VU saying hello to Scarface: The Game

Film fans who played Grand Theft Auto: Vice City picked up on numerous references to the classic film Scarface. Besides the 1980s Miami milieu and emphasis on cocaine trafficking, the game also featured several nods to the Brian De Palma crime epic, most notably a finale involving a massive army of mercenaries assaulting a drug lord's garishly decorated mansion.

Today, VU Games announced that it is planning a game that will do more than just pay homage to Scarface. The third-person shooter will put players into the shoes of the film's homicidal protagonist, Tony Montana, who was played with famously foul-mouthed aplomb in the film by Al Pacino. The game Scarface will be developed by Radical Games and is currently scheduled for a fall 2005 release for unspecified platforms.

"The treacherous world of Scarface is a natural property to translate into a cinematic gameplay experience," said VU Game's executive vice president, Michael Pole. "The game will feature cutting-edge technology, a compelling storyline, and the unprecedented experience of playing as one of Hollywood’s most notorious gangsters, Tony Montana."

For those unfamiliar with Tony Montana's story, Scarface the film traces the ex-con's rise to power in the Miami underworld. Starting off as a penniless refugee from the 1980 Mariel Boatlift, Cuban ex-con Montana works his way into the good graces of drug kingpin Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia) by performing a series of criminal errands. However, his lust for power--and Lopez's Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer)--causes Montana to double-cross Lopez and forge his own alliance with a Colombian cartel. However, that arrangement backfires, leading to the bloody climax borrowed by Vice City.