Reviews// Scarface: The World is Yours (PS2)

Even though the game is for the PS2, the graphics are very impressive and lovingly rendered. Radical Entertainment has certainly done a great job recreating the look and feel of Brain De Palma’s classic film. The piece de resistance is Montana himself, who is depicted brilliantly. The way he walks, the way he talks, and all his mannerisms are spot on. Tony’s animations, such as nasty facial expressions, wild hand gestures and constant shoulder jerking, are amazing.

Mr Pacino lent his likeness to the game but unfortunately not his voice. Substitute voice man, Andre Sogliuzzo, does a fantastic job recreating Tony’s voice - all Cuban machismo and sneering arrogance. All the game’s other characters are rendered very well and really add to the gameplay.

There are over 300 non-playable characters in Scarface: The World is Yours for the PS2. You can have different conversations with them all. Tommy Lee, Ricky Gervais and Lemmy are some of the famous names who have put their voices to the game.

It is also possible to mix your own soundtrack; you can select music from the period, or choose from a comprehensive playlist, which includes artists as diverse as Judas Priest, Grandmaster Flash and Blondie.

There is an awful lot of swearing in the game. There’s more swearing than any other game we, at SPOnG Towers have ever had the pleasure to play (if you know better, then send your Swear-Count to the forums).

Simply pressing [O] during normal play results in Tony shouting invective-filled one-liners, such as: “I’m gonna flip you up!”, “Flip anyone who tries to flip me”, “Flip those American cock-a-roaches!” and “Flip Gasper Gomez, and flip the flipin’ Diaz brothers! Flip’em all!” (of course, Tone’ doesn’t actually say, ‘Flip’ but you get the fackin’ point).

Tony’s most explicit language, however, is saved for when he is in combat. If you press [O] when your gun is drawn, you stop aiming and start to hurl a torrent of abuse at your enemies. This in turn, increases Tony’s Balls Meter. Yes, you read correctly, ‘Balls Meter’ – the new measurement of cojones or, for the less latin among us, ‘courage’.

The location where you shoot an enemy (arm, leg, head, kidney, groin, left nut or right nut) also increases the Balls Meter. When the meter is full, holding [O] for two seconds sends Tony into first-person Blind Rage Mode. Here, you become extremely focused, immune to bullets and, of course, you start swearing like a trooper as you mow down whatever is in front of you.

There will be many comparisons made between Scarface: The World is Yours and GTA, especially GTA: San Andreas; this is to be expected. The meat and potatoes of both games is a combination of driving and shooting, with countless side-missions thrown in for good measure.

Both Scarface and GTA are played in a third-person, free-roaming perspective and use a virtually identical auto-targeting system. You lock onto enemies within your line of sight using the L1 button and, once you are locked on, you can shoot at various parts of the body with the right analogue stick.

You can also crouch and take cover where there is a wall. This enables you to shoot, hide and reload your weapon safely.

What makes Scarface: The World is Yours different is the feeling that the city is truly yours. Everything you do, from something trivial like a simple conversation in the street to something crucial like a gang hit, has consequences. Fans of the GTA genre will certainly feel right at home with Scarface, but Radical Entertainment has done a good job making sure there are enough original ideas to keep it feeling fresh.

Scarface: The World is Yours should keep even the most ardent gamer amused for at least 20 hours of gameplay. The graphics are good, even for the rapidly dating PS2, and they successfully recreate the Miami of the early 80s, as depicted in the movie. Characters move around realistically, especially, and most importantly Tony who is bang on. Mr Montana’s mannerisms, characteristics and use of colourful language are amazing, really making the game. The developers have caught all Tony’s swagger and venom, which was so evident in the film.

Scarface: The World is Yours does not disappoint. To say that Scarface is just a GTA clone would be ignorant. The gameplay is action packed; the storyline is extremely well written. The end product not only entertains and challenges, it also goes someway to answering the question: what if Tony Montana survived? The answer is: ‘You flipping decide, ya mutha-flipper!’


SPOnG Score: A-

It must be said, a truly great game that will appeal to both fans of the movie and to Scarface virgins alike. Radical Entertainment has masterfully recreated Tony Montana and the dangerous world he was from in what could well be one of the best videogame tie-ins ever released for the PS2. So, what you waiting for, you cock-a-roaches? Get yourself down to you local retailer now!