Mafia: The Old Country Focuses on Knife Combat with Limited Ammo

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A Slower, Deadlier Mafia Experience.

Story Highlight
  • Mafia: The Old Country will have a linear, story-based structure instead of a large open world.
  • The gameplay is changing to focus on knife fights and limited ammunition, rather than constant gunfights.
  • The knife combat is based on real Sicilian fighting styles, featuring various knives.

Mafia: The Old Country is going back to the series’ original style. Instead of a big open world, it offers a more linear story and more straightforward gameplay. This new direction is most apparent in its combat, which emphasizes the brutal intimacy of knife fighting and the tension of limited ammunition.

Why it matters: The Mafia franchise is known for its guns-blazing action, so it’s interesting to see the developers introduce knife fights amidst gun fights.

A new trailer shows off the intense knife fights in Mafia: The Old Country. In these up-close battles, enemies sometimes drop their guns to take on Enzo Favara in a fair fight, with blades. Players will slash, dodge, and push for advantage instead of button‑mashing.

The team behind the game looked into authentic Sicilian knife styles and fighting techniques known as Paranza Corta. Enzo uses different kinds of knives; some can be thrown, others are better for sneaky attacks.

Each knife works a little differently. Some of the biggest fights are planned boss battles, full of danger and drama.

The setting matters. In rural Sicily during the 1900s, guns were hard to find, and every bullet counted. Players have to rely on knives or sneak up on enemies to save ammo.

One trailer snippet shows Enzo taking down a room with only four bullets, then using a throwing knife to finish the last target. Guns still matter, but stealthy moves pay off more. Enzo can miss shots or run out of bullets, so players need to decide fast: switch weapons or jump into close combat.

Mafia: The Old Country
Players must conserve ammo, making stealth and melee attacks a necessary part of Mafia: The Old Country.

Unlike Mafia III’s open world, The Old Country tells a more focused, movie-like story. It puts the spotlight on stealth, chasing on horseback, and intense one-on-one knife fights instead of constant gun battles. The developers say they wanted violence to carry weight, not cheap spectacle.

Are you excited to play Mafia: The Old Country when it launches on August 8? Let us know in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.

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