Getting around the city involves familiar GTA/Driver style car-jacking and the "living, breathing city of Miami" looks as accomplished as anything we've seen from Rockstar or Reflections. Steal cars or buy them and add them to your garage with the profits from your deals. A simple call to your driver and your chosen wheels will be brought directly to you - ideal for when you need a Lambo to get out of trouble.
And when you're not in a high pressure drug deal or escape scenario why not chill out with the locals? Each NPC is armed with an eight-line deep list of wisecracks for Tony to unearth. "I've got to tell you. I like your ass," Tony charmingly informs a passing well-filled bikini. "You kiss your mother with that mouth?" comes the reply. We've heard Al Pacino impersonations before (buy us a few rum and cokes and we'll do one for you right now) but this voice-over is superb. And Pacino approved, we're told.
Above: The mean streets of Miami. Travel the city robbing cars, dealing in cocaine and murderising everyone. Subtle
When we last saw the game, at E3 in May 2005, it limped along as a GTA-wannabe starring the back of Al Pacino's head. Now it's got the city, it's got the driving, it's got the gunplay, Pacino approval and it's even got that new pinnacle of game-interprets-life, the golf-swing drug deal. And, with little else to fight it on PS2 this winter, Tony Montana could be going all the way to the top.
