I've reviewed two games for Xbox that ended up getting refused classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC). Without an ‘R' rating for games in Australia, this will be an unfortunate end for any game considered not suitable for the current maximum rating of MA15+. The sad thing is, and initial release does not guarantee the game will last on our shelves as the odd game is released only to have the OFLC revoke its classification a few weeks later. Based on my experience with the OFLC and going by the content of my review copy, if you are the kind of gamer that looks for controversial and/or collectable games, Scarface: The World is Yours may be rarer than pastrami if past standards are anything to go by.

Scarface: The Word is Yours is a single player, Grand Theft Auto (GTA) style game based on a cult classic film licence much like the recent Godfather. Comparisons to Rockstar's GTA series are inevitable and considering that GTA: Vice City took most of its inspiration from the movie Scarface anyway, it is not hard to see why. Where Vice City ‘borrowed' ideas from Scarface, this new game from Radical Entertainment has the full Scarface licence. Resulting in the Scarface game that Vice City wished it was.

The Scarface movie licence has certainly not been wasted on The World is Yours. The presentation is top rate and very slick and the use of THX Certified sound is a real bonus for anyone with a quality sound system. Al Pacino's Tony Montana likeness is there and although a ‘sound-a-like' was used, his voice work is spot on. All the memorable locations from the film make an appearance in the game such as the Babylon Club and Sun Ray Hotel and the attention to detail should appeal to fans of the film. Familiar characters and vehicles from the film are littered throughout the game and the chances are, if you can remember it from the film, you can find it somewhere in the game. Many big names have lent their voice talents to the game, but my pick has to be Richard Roundtree voicing a drive-in cinema manager showing a Shaft marathon.

But wait a minute, didn't Tony Montana die in Scarface? Well yes he did and that's why the game begins just before the fateful shotgun blast to the back on the inner balcony of Tony Montana's mansion. Players are given the opportunity to re-write the films ending, by fighting their way out of the besieged mansion killing as many of Sosa's men as you can in the process. After you escape and recover from your injuries you must begin from the bottom again. Aljandro Sosa, the Bolivian Cocaine supplier that Tony crossed in the film has now partnered up with Gaspar Gomez in Miami who eagerly took Tony's place after the attack on his mansion. Your ultimate goal is to take back what was once yours and once again become the biggest drug lord in Miami.

The World is Yours is a third-person perspective game set in a huge free roaming environment that encompasses Miami and a near by chain of islands. This area can be navigated on foot or by using a variety of land and sea vehicles, some of which such as the Stretch Limo and Float Plane allow for fast jumping between key locations. Vehicle physics are spot on in The World is Yours as cars do not feel like they are floating or glued to the ground. The physics aren't Forza Motor Sport realistic, but the levels of fun and responsiveness has been set just right. You can hire henchmen such as drivers and boat pilots that can bring you your vehicle of choice at any time to any location. Not only that, but they act as a body guard or extra gun when needed. Fire fights are a breeze from both on foot and in vehicles with a slick auto/manual aiming system that works a treat. Add to this a ‘Balls' metre that fills whenever you act...er, ballsy allowing for short bursts of first-person perspective rage and you have many a fun, bloody and chaotic fire fight in front of you.

Missions consist of following information that ultimately leads to drug deals and the real money making opportunities. These missions take many different forms and may require you to make deliveries, rough up an informant, defend someone, eliminate a rival gang or even rat out transvestites in brothel by listening to their voices and kicking them in the balls! Drug deals vary from small street deals to large scale distribution missions including smuggler runs from the neighbouring islands past hostile pirates and coast guard patrols. A game device similar to the swing metre in many golf games is common across many tasks in The World is Yours. You hold down the B Button and let it go when the metre reaches a certain sweet spot. Get it right and you get the best deal for drugs, pay off police, intimidate a rival or get the best rate at a bank for laundering money. Let go too early or too late and you generally get shot at or the bank takes most of your cash when laundering your hard earned blood money.

As the quote goes, ‘In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power.' and this philosophy is exactly what the game subscribes to. You can not get anywhere in the game until you make some cash, the more cash you spend the higher your reputation and the higher your reputation the more things you can do and buy. Money earned during missions is initially dirty and although it can be spent you run the risk of losing all of it if you die. To stop this from happening you go to a bank and ‘clean' your ‘dirty' cash. Once again the ‘swing metre' device is used and depending on your reflexes you can save your cash for a fee. Once in the bank, the only way to lose it is to spend it. At times this can seem like wasting money as the banks can charge outlandish fees (don't we know it?) but in reality it is a neat greed vs risk decision for the player. Do I save that extra 15% and risk losing two million dollars or do I pay the fee for the piece of mind of knowing my money is safe? Why not just save the game? Because saving your game is also done at the bank and can not be done without first laundering your dirty cash. Crafty bank managers!

There are many hours of violent fun to be had in The World is Your, but it does lose steam towards the end. That greed vs. risk decision can lead to many wasted hours and the drug distribution system which is vital for game progression can become very repetitive. All story missions are linked to buying businesses for drug fronts and you can only buy businesses if you have enough cash. This can become tedious and it made me wish there was a constant money earner in the game somewhere that just clocked up cash over time to supplement my drug dealing efforts. Not only that, but raising your reputation is also vital in progressing to each level and the easiest way to increase your reputation is to buy more toys, hence you need even more money.

Graphically the game is functional but you can't help but notice the hardware limitations of the Xbox. It would have been quite a sight to behold if the game was developed for the Xbox 360 instead, but alas it was not to be. The soundtrack on the other hand is stellar with the entire official motion picture soundtrack also included. Music tracks are grouped by genre although players can create their own mix tapes (this is the 80's after all) if they wish.