Al Pacino is set to return as Tony Montana in a video game version of Scarface.
Apparantly Tony Montana didn’t die at the end of Scarface, or so a new video game tells us. Al Pacino and a load of heavyweight hollywood actors will bring the world of Tony Montana to the small screen.
Although from the many Scarface screenshots and teaser trailers it gives the impression that its too much like a GTA Vice City rip-off, the potential could be huge.
In a recent article on Eurogamer, Cam Webber talks about the features, and differences between GTA Vice City and “Scarface: The world is yours”.
One of the major things that piqued my interest was not only seeing the teaser trailer (available at http://www.scarfacegame.com/us/), but the vivid description of how striking and making deals will form a major part of the game.
“we’re really focusing on this character and what he does, so that’s the first thing. The other thing is we’ve got some really cool island-to-island play, like the drug-smuggling business. It’s really focused on the cocaine business in the early eighties. You’re going out into the islands in the Bahamas, you’re negotiating with suppliers, you’re sending transport through, you’re fighting with the DEA, you’re building a cocaine business, and … I think it’s going to be a really authentic, really specific, compelling experience for people.” – says Cam Webber
The deal making will certainly make it different to GTA Vice City. If the deal making is as good as they say it is, then I will certainly be interested, but at the moment – it just feels too much like a GTA clone/wannabe.
How to make Scarface different to Vice City
- Random Gangs, each with their strengths and weaknesses (use geographical names like “The Columbians” if necessary) — if you or the computer vanquishes a gang – its replaced by a new gang — every gang is out to make it happen, the aim of the game should be to get to the top by hook, or by crook
- Hire hoods to protect your turf and enforce protection money payments
- Hire hookers and pimps to work your turf
- Hire professional hitmen to take out rival dealers, pimps, hoods and gangland bosses
- Hire dealers to sell drugs and find out rival dealers for rival gangs
- Gang members could sell information, drugs or other products to other gangs
- Shipments – strike deals with rival gangs, suppliers, distributors, producers – the bigger the deal the more respect you get, the more deals that you lose or shipments that are lost/seized by the DEA you less respect you get
- Bribing – bribe beat cops, DEA agents, port officials, harbour police – and even rival gangs, and other characters – anything to get you to the top
- Farms/Labs – the ability to build, buy, sell and destroy drug labs, farms in any country – and produce any drug
- Good list of countries, each with supply/demand pre-requists and a law level, which changes depending on the crime level in that city – if you successfully ship goods to a city, the law goes up – if not, it goes down — timing will become an integral part of your shipments, and the cities you deal with
These ideas are good, but the problem is – the target platform for Scarface: The world is yours, the PS-2, and X-Box.. This means its not meant to be a simulation, its meant to be an arcade game. I hope that if they do release a PC version, it has better dealing, franchising and operational controls.
Because, as Tony Montana might say – first you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the women…
Scarface: The world is yours is due for release in Autumn/Fall 2005.