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Scarface the game kicks off as an alternate ending to Scarface the movie. You, as Tony Montana, have to rebuild your empire from scratch. You do this by re-establishing your self through increasing your reputation in Miami and by reconnecting with your contacts on the street. Not an easy task by any means. The local gangs have taken over and own the streets, so not only will you have to take them out, but do so without attracting the attention of the police.

You will retake Miami in stages, each “zone” is under the control of a specific gang/boss and you will have to eliminate them one at a time to take back control. There are also a number of “fronts” in each zone that will need to be acquired so that you have distribution points for your drugs.

Of course you can’t do much without money, so you will find yourself doing a number of odd menial jobs to rebuild your bankroll. These will include things like protecting certain individuals, running drug deliveries, clearing out gang hideouts, etc. There is also the distribution and sale of drugs that will generate the majority of your cash. Make sure that you don’t piss off the street dealers or you will find yourself in a gunfight instead of a simple transaction.

The storyline itself will help you advance your position in Miami and reclaim your drug empire. It will lead you through acquiring the various fronts in the zone that you are currently in and ultimately to gain control of that zone. Each front and each zone is locked and will not become available for you to acquire until you complete the tasks required. Which basically means that you have to follow the storyline.

There are also mini-missions that you have access to. These basically involve meeting with a contact and doing a job for him. This can involve any number of odd jobs as mentioned above. You need to make these contacts and complete their tasks because once you have succeeded in whatever they have for you to do, they will give you a lead to a drug source. You then have to go find that drug dealer and purchase their product from them which you will then redistribute to street dealers. This is where you make your money.

Scarface: The World is Yours has an interesting way of allowing you to interact with the NPC’s in the game. You will either simply push a button and get some dialog and a mission. Or, when buy drugs, selling drugs, intimidating gang bangers etc, there is a metered response that you have to manage. This involves pushing a button on the controller and releasing it when the bar hits the target area of the meter. Release to soon and you end up paying too much or not getting the hoped for reaction. Release to late and it typically results in your getting into a gun fight or going to jail – well, the jail part occurs when trying to bribe the local cops into not busting you for your indiscretions.

When deals go wrong you will most likely find yourself on the receiving end of a large volume of flying lead. This could be bad, especially for your continued survival in the game. Combat is fast and furious and there is no quarter asked or given. In some cases it may be the better part of valor to run away if to many of the gang banger's buddies show up to defend their turf.

When involved in a gunfight you will collect balls, and no we are not talking about tennis balls. Every time you shoot someone you get balls, if you taunt them while your shooting at them you get even more. Once the bucket is full you can now “Rage”. When you Rage you become invulnerable and whatever weapon you are using has an unlimited amount of ammunition. In addition you will recover health when your raging. Tony has a number of weapons available to him, and as the game progresses will gain access to even more. Initially you have a couple of pistols, a SMG and a shotgun, as well as a machete for the close in and personal hacking up of your enemies.

When you check out the menu options, one of them is for “Exotics”, Exotics are the special items that you gain access to as you play the game. There are henchmen, cars, boats, upgrades to your mansion, investments, etc. Henchmen are important as they give you access to new parts of the game, like the Mercenary will open up new mini missions which we will discuss in a moment. The really impressive section of the Exotics is the list of cars that you can buy for yourself, from jeeps to limousines and from old classics to top of the line race cars. The boats section will give you access to everything from a power boat to a banana boat to a yacht. Each vehicle has its own properties in terms of handling, speed and armor. And you will notice the difference as you drive them.

Some of your henchmen, like the Driver, Assassin and Mercenary, will give you access to mini-missions specifically designed around the kind of work they do for Tony, from smuggling drugs to enforcing Tony’s orders to eliminating the competition. And there is always a reward for success and the typical punishment is death.

As you drive through town it is obligatory that you listen to some cool tunes. The car radio has one of the most extensive playlists of music I have ever seen in a game of any kind. You can access the playlist from the menu options and either select music categories or just listen to it all - 80’s hits, classic rock, reggae, rap and more.

The subject matter of the game is not one that I’m particularly crazy about, being that it is all about selling drugs. Aside from that, Scarface: The World is Yours is an amazing game in its diversity of play, with the combination of having a good solid story line that expands on a great movie from the 1980’s and the ability to choose to follow the story or do your own thing with hours of game time. There are also numerous options in the game through the acquisition of the various exotic items which give you short term goals to reach and a huge playlist of songs available and the constant adventure, Scarface has enough going for it to keep you busy for days.

This game has a lot of bloody violence in it, if you have not seen the movie Scarface, go rent it and watch it to get the back story to the game. Besides, it’s a classic movie and it will get you in the mood. There is also an excessive use of the F word in the game, just like in the movie, so may be offensive to some players. This is NOT a game for children or anyone that is seriously anti-drug (considering the subject matter). So please, just be aware of who is in the room with you when you play this game.