Review: Scarface - The World is Yours
Date Posted: Monday 14th May, 2007 Author: Alfreido
Subject: Game Review Views: 2172
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Graphics
If you got this game with the thought that it was released a couple of years after Grand Theft Auto 3 and must look a lot better, I bet you're feeling rather disappointed now.

The game features an engine just like Grand Theft Auto 3's engine (in fact, if Tony Montana weren't in it, this would probably be the closest thing to a Grand Theft Auto sequel) in that a whole world is open to you. You have cars, you have pedestrians, you have a lot of buildings and you have a lot of ground to cover if you wish to travel from one side of the city to the other. Just like Grand Theft Auto 3, the distance and size of the playing field is superb, giving you a heap of area to run amok in.

However, for a game which was released close to 3 years after Grand Theft Auto 3, it hasn't got a really noticeable graphical advantage over its cousin. In fact, in some ways it has gone backwards.

The game was designed for the consoles first, and PC second, so once again, PC games get the short end of the stick, but come on Vivendi, what was your graphics department up to when creating this game? Too much time spent on Nude Twister, not enough on the game.

What are my gripes, you ask? Well first off, the view distance of the game is horrid. After seeing games like Oblivion, Stalker, Gothic 3 etc. where you can see honestly kilometres into the horizon, Scarface is content with letting you see up to the end of the street and no more. Now this may not matter too much because you are focussed on what is directly next to you, I can't see any reason why you shouldn't have a large view to have a spiel at once in a while. Honestly, our computers can handle it these days Vivendi, you didn't have to design the game cautiously.

Also, the textures in the game are rather poor and blocky, and some things don't even have textures at all. Some buildings don't have any textures at all, instead they are just a single colour. Grass and road textures are very low resolution and blood splatters are simply horrid. The models in the game are a little bit more detailed, but even then, we've seen much better graphics in other games, and to go backwards for a game like this, it just doesn't make you a happy camper. In fact, the only impressive model is of Tony Montana himself. It looks just like Al Pacino (who gave his likeness to the character, but not his voice) and is easily the most impressive looking model in the game, the rest are pretty standard and are lacking finesse.

The vehicles in the game all look well designed, but once again, don't have the eye candy that other games have. They don't have reflections, they don't have the chrome look that some games have (like Need for Speed: Carbon) and they simply look like very decent models covered in average textures.

I can't recommend the graphics in this game at all, they just didn't put enough time into it.

Sound
Another section of the game which needed a bit more loving, however, I must say that it is a little bit better than the graphics. The soundtrack almost sounds like a complete lift from Grand Theft Auto 3. It features some of the songs that featured in Grand Theft Auto 3, including "She's on Fire", one of my least favourite songs from that game. There are a lot of tracks present in the game, even by some respectable artists such as Johnny Cash, but a lot of it is rap and crap like Run DMC and Suicidal Tendencies.

There is an extreme amount of profanity in the game. Nearly every sentence in the game has a swear word in it, most of all by Tony Montana himself. Speaking of Tony Montana, he has a voice actor providing his voice this time around (personally chosen by Al Pacino however), so those of you wanting to hear Pacino will be sadly disappointed in this game. The voice actor that has replaced Pacino however sounds really close to Pacino, and I was actually fooled for a while before I listened carefully, so Vivendi have done a good job hiring someone who sounds just like the actor, instead of just grabbing any old person to replace an actor.

The engine sounds in the game are fairly standard, nothing to write home about. They are good for their purpose, but some of them don't have the 'oomph' that will blow your subwoofer apart if turned up. A little more grunt in some of the faster and more powerful cars wouldn't have gone astray.

There is surround sound featured in the game, but there are little sound options provided in the game, only volume controls. You can't disable EAX or reverb (mind you, they don't sound like they are in the game anyways).

Lastability
The game starts off fairly slowly but does manage to pick up very shortly after starting. The game manages to grab you at the start but afterwards, just flutters away with the lack of different missions and lack of storyline.

The game will probably take around 20-30 hours to complete and get everything, but whether or not it holds your interest for that long is another question.

Final Thoughts
As I said before, games made from movies have a stigma of being bad, the only notable exceptions include Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, the Lord of the Rings games and the almighty Goldeneye 64. Unofrtunately, Scarface: The World is Yours just doesn't seem to quite break away from that stigma. It features some really cool features and does carry on the Scarface name with pride, but as a game it just doesn't hold interest for too long, and wasn't designed with a lot of care due to it being a console game originally. It could've been so much more.

Gamestah Verdict The Good
Graphics:
Sound:
Enjoyment:
Longetivity:
Overall:
  • Tony Montana
  • Bucket loads of blood and swearing
  • Fun shootouts
The Bad
  • Cruddy graphics engine
  • Sounds too much like GTA3
  • Missions are too samey
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Comments
Ej
Gamestah General Manager
291 comments
im playing this atm, like it alot, so close to the movie in feel.
  Posted at Monday 14th May, 2007 - 6:46:13 pm
Sacrifice
Esports Commentator
15 comments
missions are too 'samey', speak engrish?
  Posted at Monday 14th May, 2007 - 8:45:08 pm
Alfreido
Gamestah Website Admin
84 comments
It's a word.... now.
  Posted at Monday 14th May, 2007 - 8:55:00 pm
Kommandant

30 comments
is this out for 360? I'd rather play it on 360 then PC as i've got large gohonas
  Posted at Tuesday 15th May, 2007 - 5:32:20 pm
Mr_Zain

3 comments
I have one more gripe with this game. You can't just go and attract police attention by blasting random civilians in the face. When I got to the end of the drug haul I wanted to execute some mayhem all over the city and alas could not *tear*
  Posted at Thursday 25th June, 2009 - 5:36:56 pm
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