Mafia: Motherland gets a free ride update this week, adding first-person driving, challenges, classic difficulty and more

The Free Ride update for Mafia: The Old Country finally has a release date: November 20th. It adds many new features, including challenges, a first-person driving camera, classic difficulty, and photo mode.

The major update to Hangar 13's narrative adventure is a callback to Free Ride Extreme from the original Mafia and the Free Ride mode from Mafia: Definitive Edition. As publisher 2K content manager Peter Amato explains in regards to PlayStation BlogThe Mafia: Homeland Hitch update is a series of challenges that are separate from the main story, giving players the chance to revisit the world in a “more self-guided way.” Longtime fans of the series will find that the hitchhiking mode in Mafia: Homeland will be slightly different from previous games.

Repeatable challenges include combat, stealth, and different race types. Completing these missions will earn you Denali in-game currency, which can be used to purchase new costumes, charms, weapons, and vehicles unlocked through progression in this content (as well as items unlocked through events).

“We want players to explore the world in a free way, and Free Ride turns it into a vast hub where you can discover and solve various challenges by traveling around, unlocking hitching posts, and meeting contacts,” Amato said. “Challenges are instantiated and accessed through these contacts, and doing so places you in a combat location or special world state.

“These combat encounters reuse mission locations, so once you've played through the corresponding story chapter and unlocked the challenges in the Free Ride, you'll be able to re-experience each area in a new way. The matches take place in overworlds, and we've placed them off the beaten path, so it should be fun to see parts of the map you may have passed by before.

“Of course, there may be new places to explore, but that's something you have to discover for yourself…”

Elsewhere, there's a visual treatment of Sicilian cinema, which Amato says makes “Mafia Vieja” feel like it's playing “a real classic Italian film.” “The visual processing is stunning, it feels like you're experiencing a black-and-white film shot on a vintage soundstage, and the retro audio convincingly holds the whole thing together,” explains Amato.

All new items earned by playing Free Ride can be used during the main story campaign. All new elements are present from the start, so new players will have them as options the first time they play the game.

The addition of first-person driving is a first in the Mafia series. Classic difficulty makes the game more difficult.

Earlier this month, Strauss Zelnick, the boss of 2K parent company Take-Two, A bright future for the Mafia series teased Mafia:Old Country “Performance far exceeded expectations.”

“Absolutely,” Zelnick said when asked if Old Country's performance was enough to instill confidence in continuing to run the franchise. “We're really excited about Mafia, and I think that's a good question because it's kind of like a reset for the series. We don't have anything to announce — from the label — but it's definitely exceeding expectations.”

It sounds like the decision to sell Mafia: Old Country for a lower-than-expected $49.99 price paid off. Fans are praising 'The Old Country' after its $50 price tag was confirmedpublisher 2K and developer Hangar 13 highlighted ahead of release by this is definitely no A Grand Theft Auto-style open world game, but a linear, narrative-driven game.

Take-Two didn't provide exact sales figures, but said Mafia in Early 1900s Sicily “quickly exceeded our internal expectations and confirmed our belief that consumer demand for premium, narrative-driven experiences that exceed value remains strong.” While it's unclear when or how another Mafia game will materialize in the future, more new content and updates for The Old Country are confirmed to be in development.

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