Even people who haven't seen the movie know the famous line at the end of "Scarface," when Al Pacino stands there with his machine gun and yells, "Say hello to my little friend!" Shortly afterward, he dies in a hail of bullets.
"Scarface: The World is Yours" dives into the world of the movie, but with a question: What if Tony Montana didn't die at the end of the movie and had to rebuild his drug empire from the ground up?
I have my own question: What if the game makers spend more time and money on flash and voice actors than on the gameplay itself?
That's the problem with "Scarface." It has a ton of big-name talent -- along with flawed gameplay mechanics, boring missions and so-so graphics. Voice talent is great, but not at the expense of the game itself.
So let's start with the positive: the names. A quick scan of the imdb.com listing for the game includes the following: Anthony Anderson, Tommy Chong, Ricky Gervais, Ice-T, Bam Margera, Cheech Marin, Jay Mohr, Michael Rapaport, James Woods, Michael York. In addition, there's Steven Bauer and Robert Loggia, both of whom were in the movie.
Then there's the story, which was written by David McKenna, the screenwriter for "Blow" and "American History X." Even the sound was mixed at Skywalker Sound.
If "Scarface" wanted credentials, it's got them. Seems like it should be a great game, but it's just not.
It feels like a poor imitation of a "Grand Theft Auto" game. It even looks like a "Grand Theft Auto" game, but sadly, that would be "Grand Theft Auto III," which came out like five years ago. Not impressive.
I do like the aiming controls; those work well. You lock on with the left trigger, then are free to adjust with the right trigger. As you shoot, it tells you on the screen what body part you hit, which is fun.
It's the other controls that aren't so hot. For one, you can't jump and you can't climb over things. What kind of action game in the year 2006 doesn't allow you to jump? I mean, even first-person shooters let you jump.
Then there are the vehicle controls. Most of the vehicles have next to no turning radius, so making it around corners almost always requires you to power slide. And strangely, the acceleration button (the 'A' button) doesn't seem to work half the time. You have to put full force on it all the time or the car just putters out. I don't know about you, but I don't want to constantly be jamming my thumb into the button just to keep it above 10 mph.
Meanwhile, the maps (both the small on-screen one and the bigger in-menu one) are horrid. It's nearly impossible to tell where you're supposed to be going next, or even where you are. Sometimes an arrow pops up to tell you to turn at a certain time, but even that doesn't seem to be consistent.
All this would be bearable if the missions were interesting. But they're mostly bland, "go kill this person, go drop off this package."
On the plus side, with a touch of a button, you can make Tony spew profanities left and right. That's always amusing.
If you're a big "Scarface" fan, then maybe it's worth slogging through. But if you're just looking for an action game in the vein of "Grand Theft Auto," the patience required to play "Scarface" isn't worth the end result.
Sorry all you big-name actors, but it's time to say goodbye to Tony's little friend.
When it comes to fighting games, "Mortal Kombat" has a special place in history. For years, it's had gamers cackling in morbid glee at its ultra-gory fighting.
The latest version, "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon," isn't bad but it doesn't ascend to the level of greatness of the original (none really has).
In fighting games, the characters are one of the most important aspects, and "Armageddon" has more than 50 of them, spanning all the previous games. Character selection definitely is not a flaw here.
The problem is with the combat (err, kombat) itself. The buttons seem slow to respond, and in a fighting game, that's a kiss of death. Even discounting that, though, "Armageddon" takes away what was the high point for most "Mortal Kombat" fans: individual characters' signature fatality moves.
You know the fatalities: those fun finishing moves in which one of the characters does something kooky like ripping off the other guy's head with his spine attached. Now, each character has the same list of fatalities to perform, and that takes away a lot of the thrill.
Still, "Armageddon" isn't without merit. There are fun side games, including a car-combat mode called, wait for it, Motor Kombat.
The platforming Konquest mode has been improved and plays similarly to "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks" (which I liked quite a bit). In fact, I had more fun playing Konquest than the regular fighting modes.
"Mortal Kombat: Armageddon" isn't exactly disappointing, but it's not a must-have, either. Non-"Mortal Kombat" fanatics can get away with passing on it.
