I always tell the truth. Even when I lie.
It’s inevitable that Scarface: The World Is Yours is going to be compared to the GTA series as the gameplay looks very similar. However, although there are driving and shooting sections all in a third person perspective, Scarface: The World Is Yours differs in that you need to use a mix of violence, speed and tactics to achieve your goals.
The object of the game is to pick up the pieces of where the film left off, but with the twist of Tony not dying at the end but escaping from Miami. Now you’re back and you’re going to take back what Sosa stole from you and kill him in the process. To do this you need to start rebuilding your empire by acquiring businesses and building up a gang. Usually to do this you’ll have to complete a mission of one sort or another to then unlock the business or thug to take over or hire.
Click for larger imageDuring these missions you might be required to catch a target and coerce him into giving you something… The easiest way to slow down a fleeing target is to use the body aiming and shoot them in the leg… Then it’s a simple matter of roughing them up just enough until they give you what you want. Be careful though as you can go too far and over-do it… and watch out for back chat, as Tony don’t stand for none of that!
Click for larger imageOver all, although we’re used to seeing the lush graphics of next-gen stuff on the Xbox 360, it has to be said that the PS2 must be seriously sweating it pumping out what we saw in the screening. Frame rates looked good with the game flowing smoothly even in the middle of a massive fire fight. But what really made it for us was the true-to-the-film nature of the game in general. It looks and feels like late 80s Miami and has just the right amount of corny glitz prevalent in the films and TV shows of the time.
Click for larger imageThe only reservation we have is that Scarface: The World Is Yours portrays the violence and brutality of the film a little too well, not just in the dialogue, which has more swearing than a boatload of East End barrow-boys, but in the on screen action that had us wincing… Ever seen a PS2 character stamp on someone’s face until they die?... You get the idea… Now whilst we agree that this is the world that the film portrayed, we can’t help but wonder how the censors will see it and whilst we’d love to see the game hit the shelves in all its violent glory, the censors might have a different attitude. Here’s hoping not, as to edit out some of the violence would be to take the edge off a gritty and faithful film license.
Oh, by the way, the strapline, ‘The World Is Yours’ is a kind of double homage. The words ‘The World Is Yours’ on the globe at the end of the film is a homage to the original 1932 film, Scarface, of which Al Pacino’s Scarface, is a remake. In the original 1932 film, when the lead character, Tony Camonte died, the same words were flashing on a billboard above him. How sad is it that I know that, eh?
