Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006)

With yet another Grand Theft Auto clone on the market, Scarface: The World Is Yours accomplished something the GTA series has been struggling with for years: a practical use for money!

Using the third person gamestyle popularized by the acclaimed Rockstar Games series, Radical Entertainment puts GTA to shame with its still-cartoonish-but-more-realistic-looking gameplay, mechanics, and use of resources.

The story itself acts as a sequel to the movie, using bits and pieces of the original story, building something believable and interesting without losing itself.

Property management was featured in Grand Theft Auto, but Scarface uses the property acquirement and ownership in a far more lucrative way.

All in all this is one open world game that gives even the Grand Theft Auto makers a run for their money.

Scarface is initially not a film I'd think would necessarily lend itself to a game. It has crime elements, sure, but its not really action packed. Scarface: The World is Yours truly impressed me by making me realize it had the potential. The game puts you in the shoes of Tony Montana, who is unfortunately not voiced by Pacino, mostly due to the fact that his voice was completely different from years of smoking by the time the game was made. The game is a what-if scenario that takes place after the 1983 film, and your goal is to rebuild Tony Montanas empire by killing rival gangs, dealing cocaine, and completing tasks that bring in supply to bring to all your fronts. There is also a certain Alex Sosa who Tony really wants to kill for obvious reasons.

The presentation overall is top notch for the time. The graphics scream early 1980s Miami, and the sound design is beefy for the most part. The only sound effect thats a bit strange is the explosions. It sounds like it may have been ripped from the film, but its a bit out of place. Also, the voice actor for Tony isn't the best, but hes serviceable, considering Pacino couldn't do it. Speaking of sound, the soundtrack is very good, and has a variety of new and old music. For those who want all the old eighties classics, the game has the majority of the songs from the film soundtrack featuring songs like Push It To The Limit, Rush, Rush, She's on Fire, etc. It also features a lot of great 80s tunes not from the film, such as Rebel Yell, Breaking the Law by Judas Priest, Iggy Pops The Passenger, and others. The soundtrack is great. The story, while not amazing or on par with the film in any real sense, is satisfying enough to keep me playing. The game also very accurately recreates the Babylon Club, the Montana mansion, and other famous locations from the film.

Though I've been positive so far, the game does have its share of flaws. Some of the missions are very bad protection/escort missions, and the AI characters you are meant to protect almost always die, and this can be extremely frustrating. Thankfully a lot of these missions are side missions and don't have that much bearing on your progress overall, but still, when it does matter, its very irritating. There's also a some what touchy push and release system that you must use during the drug deals and heat reduction segments throughout the game. Most times, it works just fine, others, not so much. The game is no where near perfect, but if you are a big fan of the DePalma film with Al Pacino, this game will probably be right up your alley.