Publisher: VU Games Developer: Radical Ent. Genre: FPS/Shooter / Release Date: March 2006
Ever wish you could rewrite the ending to one of your favorite movies, or at least continue the story for a bit longer to see just how things continue to turn out? Then you may be in luck, because this might be the opportunity you have been watching for. The story of Tony Montana, anti-hero of the film Scarface, is one that is a web of drugs, violence, and one of the most climatic death scenes in cinema history. Couple that with a Grand Theft Auto esque environment and you have one of the newest open-ended violence games for the X-box 360, and other consoles: Scarface: The World is Yours. This game promises to add a lot of new dimensions to games of this genre that you may be familiar with. You will be building your own drug empire, from the ground up, battling rival gangs along the way, and you will be doing it as the machine gun totting maniac himself: Tony Montana. But before you say, “Hold on Angeloni, Montana’s as dead as my great aunt Agnes”, it’s important that you remember how I opened this little preview. This is all about the rewrite my friends. This time around, Tony Montana will do the impossible: he will win that final bullet filled battle. The very first level will explain all of that since YOU will be making sure Mr. Montana escapes with his life since you will have the distinct pleasure of fragging every rival drug goonie in that room. And after that point you will sit along for the ride as a whole new Scarface world unravels before you.
The gameplay will, as I alluded to earlier, remind you a lot of the GTA series, and other games of a similar vein. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, since if we solely look at the success other games have had with this formula it makes sense. You will play in a mission based open-ended environment that will see you start as a ruined man: no friends or accomplices, little money, no merchandise (aka: drugs), and very little of anything else. It will be your job to rebuild the legendary empire of Tony Montana, and of course crush his enemies along the way. The really interesting part of all of this is just how intricate the actual game gets in the drug business. You will be taking out rival gangs, setting up smuggling operations, and acquiring legitimate business fronts to get your drugs onto the streets. Of course none of this is without risk. Rival gangs will be out for Montana’s head, as well as all the authorities you can think of. This is where the violence of Scarface: The World is Yours will take center stage as you will have weapons, boats, and all kinds of other goodies to reign down your destruction on your enemies. A sleek and user friendly targeting mode should be a welcome addition to fans of this genre. It should making locking on enemies and moving targets easier. There will also be something called the Balls meter, which besides the funny name, will be right in line with the character of Tony Montana. Fill up the meter and Tony will go on a rampage and begin cutting down enemies everywhere in his line of sight. What really puts the icing on the cake is that the developers are boasting that Scarface: The World is Yours will have over sixty hours of gameplay and over 140 complete missions for you to enjoy, as well as mysterious unlockable content that should quench the thirst of even the most hardcore Tony Montana admirer.
Graphically, things look very solid for Scarface: The World is Yours Al Pacino is there looking young, confident, and just as you remember Tony Montana. However, at least from early screen shots, I can’t help but wonder if the X-box 360 is being used to its fullest potential. The graphics look a little too GTA in parts and definitely could be seen anywhere on a current console today. On other systems that we have screens for, like the PS2 and X-box, the game definitely does not measure up to the 360’s version so I suppose the developers are definitely trying to make the effort here.
Where I expect this game to really shine outside of the main game-play aspects is in the soundtrack department. In addition to the option that the X-box 360 already has to create custom soundtracks, you will be treated to the full soundtrack from the motion picture and many selections from the early 80’s that will fit the setting of Scarface: The World is Yours. This is where having a movie license behind a game like this really shines, since the hardcore fans of Scarface (and believe me, as a recent college graduate, I can attest that there are many of them) will be more attracted to this game because of the certain things a big name can bring to the table, like licensed soundtracks, voice acting (although Pacino himself is noticable absent here), etc. Will this translate to success this time around? Hard to tell. Developers are still trying to recreate the magic that Rockstar has with there GTA series. Perhaps they will finally be successful here. With the franchise name giving this title the extra push one can’t help but have some lofty hopes for Scarface: The World is Yours. With a release date of March 2006 we will not have to wait much longer to see just how this all turns out. Keep it with Pulse games to stay up-to-date on all the latest from Scarface: The World is Yours.