Games based on licensed properties, especially films, have had a long and bad wrap, though for a while it was for good reason. Not too many years ago it was extremely rare that you find a licensed game even bordering on being decent, though over the past few years we’ve seen a surprising number of great and even excellent movie-based games. With Scarface: The World is Yours, Sierra and Radical Entertainment have not only furthered the “new” expectation of licensed titles but have created one of the best so far.

Much of Scarface is based on what we’ve seen in Grand Theft Auto. In fact, it’s fairly obvious that Radical used said series as the blueprint and then went back and re-evaluated its shortcomings. The result is that we have a game that fixes many of GTA’s problematic elements, like the targeting system or having to drive out of the way to stock up on weapons, while also retaining many of its standardized and fun aspects. As well, the developer has introduced a number of unique features, most of which work out quite well. The result is an experience that fans of the genre will feel right at home with while offering enough original ideas to keep it feeling fresh.

While Scarface is indeed a GTA-esque game in every respect, it does have a slight bit of a different feel than said series, and in large part that winds up being a good thing. Instead of working through a seemingly random storyline with characters that come out of nowhere, Scarface does a fantastic job of putting you into the shoes of Tony Montana and letting you have your way with the city of Miami. Almost everything you do seems connected with overtaking the city, resulting in what feels like a much more “cohesive” experience than you’ll find in other open-world games. There’s certainly a story here, but it’s based around revenge and taking back what belongs to you, so it feels a tad more like a setting rather than an always-progressing narrative. Instead of helping a random mob boss simply because the story says so, everything you do is for your benefit and obviously so. Again, it’s more basic than many other games we’ve seen in the genre, but it works very well, makes more sense and seems much more natural.

While being based around Tony’s need for revenge and power certainly helps tie the gameplay to the license, there’s a lot more to the game than this that helps it really feel like a Scarface title. Instead of retelling the story of the movie, Scarface picks up at the very end during the shootout in Tony’s mansion. But rather than being shot in the back, Tony escapes alive but with nothing left to his name. This sets up the mood and setting for the game in a way that simply rehashing the events of the movie never could have. One major benefit here is that the game is able to quickly jump into the world without having to do a whole lot of somewhat needless exposition, though there’s enough that so long as you know the basics of the movie then you’ll be able to follow along without any problems.

The absolute best thing that ties the game to the movie however is how well the character of Tony Montana is represented. Though Al Pacino wasn’t able to provide the extremely large amount of spoken dialog (although he did help choose the actor), the voice work for Tony Montana is absolutely superb. From his accent to inflections to the slight but noticeable way he accentuates curse words with ease mid-sentence, his voice work is dead-on. Tony’s animations are basically perfect as well, capturing his wild shoulder jerks, free use of hand gestures and constant look of discomfort. The rest of the game’s cast is also very good, featuring a list of celebrity talent that is way too long to even begin to list, but Tony is clearly the highlight here. Absolutely fantastic work on this front.

One of the ways that Radical has drastically improved upon most open world games is in terms of the aiming system. The controls work in a freelook manner, much like Max Payne or other third-person shooters, allowing you to freely aim and take out enemies. You’ll actually earn more Balls for doing things this way, so you’re rewarded for skill. If you want to use the lock-on system however, which most folks probably will, you simply need to aim near an enemy and press the appropriate button. This means that you don’t need to tap the lock button and then hope it finds someone relevant. If you want to shoot at a specific soldier, simply aim in his general direction and then hit the button – it’s simple and works very well. Once you’ve targeted an enemy, the aim controls then move your reticule inside the lock-on area, allowing you to target specific body parts for more Balls or a headshot or what have you. It’s a great system that works almost flawlessly.

Where Scarface rises above most of its competition is in its elements beyond the core action. You’re able to buy properties and turn them into fronts for selling drugs, take over warehouses and then go on dispersion missions to collect your loot, hire goons to protect your fronts and more. All of this is manageable via a nicely set up phone menu (which is far more advanced than what we remember from the ’80s).

This whole system gives weight to buying properties. Rather than simply owning them to act as safe houses or to increase your ownership of the land (which they also do), you’re directly rewarded for the areas that you take over. Each front also has drug demand and price stats for the area, so you’ll want to make sure you drop off your stash at these areas first. If they’re overrun with drugs however, you won’t get as much. It’s a pretty cool system that works great with the setting.

There are a whole lot of little things about Scarface: The World is Yours that make it fun, but it’s the sum of its parts that make it an overall great game. Radical’s execution does a whole lot to fix many of the problems with other games in the genre, and the game does an absolutely fantastic job of bring the world of Scarface to gamers. While it isn’t quite perfect, we won’t hesitate for a second to recommend it to action fans everywhere.

review from IGN.com