Scarface: The World Is Yours is heavily based on the popular Scarface film and offers a great adventure for fans of open world crime based video games. While gamers who have seen the film will definitely get most from the experience it is not a requirement to stepping into this world and claiming it for your own profit and revenge. Released in 2006 this action adventure was made available on PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows with an enhanced graphical port for the Nintendo Wii a year later.
The plot for this crime themed video game picks up right after the film ends and has Tony Montana barely making it out alive from his mansion after an attack on him. This departure from the film ending allows players to take on a plot of revenge against rival Sosa and his men. Assumed dead by the DEA and police agencies that arrive on scene your empire is sold and brought to the ground that leads players to opt for a story of revenge and rebuilding of an empire to recover the height of their fame and fortune. This plot for revenge against Sosa will have you returning to Miami and building from the ground floor up while taking out anyone that stands between you and your mark.
Set a few months after the dramatic event players move back to Miami to start their challenge to find their assets frozen and their territory absorbed into other factions. With your past reputation you’ll meet with old friends and new ones to help you rebuild the empire that was lost. If you’ve seen the film you’ll recognise many of the people (both visually and voice acting) that you meet along this journey back up to the top which almost makes you feel like you’re living out a potential movie sequel.
Gameplay in Scarface: The World Is Yours is fairly similar to what a Grand Theft Auto game would offer with a large open world of Miami just waiting to be explored and profited from for players. Play as Tony Montana players can explore the streets of Miami on foot, in cars or boats from a third person perspective with your core goal to regain control of the market and in turn restore your reputation in the criminal underworld. Like other games in this action adventure genre you’ll encounter civilians and various NPCs while exploring that provide opportunities for quests and combat although players are not able to attack civilians which is notable compared to the GTA franchise.
Combat central to quests though and is open against hostile targets though with a range of firearm types available for combat which utilises a lock on system. Players are rewarded for hits while not locked on to targets though with a balls meter that allows you to unleash a flurry of bullets in a blind rage mode that takes you into a first person slow motion perspective with automatic targeting and infinite ammo that is obviously highly powerful. Beyond combat players will also engage in a number of side activities such as street racing and mini games that all help your empire expand in small ways.
While exploration is open from the start of the game your business will use only a small portion of the overall city to begin with and will slowly start expanding which is central to the game story moving forward. This expansion is based on two gameplay elements, removing rival gangs through force and buying up businesses to distribute your goods that both need to work together for maximum profit. Gangs form the combat side of the game while businesses create missions for the player that must be completed before they’ll sell to you. These missions have fairly good variety and include the odd over the top mission that makes this video game worthy of the Scarface name.
These activities and quests generally tie to the dirty money system of Scarface: The World Is Yours which is lost upon death or arrest. If players can launder this money beforehand though it will protect your assets and allows you to build up wealth beyond these temporary setbacks which are impacted by how much heat (attention) rival gangs and the police have in Tony.
Summary:
- Continue the journey of Tony Montana in an alternative story set in Miami focused on reclaiming your empire.
- Grow across four distinct districts with their own challenges, characters and missions.
- Manage your heat from the police and rival gangs to limit attention to your operations.
- Fight rival gangs and convince business owners to sell to you through missions to grow your area of influence, reputation and dirty money.
- Available on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo Wii.
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Review Platform: PC