Montana Lives-Scarface: The World Is Yours

“In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.”

Those are words to live by, Tony.

Before we begin, let’s look at this timeline:

1983-Epic crime drama Scarface, directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone, shocked the world with its disturbing portrayal of the cocaine-driven criminal underworld and the American Dream gone wrong. Acclaimed Godfather star Al Pacino delivered a memorable performance as underdog Tony Montana-a Cuban refugee turned drug lord who would do anything to get his big break…but paid the price in Greek tragedy fashion. Despite mixed critical reactions during its release, Scarface is a cult classic with an ever- growing fanbase and credited for inspiring today’s  hip-hop/rap culture.

2006-After the success of the crime-themed Grand Theft Auto games, Vivendi Universal Games and Radical Entertainment developed Scarface:The World Is Yours for Playstation 2 and X-Box. Players finally take the role of Tony Montana as they climb back on top of the Miami crime ring.

2010-A certain movie fan walked past the gaming section at BIG W Doncaster and bought the Scarface game for only $15.00. A rare bargain worthy enough to give the now obsolete Playstation 2 one last spin.

NOW let’s push it to the limit….

Although the game is best remembered as a Grand Theft Auto: Vice City clone (funny enough that most of the underdog/crime ring storylines in the GTA series is inspired by Scarface), Scarface: The World Is Yours is a fun romp.  Usually gamers can’t stand the sight of a movie-licensed game. Since the infamous E.T. game on the Atari 2600, movie tie-in games have a bad reputation of being mere cash-ins and generally not fun to play. Thankfully, Scarface joins Goldeneye N64 and the 2009  Ghostbusters: The Video Game  in the list of licensed games that are worth playing and lives up to the spirit of the movies they were based on.

Unlike your typical film-to-game adaptions, Scarface: The World Is Yours doesn’t retell the movie’s story and just add levels to it. Instead the Scarface game is a sequel to the first film (think of it as  “Scarface 2” or the lost Al Pacino movie that never made it to the big screen) and picks up where the movie left of. Oh, what was that? Tony Montana died at the end of the movie? Yes he did bit the bullet but the game’s storyline (brought to you by the screenwriter of American History X and Blow) answers what would happen if Tony looks behind his shoulder, sees that no-good sunglasses-wearing assassin (Known as “The Skull” in Scarface lore) and blast his bloody head off (literally) during the Mansion Massacre scene. So players have a chance to go back in time and change the first film’s ending (arguably for the better). After surviving the shoot-out, Tony vows to rebuild his million-dollar empire and get revenge on the man who made his life miserable: his former business partner Alejandro Sosa.

This is how Scarface should have ended.

As said earlier, Scarface is very influenced by Grand Theft Auto. It has a third-person open world gameplay where players can explore Miami city without restraint and pick the missions they want to play rather than the old linear tradition of beating one level to get to the next one. Like GTA, Tony get to hi-jack cars, take on rival gangsters with a wide range of weapons (including a chainsaw) and confront cops. However, Scarface is more than a GTA clone. In fact, Scarface has few improvements over the original PS2 GTA installments including the ability to save money in the bank so players won’t lose their hard-earned cash after dying or arrested (a recurring and frustrating problem in the GTA franchise) and more options in the  ’80s-themed soundtrack . That’s right you can play Beth Anderson’s Dance Dance Dance during a car chase mission or whenever you want. Since Tony’s a gangster who can buy off anything, players can  bribe the police and rival gangs to reduce heat, leaving Tony a free man.

The game also does a fantastic job of expanding the Scarface universe by recreating memorable locations including the Babylon Club and of course, Tony’s mansion which is worth exploring on its own. To follow up with the storyline’s continuity, the bosses you face are actually minor characters from the first film who have bigger roles in the game ranging from the Diaz brothers to Gasper Gomez.  Sadly the only surviving character who didn’t make an appearance  is Tony’s ex-wife Elvira (Michelle Pfieffer’s character) but she did get mentioned in the game.

Perhaps the most unique feature is the *ahem* Balls Meter where players build up momentum for invincibility by pressing the circle button to make Tony swear and taunt. After the  Ball Meter is filled up, players can unleash Tony’s rage by switching into arcade-style  first-person view and shoot those “cock-a-roaches” without getting hurt.

Although the graphics are terribly outdated and blocky compared to today’s consoles, Sierra captured Al Pacino’s likeness perfectly. Pacino didn’t reprise his famous role for the game (however he was involved in the game’s production),  his sound-a-like replacement was spot-on and all those profanity-filled catchphrases are all here.

After four years of its release and considered to be one of the last big releases on the last-gen consoles, Scarface has aged well and worth going retro again if you are fan of the Cuban anti-hero.  In 2008, there were plans to make a second Scaface game for PS3 and X-Box 360,  but it unfortunately got canned due to the corporate merger of Sierra and Activision.  It’s ashame really. Scarface is an underated gem that is worthy enough to be  a franchise or get at least one more outing on high-definition TV. Titles like Scarface proves that not only players should give movie-to-games titles a chance but licensed titles can  further legitimise video games as cinematic storytelling mediums. If Hollywood can’t make a sequel to a big budget movie due to the cast being too old, set problems and so on, there’s always video games to keep classic characters alive.

Like the alternate mansion scene, Tony Montana don’t die that easy.

This wouldn’t be a Scarface article without quoting…

“SAY HELLO TO MY FRIEND LITTLE FRIEND!”