to shit, where the way this is kind of set up, you're just, you kind of know where it's all going to go, because I think the like, you know, there's a, there's a romance in here, and you know that that's going to be kind of the impotence. I can't fucking say words right now. You know that that's going to be the kind of vocal point of like where this is all going to go to shit. And yeah, like you were saying, like you just kind of, You can finish the sentences, but you can also just finish what the plot of the game is, which I think is unfortunate. And I just don't think the character writing is there to uphold even a basic plot structure.
Starting point is 00:49:15 Like, your relationships to other people are so surface level and paper thin in this game. And they do a lot of things that, in my opinion, are not earned. It just feels like they felt like they needed to do it because that's how you make a gangster story. Like, you play this game and there's like moments, like big moments where I'm like, that doesn't feel like that character would even do that or that doesn't, it just feels like, oh, no, you created the archetype now. We're just going to do the exact story
Starting point is 00:49:41 that you expect it. Yeah, story-wise, to me, nothing's happening, right? It's forbidden love. It's, oh, that's one Don on another Don. He's in your turf, so we've got to tell him to back up. Oh, snap, here's the Super Don. He owns all the land, and you're like, oh, snap. He's not a Superdine.
Starting point is 00:49:56 He's a Barron's going to do. He's the landlord essentially. These two got to get married, you know what I mean, to make the Super Don and him best friends. like, we've seen all that, you know? There's nothing in this story that is wow. Yeah. Like, exciting me, because we know where this is going.
Starting point is 00:50:11 But, yeah, I mean, there's Grandpa, and he's real mean to people, you know what I mean? But he's the most trusted guy. And don't fuck with Grandpa. And you're like, Grandpa's gonna do something bad. Is Tino Grandpa? I don't know if Tino's Grandpa. He's called him Grandpa. Yeah, he's called Grandpa.
Starting point is 00:50:25 Shout out of that actor. He was also in Star Wars Battlefront, too. Grandpa shows out of your house. Two white glasses. Why is there two white glasses? I don't know, Grandpa. Like, get the fuck out of him. You're gonna out of here, bro.
Starting point is 00:50:35 I like, I like wine. What do you want for me? You offer me? What do you want to be, Super Grandpa? Maybe there are two different types of wine in each of the line. I didn't want to mix my wine. Jesus.
Starting point is 00:50:43 I mean, the whole, I like the angle, even though it is so generic. The, uh, the, uh, forbidden love stuff. I'm a sucker for, for that type of, I'm a sucker for forbidden love. I'm a sucker for these stories. I'm like, oh, man.
Starting point is 00:50:56 Just the most generic. Are they gonna... I'm in love with the dogs done. Are we gonna make it happen? Are we not gonna make it happen? So will they, won't they, you know? Yeah, yeah. Are we gonna, how we get, how we get, Thursday's at nine.
Starting point is 00:51:05 Yeah, I like that. I like that stuff. I, I, I specifically, the way that it ratchets up and like, it gets to a place that I genuinely, I said some, I said some sentences out loudly and said that's the craziest plot that you're explaining right now. I'll tell you all fair, but like, I was fucking, like, it goes to insane places that I, I enjoy, but then it, it gets settles back down to, okay, we have to have this ending because now we have to have this ending now. And, like, okay, it didn't feel earned.
Starting point is 00:51:30 And, like, kind of my two big things. just thinking about story stuff. Part of the fun with the mafia universe is how like it all kind of, they all tie together, right? You know, Vito, who you play as in Mafia 2, you realize is kind of an important moment
Starting point is 00:51:49 in Mafia 1 retroactively. And then he's one of your homies in Mafia 3. Like there's, even though they're kind of separate stories, there's always a connective tissue. There is that here, but like in the most uninteresting way, possible, which I was let down by. Obviously, they mentioned, like, Lost Heaven
Starting point is 00:52:07 and Empire Bay. You know, they're talking about, oh, like, we're dealing with the Americans all the time. But, you know, the homie Leo in the nice blue suit, because, you know, all the characters are always wearing their same outfits all the time. Don't even get... Bear it.
Starting point is 00:52:25 Bear it. How do they... This is a question for the developers out there, okay? We have all these cutscenes. The game is built off of these cutscenes and this narrative. Sure. character, he'll change his t-shirt every single cutscene. But Luca, my best friend over there, where's this same t-shirt every single day. What are we doing here?
Starting point is 00:52:44 We're watching this happen together in the conference room and go, oh, man, I see you changed Tony's outfit right there. That's really cool. Lucas is in the same thing. All right, next cutscene. Different outfit, that's cool. Lucas, same thing. Come on now.
Starting point is 00:52:58 The greatest thing they do in this game is they have the, I think it was like three or four year jumps or whatever, right? So it's like 1907, right? And then it's just, everyone looks the same. Except he gets longer hair. Our character is like that. Somehow getting sexier. Yeah, always get sexier. Nothing is changing
Starting point is 00:53:17 the house. They haven't moved it at Apple. They haven't rearranged the fucking where where they're putting the meat. None of it. None of it. Everything's the fucking same. And so, you know, you have the fun connection with Leo. He's a character in Mafia 2 and Mafia 3. The silent bartender is the Don in Mafia 2,
Starting point is 00:53:33 I thought it was really weird. There's a blink and you miss it Easter egg for Mafia 1, which is like fun enough, but, you know, I thought there was going to be more, like what the core story was about. I thought there would be more of a connective tissue to leading into those games, especially, like, to me, this felt like what this game should have been
Starting point is 00:53:51 is, you know, them creating the mafia or, like, starting up the mafia, and then figuring out how that ties over to, you know, the stories that happen in America and stuff. And I thought that stuff was really thin outside of, Leo and I'm blanking on I think it's Frank Vinci who's the Don in Mafia 2
Starting point is 00:54:09 Yeah I would have I would have liked More of Those threads yeah it's interesting Right because we say all of these things And of course I'm like this this story Is very generic yeah but I hope This game gets a sequel Let's get a sequel let's get a super chat in
Starting point is 00:54:25 From Tunga boy who writes in and says Where does the franchise go in here? I genuinely hope in my I know it won't happen well actually I don't know that because I I saw the steam numbers. They were pretty solid, right? I think it was like $30,000. There's an audience here.
Starting point is 00:54:38 It's $50. People fuck with mafia. I hope this game does well, and I hope that it wasn't exorbitantly expensive that they can't justify another $50 release in a few years, right? I would love this to be like four years out. We get a sequel. I would love a sequel to this game.
Starting point is 00:54:50 I want Mafia, the new country, as Jake puts in there. Yeah, honestly, where it is them, it is, no, maybe not. I don't know, I was about bullshit. But it's, you know, continuation of this, and we go to America. and we see what's going on in the flip side. Maybe play as Leo. That would be interesting to me.
Starting point is 00:55:08 I hope that there's a fan base for this. I hope that people kind of, if they like this game, they buy it, and there is a little bit of an audience where we can kind of do, it doesn't have to be a direct sequel to then people that didn't buy this game, you know. Yeah, and that's what Mafia always does. Like, you get a little bit of those threads, but each of those games, like you can play. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:55:27 I don't know where the series goes after this. I don't know. I was really let down by the same. story. You know, Hanger 13 to me, like, proved with Mafia 3 that they could take a franchise and kind of turn it on its head, at least story-wise. And I really adored that, right? Of, like, Mafia 1 and 2, also being very, like, basic plots, but, like, still doing, like,
Starting point is 00:55:52 having strong enough, like, character writing and all that stuff to keep you engaged. And then Mafia 3, not being about, you know, getting into the mafia, but literally tearing it all down. and that game also like kind of framing, you know, the deep-seated racism in America, right? Even, you know, for black communities that feel like they have, they can find trust in some white people. Those white people turning around and just burning those bridges completely. And Lincoln Clay deciding like, fuck that and burning it all down, burning the system down in that way. And I thought that was such an incredible way to do something different for a series that is a bit more, you know, on the safe side of telling stories, right?
Starting point is 00:56:37 And I was really let down of like the studio just went back to just doing something safe, something, again, uninspired, inoffensive, which I find very disappointing. It reminds me of there's a YouTuber Peter Spittech, who did a video on the war. Wolfenstein games. And the headline of the video is like, they won't make this game today. And talking about like Wolfenstein, one and two, the modern ones, going into, you know,
Starting point is 00:57:10 the fascist sentiment of America before the Nazis rose into power. You know, Wolfenstein II, going into the, also the deep-seated racism in the American South and how the Nazis gave the KKK or gave the South to the KKK and all this stuff and talking about and unpacking what was already there in America and all this stuff.
Starting point is 00:57:34 And what does that studio come out with since? You know, they put out Youngblood, which didn't have any of that kind of interesting commentary or storytelling. And we have not seen Wolfenstein since, right? And I feel like there's something similar here where it's like you had something interesting and something worth talking about. And I find it really disappointing that that team from nine years ago, I don't know if it's the same writing team. Honestly, I don't know how many of the same people are still around at Hangar 13, but
Starting point is 00:58:03 to just go with something safe that doesn't really say anything, I think really sucks. Yeah, I totally understand that. I would, I would be interested in what they go with in terms of coming back to America in the second one, I mean, in the second old country, or we just do
Starting point is 00:58:19 Mafia 4, that's just Sopranos ripoff. You know what I mean? We just do, we just kind of, we just kind of make it a sopranos ripoff. I have a different pitch. And I've already told you the pitch, Roger. Okay, here's my dream pitch. Hangar 13, what you just showed me with Mafia the old country. I'm digging what you're putting down.
Starting point is 00:58:38 Here's what I'd like you to do. Why don't we team you up with the mummy? And the mummy returns. Let's get Brendan Fraser. Let's give you that license. And let's have you make a mummy game. Because, man, oh, man, this, if you rescind this as the mummy video game, you know what? I think we would have been on to something.
Starting point is 00:58:56 We would have been cooking a brand new. franchise here. So for me, it's the mummy. That's what I want. It's for me. I'm putting down the mummy. The mummy I'm putting down. I'm a mummy guy. That's where they go from this. Okay, I like that. Guys, any final thoughts as we close out the podcast? I have a lot of mixed feelings as
Starting point is 00:59:13 I've went through with this podcast. I see all the criticisms. I think they're very apparent as you play through it. But I still had a really good time playing it just because it is comfort food. So I would recommend it to anybody out there. If this game is on sale or if you have that
Starting point is 00:59:29 $50 that's burning a hole in your pocket and you want something that is an easy, breezy, 10 to 12 hour experience and you've enjoyed Mafia 2 or Mafia 1 apparently. You should try it out. So that is my recommendation. I give it a 6.5. I like that. Barrett?
Starting point is 00:59:45 Play Mafia 3. Also watch Peter Spitek's video on Wolfensen. For me, as I close this one out, as we said before, this is a 7 out of 10 that you love like a 9 And for me, this is a bad video game that I will love and think about and laugh and giggle about. But at the core of it all, unfortunately, this was not a fun game to get through.
Starting point is 01:00:07 And I wish that they had more in there or something else. But, you know, I can't recommend you spending your money on this game. I don't think I can do that. And so, you know, don't get caught up in the number. Get just caught up in the conversation. We had a good one here, boys. And I really enjoyed it with all of you guys. And so with that, that is your Mafia, the old country review for today's games cast on a lovely Wednesday, August 13th, 2025.
Starting point is 01:00:36 We have more fun coming away. Of course, if you're watching live, don't go anywhere. The live content continues on throughout the day. And if you're on podcast services around the globe, thank you so much. Leave a like, subscribe, and we'll see you on the next one. Goodbye, everyone. Bye-bye.

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