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Xbox | Action | Scarface: The World Is Yours

Publisher: VU Games
Developer: Radical Entertainment
Release Date: 10/06/2006
Genre: Action
Number of Players:
ESRB Rating: Mature
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48 screen shots

GRAPHICS: 4.00
SOUND: 5.00
CONTROL: 3.50
FUN FACTOR 3.75
AVG USER SCORE 4.2
AVG CRITIC SCORE 3.8

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Review: Scarface: The World Is Yours

Review by TMac | 10/10/2006 | 13:32:24 PM PST

Although it's an entertaining and deep game in its own right, a feeling of Grand Theft Auto deja-vu dogs Scarface: The World Is Yours at every turn. It's an ironic twist, considering the obvious influence that the movie had on Rockstar's star franchise, but it's this feeling of "been there, done that" that takes a few bullets out of Tony Montana's fully loaded clip.

Bigger, Better, Badder

PROTIP: Always have a stash of money on hand to buy your next front.

Scarface continues where the film left off and, instead of meeting his end in the infamous mansion shootout, Tony Montana lives to fight another day. The player is then charged with the task of taking Tony from the bottom of heap back to the top of the mountain, an ascent which is really spiced up by the superb dialog and voice acting featured in the game. A talented roster of Hollywood actors brings the game to life, and although Al Pacino isn't featured, his hand-picked replacement is a dead-on ringer. Pacino's physical likeness is also uncanny, and the animations are spot-on.

Like Tony Montana, Scarface is crafty where it counts. It fixes some of the problems inherent in the GTA formula with obvious improvement such as the ability to hop on your satellite phone and have a car and supplies delivered to you in seconds. You can also save the game simply by visiting one of the many banks throughout the city, which means no more cross-town drives to a distant hideout.

Power Outage

Tony blows away the competition.

However, much like its complicated anti-hero, the game has some glaring flaws. The control scheme, for example, has some quirks that left us screaming with rage. For instance, the "bail out of your car" button is situated directly next to the E-brake button which resulted in us accidentally leaping out of our car more than a few times. And all of the driving controls are mapped to the face buttons, which made vehicle manipulation a complicated chore. Worst of all, the game won't allow you to remap the buttons.

Some of the crime aspects are strange and convoluted as well. Buying drugs results in a mini-game where exact button presses are needed to avoid a violent shootout. Also, raising the ire of the police carries too little consequence: simply hiding out in an alley way or running far enough away is enough to take the heat off of you.

Movie Star Looks

In the end, the cinema-worthy production alone makes Scarface a compelling addition to the genre that it undoubtedly inspired but it is by no means the best at what it does. Unlike the movies, Tony Montana just doesn't have enough ammunition to claim the throne for himself.