Scarface: The World Is Yours

"Get Ready to Play Rough!"

Say Hello To My Little Friend!

With such words of overconfidence, an empire was toppled in the end of Brian DePalma's drug fueled and profanity-filled epic. This reinvention of the American dream brought into view of the public that seedy and dark underground world of international drug trafficking. After twenty years, the message sent in Scarface is one still recognized: The Bigger they are, the Harder they fall.

But what if they could pick up the pieces?

This is the case in Vivendi Universal's new open world game Scarface: The World is Yours. Instead of catching two in the back at the end of the film, Tony 'effin' Montana decides to turn on heel and high tail it out of his mansion. After a high-powered firefight he escapes to lay low for awhile. Having lost everything, Tony begins his plan for revenge months later.

Story - Lawyers Guns and Money (8/10)
The story in SF:TWIY is one of revenge, and while the dialogue and storytelling are well done, some of the characters are undeveloped throughout the whole storyline. In fact, the only remarkable amount of developent is seen in Scarface, as he becomes increasingly ruthless in his resurgence to the top. Some characters (like Schuler, a man you will frequently be in contact with) have only a few lines of dialogue, yet you deal with them constantly. Felix, Tony's info-gatherer, is an interesting character who also lies underdeveloped.

Again, the dialogue is great, as long as you don't mind cursing, and boy does Tony do alot of it. At points his f-fueled rants will have you laughing to tears and at others they will remind you of what a villainous character he truly is.

Environments - Dis is my island in de sun! (10/10)
Now in the sophomore years of its existence, the Open-World genre of games is continously pioneering new ways to make a world seem like a living entity. In Scarface, the dialogue that you can initiate with Tony and ther other civilians is well written, especially when you start to carry on a conversation with them. The city of Miami is roughly the size of New York in the Godfather game, and the Islands, though with much less dry land, is roughly the same size in total. While its not the largest game world ever, it is interesting enough. You can enter several buildings, and the ones you cannot are more than just cubes and prisms with exterior wallpapers, as you can look inside of them and see furniture and such. Police react according to most illegal actions, though this can sometimes be annoying (and will be covered in full later on).

Audiovisual - If Castro could see me now. (9/10)

The Graphics in Scarface are well above those found in GTA and slightly above those in The Godfather. I've not had a chance to play the game on a HiDef tv, but I've heard from a friend that the graphics only get better, with blood staining clothes and other little graphical touches. The only two visual qualms I have are thus: In gameplay (not cutscense) the characters aren't lipsynched at all. This is upsetting because in the in-engine cutscenes they are synched almost perfectly. The other is the weather effects. These could have been much better, especially in a game set in Miami/The Carribean. The sound is wonderful, especially if you have surround sound. The A-List of actors is top notch, even random pedestrians sound good and believable. A deservable lauded performence by Andre Sogliuzzo as Tony Montana himself (apparently hand picked by Al Pacino) is at best indistinguishable and is at least a top-notch soundalike.

Gameplay - I want whats coming to me. (9/10)

The gameplay in Scarface is interesting. The story missions all revolve around rallying the businesses of Miami to your side. To do this you need to take down gangland power and keep pressure off of these businesses. The owners will give you an objective that you must fulfill. When you do this , the front becomes available to buy. To purchase fronts in one area of town, you need to have control of the previous area first. in this respect, it is alot like Grand Theft Auto, but the similarity is in structure and not substance. Instead of seemingly Random tasks, each objective has something for Tony in it other than thanks and gratification.

The random missions come into play when you need to make real money. You call Felix or The Sandman (depending on your location) on your ancient 80's gray brick of a cell phone, and they will give you the location of an informant. You do a favor for this informant, and he will arrange a meeting with you and a dealer. At first, you're small time, and this dealer will sell you a few hundred grams of yeyo, which you personally have to go distribute. But as you make more money, you have to pay off the police and gangs, and so you make more money by buying more cocaine. Eventually you start smuggling product in from the Islands to storehouse where you then have to distribute it to your various fronts.

Speaking of Fronts, these act as money hubs. You drop off product/pick up money here and you will respawn if you die nearby one of them. They will come under attack, and so you will need to spend money on surveillance and guards to keep them afloat.

In a fit of newness, the team decided to toss the Grand Theft Auto Heat mechanic out the window in favor of something new. While this is a ballsy move, it doesn't quite succeed. You have three heat ratings. An Immediate Police Heat, General Police Heat, and General Gang Heat meter. The Immediate Heat determines if police are searching for you, and is represented by a white bar that wraps around the minimap. If you have this and a policeman catches you doing something illegal, you will have to escape a red radius before the white bar turns completely red. The higher your general police heat, the larger and more difficult the radius is to escape. If you fail to escape the area and any pursuing cops, the game is essentially over, though you can hold out against the police as long as you can stay alive.

The General Gang Heat determines how aggressive gangs are towards you and what prices you will get on deals. The Higher the rating the lower the price. You want to keep all these meters down to keep life running smoothly.

Another essential mechanic is the intimidation meter. This comes up in many instances, such as fast talking a cop, buying/selling drugs, and laundering any dirty cash. It is a circle that you charge up with the B button, and release said button as close to the top as possible. Release to soon and you have less than the desired effect, too late and things get bloody. Its tough to master but easy to learn and over all its a neat mechanic.

Dying in Scarface comes with a penalty, any loose drugs and dirty cash you have on you are taken and you are left with whats in the bank and whats in your warehouses.

If you get tired of Tony's missions, you can also play as three other characters. The driver has driver related missions, the enforcer has rampage-style missions, and the assassin has stealth related missions. While these aren't the greatest, they do serve as a nice diversion and a decent source of cash.

Final Word - The World Chico, and Everything In It. (8/10)
If you are a fan of Scarface, this is a perfect addition to your collection. If you aren't its a worthwhile addition to your gaming library. The content isn't for everyone, but for those who can get past the mature content, this is a decent action game that should hold your interest, especially in the Twilight of the Xbox's lifespan.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/10/06