Help Tony Montana take over the (virtual) world in Scarface on iOS

When running down a list of the most iconic films in history, Scarface would undoubtedly be among them. Al Pacino's portrayal of the violent Tony Montana is something to behold and now in the age of video game adaptations, we can jump into his shoes (virtually at least) via Fuse Powered's Scarface on iPhone and iPad.

From a pure gameplay standpoint, Scarface plays as a combination between a basic city-builder and a 3D mission-based experience like Zynga's Mafia Wars 2. The first scenes of the movie are played out for you via still images and audio clips, until you're eventually given control of Tony and are told to build up his empire by taking control of local businesses (that is, building them in your town) and completing quests to earn more money and respect on the side.

On the one hand, the city-building gameplay sees you using in-game cash or the semi-premium currency (Kilos of "Resources") to build a variety of businesses, ranging from gift shops and hotels to art studios and banks. These businesses pay out extra cash every few minutes or hours, making them profitable over time. They can also be upgraded using your accumulated funds to increase their payout. Additionally, you can construct various pieces to Montana's mansion, adding defense points to your empire. You can expand your land over time, but these expansions are incredibly tiny relative to the amount of coins you'll need to pay to activate them.

While you're waiting for your buildings to turn a profit (or be upgraded or constructed), you can complete a series of Jobs, or quests. These take you through six different locations throughout Miami, ranging from a hip club area to a residential neighborhood or business park. Jobs can be completed using the in-game energy system called "Power," though instead of using one Power point per action, this number varies, with some actions costing as little as 10 Power points, while others can cost two dozen Power points or more for a single action. Needless to say, this causes Power points to run out a bit too quickly, limiting the amount of time you can play in a single session (unless you wish to use some of your Kilos of Resources to refill your Power, that is).

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Either way, your gameplay is accompanied by various audio clips from the movie and the text menus introduce you to plenty of secondary characters from the film. If you're unfamiliar with the movie, this definitely isn't an experience for the little ones, as both the in-game text and voice clips are peppered with obscenities and the actions you'll complete aren't exactly friendly (shooting at buildings, beating up or killing pedestrians, etc.). Still, this isn't something unexpected, and these inclusions do help the gameplay stay true to the source material.

All told, Scarface on iOS has gameplay that may be inspired by the film, and may even include images and audio from the film, but the gameplay is fairly standard in the realm of freemium mobile games. It's interesting that the game comes with a price tag of $0.99, as the in-game microtransactions are normally reserved for entirely free experiences. Still, the game is free to download for a limited time, so perhaps this is only a sign of things to come.

Click here to download Scarface on iTunes --->

Have you tried Scarface on iPhone or iPad? What do you think of the game's take on the iconic motion picture? Sound off in the comments.