Scarface: The World Is Yours Impressions

Earlier today during a meeting with Sierra Interactive, we had an opportunity to see the Wii version of Scarface: The World Is Yours in action for the first time. Originally released for the PC, the PlayStation 2, and the Xbox in October, the game casts you in the role of Tony Montana right at the end of Scarface the movie and lets you rewrite history by escaping from his besieged mansion and then rebuilding his empire. Predictably, the Wii game features all of the same content that appeared in other versions last year, but it uses the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers to make the gameplay feel somewhat less conventional.

Moments after the demo got under way, our first and as yet unasked question was answered. We were wondering if Scarface would feature the same excessive use of profanity and blood on the Wii as it did on other platforms, and we're pleased to report that the answer is most definitely. The F-bombs were dropping left, right, and center as we watched Montana gun down enemies at the Leopard Storage warehouse, and when he pulled out his chainsaw there were limbs and ketchup fountains aplenty.

Cutting enemies up with the chainsaw is almost certainly the best example of how playing with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers has the potential to make the whole experience more satisfying. When you're wielding the chainsaw, its movement will be tied to that of the Wii Remote, and by slashing in different directions and at different heights you'll be able to target enemies' heads, legs, and individual arms. With practice you'll purportedly be able to remove all of the aforementioned extremities before the torso hits the ground, but the associate producer showing us the game on this occasion never managed to pull it off.

In case you're not familiar with other versions of the game, one of the more interesting gameplay mechanics in Scarface is the balls meter--a gauge that you can fill up by taunting enemies as you kill them and by not relying entirely on the auto-targeting system. In the Wii game you'll taunt enemies by shaking the Nunchuk from left to right, and when you've filled up the gauge and want to trigger the powerful "blind rage," you'll need to do the same thing with the Wii Remote. The rest of the controls appear to be quite conventional. You'll use the analog stick and directional pad for movement, camera control, weapon switching, and the like.

Scarface's visuals on the Wii are certainly comparable to those on the PS2 and the Xbox, and we didn't notice any nasty pop-up or frame-rate issues during our time with it. We weren't allowed to pick up the controls ourselves on this occasion, but the release date is only two months away, so it won't be long before we can. We look forward to bringing you more information as soon as it becomes available.