Radical Entertainment and Sierra have teamed up with Universal Studios to deliver Scarface as an open-ended, do-whatever-the-fuck-you-want GTA contender. This game is so gloriously rotten with blood and profanity that, even after my years of mayhem in Vice City and San Andreas, I was still a little surprised.

GENERAL:

How bad is it? It’s Scarface for Christ’s sake. You’ve got a cocaine meter. It’s safe to say this game doesn’t hold back. As far as language content, here’s an excerpt from the dialogue between our hero, Tony Montana, and one of the side characters shortly after the introduction gameplay:

Tony: What the fuckin’ fuck?

Man: Joo gots cajones like little fucking raisins, puto.

Tony: Fuck your motha’ fucking cunt ass fuck.

Man: Joo is going to suck the blood of yo motha’s ass offa my…

Tony: Who the fuck do you fucking think you motha fucking fuck fuckers are fucking with?!

Both: Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

It’s seriously that bad, which is fantastic.

The violence side of things remains mostly in the realm of GTA realism with noticeable tweaking. Heads explode when shot, fountains of blood erupt from wounds. The game notifies you of critical wounds you cause, such as hitting specific organs in your targets or dismembering them, with small text pop-ups.

GAMEPLAY:

Scarface: The World is Yours has a few noteworthy features that sets it apart from the flock. The top item on the list would have to be a “Balls” meter, just for what it is. Every time you wound an enemy or shout a string of profanity (courtesy of the “insult” button) during combat, you get more Balls. When your balls are full, you can enable a “blind rage” mode which makes you temporarily invulnerable, auto-targets enemies, and gives health bonuses for kills.

The targeting system is the standard push-button-lock-on that highlights the enemy with a white border. A welcome feature is the ability to guide your aim within the targeting reticule. This way you can take down your enemies faster or earn more Balls (Balls values increase with the severity of damage inflicted). I found this targeting style especially useful when enemies were hiding just around corners. I could locate them quickly in intense firefights and easily shoot whatever was poking out in view instead of having to wait for the superimposed target on their chest to come in to view.

On the simple observation side of things, there are some perks and some quirks. I like that the control type is more like a console FPS, with the use of both analog sticks for movement. While auto-follow camera of the GTA series seems like it would be easier to deal with, any experienced player knows that having the viewpoint shift behind a garbage truck in the middle of a gunfight sucks. Also, the driving mechanics are nicely set between arcade fun and realism. The physics engine allows you to perform advanced driving tricks like power sliding, but at the same time you don’t have to worry about Gran Turismo levels of precision.

Your mission, Tony Montana, is to take back Miami from those fucking pigs who ruined your shit, stole your empire, and tried to kill you. The city is sectioned into four “Turfs”, three of which are locked until Tony completes all of the missions in a previous area. A locked zone doesn’t prevent you from running around in that area, but you’re restricted as the to the types of business you can conduct in those zones. Once you establish get the cash and coke coming in again, you have the option to buy fancy cars, business fronts, and guns. Other nice options include the ability to purchase goodies like henchmen, boathouses, and upgrades for your mansion.

Unfortunately, Tony Montana suffers from the crippling disability that’s been affecting video game characters since the beginning. Of course, I’m talking about Doom Legs. That’s right, kids. Tony Montana can survive being swiss-cheesed, but he can’t jump. After all of these years of advancement in gaming technology, I thought we had finally rid the world of Doom Legs. That wouldn’t bother me so much if he could climb over objects higher than curb, but he can’t. He also runs with the fluidity of a piece of wood. It looks like either his spine is completely inflexible or he’s trying to do the Robot while sprinting. It’s funny for a few minutes but you soon ignore it.

Some of the games and job interfaces are on the dumb side, the drug dealing being a good example. Rather than work out a sensible system for drug dealing and negotiation success that’s based on influence or some kind of experience levels, the programmers opted for the “Test Your Might” approach. Much like a bowling or golf game, you get a power meter which rises and falls through markings that determine your success. Will Tony make the deal? Press the button and find out. Step right up and spin the wheel of cocaine sales, kids.

CONCLUSION:

This seems like a good game and I’d be interested in exploring it further if Bully weren’t available. The lack of jumping ability probably shouldn’t be that big a deal to me, but it is. There’s just no excuse for that to be missing. The positive content is enough to put this game towards the top of the pile for the game type. It’s not going to dethrone Rockstar any time soon, but it’s better than the others of its ilk.

As for the console comparison, XBOX comes out the winner because of its slightly sharper rendering capabilities and higher quality analog sticks. Sony still has the better controller for finding buttons quickly and easily, but their analog controls just don’t fly for bad motherfucks with huge cojones and little friends.

-Baron has been a writer for Shakefire.com since 2006.  Contact him at baron@shakefire.com

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