Scarface Ends "Terrible Video Game From Movie Trend"
By Matt SlagleAP Technology Writer

Pretend for a moment that Tony Montana somehow survived the blood-bath between his "little friend" and hundreds of rival gangsters at his sprawl-ing Florida mansion in the movie "Scarface."

That's the premise behind "Scarface: The World is Yours" (rated M, $49.99, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC), a thrilling video game sequel that's brim-ming with enough action (and four-letter expletives) to give "Grand Theft Auto'' a run for the money.

Anyone who views "Scarface" as the seminal gangster flick will find a rich "what if'' story here as you be-come the foul-mouthed, hot-tempered Montana in a quest to rebuild his empire and once again rule the world. A lucrative, drug-fueled slice of it, anyway.

As with the movie, this game isn't one you'd want children playing.

From the moment "Scarface" loads, the F-bombs start dropping like the London Blitz. If anything, it shows just how versatile the same four-letter word can be in a conversation.

Appropriately, there's a large cast of Hollywood talent doing the voices in the game version, including Ice-T, Jay Mohr, James Woods and even a reunion of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong.

But aside from his digital likeness, Al Pacino is notably absent from this project. Doing a convincing fill-in job is Andre Sogliuzzo, a veteran of video-game voice-overs.

The core of "Scarface," of course, is organized crime. You'll spend plenty of time in frantic gun battles, but as the aspiring leader of Miami's drug trade, a penchant for business is just as important.

Making drug deals, operating "fronts'' disguised as legitimate businesses, keeping the police at bay and building a reputation are all crucial elements to success in this fully realized, three-dimensional world.

This is a process that will take days, if not weeks, of constant playing to accomplish.

As you restore Montana's wealth, you'll even have the option to model his mansion with all sorts of gaudy furniture and accessories.

But let's be real: the action is where most of the fun lies, mainly because of the game's superb controls and the sheer number of enemies and variety of missions thrown your way. Through-out, a special meter fills during the action, allowing Montana to unleash an invincible killing frenzy once filled.

There's a long history of movies be-coming terrible video games. "Scar-face'' finally breaks that curse.

Three stars out of four.