If you've ever seen the movie (and who hasn't?), you'll know that Tony's life of excess and violence finally catches up with him in the end, and he's murdered by a Bolivian death squad. However, the game imagines a different ending, one in which Tony shoots his way to freedom, disappearing underground to plan his revenge. As Tony, you'll slowly begin to rebuild your narcotics empire, one kilo at a time, until you've got enough power to go after Sosa, the man who ordered your death. Along the way, you'll deal drugs, launder your money, and take on odd jobs in an attempt to keep your pockets fat.
Although the game takes place in Miami, the developers aren't going the "completely realistic" route that games like True Crime do. Instead, the game's version of Miami will have a similar layout, and you'll notice plenty of landmarks from the film as you're driving your mock Camaro around town. The game features a nice variety of environments, ranging from the ritzy areas of the city to the parts that you don't want to go to at night. You'll also be able to make your way to the islands, cruising around in your cigarette boat while picking up the drugs that have been dropped from above.
At its heart, Scarface is a fairly standard third-person shooter, in which you'll be able to grab everything from a pistol to a rocket launcher in an attempt to paint the town red with the blood of your enemies. There are a few nice features available during combat, including the abilities to take cover behind walls and brutally execute any foe stupid enough to get within reach. Make no mistake: this game is just as violent as the movie, if not more so. Environments will get torn up as your bullets hit walls and objects, and your enemies' blood will splatter against anything they're standing near.
While it's far from being considered a traditional squad command system, there's a mechanic in place that will allow you to hire playable minions to perform certain tasks for Tony. Your driver will drop a car off anytime you call him (on your circa-1983 satellite phone), while your enforcer isn't afraid to gets his hands dirty when someone owes you money. You'll also be able to pay trainers to help you run fast, mechanics to improve the performance of your vehicles, or weapons experts to help you upgrade your arsenal. We didn't get to truly see the mechanic in action, but it sounds like an interesting way for the developers to get around the strict "moral code" that prevents Tony from harming innocents.
Since Scarface remains one of our culture's most popular movies even 20 some-odd years after its release, it's not surprising that Universal is doing everything it can to make sure that the final product is up to snuff. That's part of the reason that the game's release was pushed back a few months, and the development team is using that extra time to fine-tune their existing features while adding some new ones. Still, if the pre-alpha software that we saw is any indication, there's a lot of work remaining. The game's producers seem to know exactly what they're doing, and we're hoping that they can deliver the goods. You know that Tony wouldn't have it any other way.