Scarface: The World Is Yours

"Scarface is the best Sandbox style game avalible - 9.6"

Perhaps Tony Montana did survive that shotgun blast, and thank god he did. This game puts you in the shoes of the Bad guy himself. Your going to rebuild what was once yours. You're Kingdom, your empire...It's time to take it all back, and if you have kill to get that, so be it.

Presentation: Behold. A game that actually opens with a bang! As gamer's know, an opening level can have a big effect on the player's attitude toward the game. The developers in Scarface went ahead and threw you into the mansion scene that transpired at the end of the movie. From here, you must escape the mansion. Tony Montana make's quite an entrance, and I must say so myself, the game's first fifteen minutes is unforgettable. That leads me to my next point. The game actually remains interesting from there. Mainly because that mission gets you pumped up to go out and begin your re-construction. I love it.

Gameplay: Scarface is a very satisfying game in terms of gameplay. The first thing that's worth mention is the targeting system it uses. Let's say this. Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto somehow fuse together. What does that sum up to? Scarface. The best thing is that it uses both the free aim system from games like Max Payne and Freedom fighters, as well as the lock-on system you seen in games like Grand Theft Auto. That to me was one of the biggest pros of Scarface. Now speaking of the action, what does it consist of you may wonder? Tony will have to travel to many places and in those travels, he will be tried by several rival mobs and Drug lords. Now you have the option to raise absolute pandemonium. The game has a good sense of ‘one many army syndrome'. You even have a “balls” meter (You heard me right). This determines when Tony can execute a combat enhancing ability. These elements make Scarface's overall appeal and value shockingly high.

Now we come to driving. The games driving model is rather basic, but it's mainly used for getting from point A to Point B. The vehicles are decent, but the shooting is where the party is at. That and the planes and boats help a little. I found the island missions very appealing. You'll have to do things like driving out to islands because you have to gain land by either liberating the existing gang, or taking the place or area over. It's all really fun. Oh, and selling drugs also is a good way to earn some coin around Miami. Your going to have a lot to do from assassinations to drug smuggling, its all going down in this game.

Visuals: This game looks somewhat dated, but in terms of competition of other sandbox style games, it's hard to look good when the world is this freaking big. The cars and weapons all look sub-par, but overall they look fairly good. Some of the better things include the Character models and weapon effects. However you look at it, Scarface looks good, but plays better. Besides, we all know gameplay is what counts right?!

Audio: Great weapon effects are the first thing you'll hear that stand out. Set aside from that, the game lacks any of the good 80's music (ahem, Guns n Roses) but that's okay, I guess they didn't have time to make such a long soundtrack, and it's really not a huge deal in my books. The Xbox version doesn't support Custom sound tracks either so another minor bummer, but overall, it's a fantastic game in general so the music doesn't affect me all that much.

So what's the aftermath of Scarface: The World Is Yours? It's an almost perfect free-roam style game with some neat-o features. I highly, HIGHLY recommend you check this one out.

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