Mafia: The Old Country’s Free Ride Update arrives today which also brings several new gameplay features with it such as a first person driving camera that can make in-game races way more immersive and engaging than before, replayable challenges including combat, stealth, and different race types, classic difficulty along with a photo mode. The new Free Ride mode was also present in earlier installments of the series like Mafia: Definitive Edition and according to developer Hanger 13, it enables the players to revisit the game’s locations in a more “self-guided way.”
“We want players to explore the world in a freeform way, and Free Ride turns it into an expansive hub where you’ll find and access various challenges by travelling around, unlocking Hitching Posts, and meeting contacts,” the game’s Associate Design Director Josh Zammit stated on the Playstation Blog.
Also, completing the new repeatable challenges will grant you the Dinari in-game currency that can be spent on new outfits, charms, weapons and vehicles in Mafia: The Old Country.
“These combat encounters reuse mission locations, so once you’ve played the corresponding story chapter and unlocked a Challenge in Free Ride, you’ll get to re-experience areas in new ways. Races happen out in the world and we’ve placed them along less-traveled paths, so it should be fun seeing parts of the map you may have previously passed by,” Zammit said.
There’s also the new Cinema Siciliano visual treatment which makes playing Mafia: The Old Country akin to watching “a genuine piece of classic Italian cinema.” The new presentation style adds a whole lot of luster into the game and makes the overall experience a lot more cinematic which actually fits the tone of Mafia: The Old Country in more ways than one.
“The visual treatment is stunning and it feels like you’re experiencing a black-and-white movie shot on an old-school sound stage, while the vintage-sounding audio convincingly brings the whole thing together,” Zammit described.
Then there’s also the first person driving mode which is a first for the Mafia series and the new ‘Classic’ difficulty option that makes the game much harder and is clearly aimed at players who’ve already finished the main campaign and are looking for more challenges.
