Genre: Action
Developer: Team Soho
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Released On: January 21st, 2003
# of Players: 1
ERSB: Mature
Supports: Analog Control, Vibration, Memory Card
Also On: None
Website: The Getaway

Introduction

Video games made to be like movies are nothing new. Back on the PSX, Hideo Kojima accomplished this feat with Metal Gear Solid, and did it again with MGS2 on the Playstation 2. Now Sony and developer Studio Soho aim for the same results with The Getaway, a gritty, violent action game that combines the driving aspects of Driver with the action of Syphon Filter or Winback and a pinch of Grand Theft Autos vulgarity and bloody carnage.

One look at this game will give most gamers GTA flashbacks. But the game is really nothing like it, aside from guns and cars. For one, Getaway is a much smaller game. That could be bad if you like GTA’s open ended and non-linear gameplay. However, being a smaller game means everything is more fleshed out. Every area of Getaway feels polished and is well detailed, whereas some areas of Vice City feel tacked on and unbalanced, such as the targeting system.

All comparisons aside, The Getaway is a game like you’ve never played. Not only is the gameplay varied, but the story is very fresh. Anyone who’s seen Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Get Carter or the Italian Job will feel almost right at home with this game. The game supposedly took over 4 years to make. Did the developers waste their time? Read on.

Presentation

A game trying to pass itself off as a movie would need some amazing presentation, and The Getaway has just that. Every single angle of this game has been laced with British humor, style and flash and it all adds up to one very engrossing game environment. You’ll even catch yourself using British ’slang’ when you’re not playing the game, that’s how good it is.

The game is also incredibly lifelike. The developers tried for not only a British feel, but a realistic touch as well. The map of London is beautifully reproduced perfectly, and that should really make people who have actually been there very pleased. The map is so big, in fact, that some sites have been recommending a real map of London be purchased along with the game due to the lack of an in game map. How many games can claim that?

Another touch put on the game is the camera work. It actually rivals games like Metal Gear and Resident Evil. The camera moves around during gunfights in the same manner as many Hollywood action hits, like The Matrix. The gunfights are already great enough, but an enjoyable camera just adds to the fun factor.

Graphics

The Getaway made its debut a good while ago, to the dismay of Nintendo and XBox fanboys everywhere. The game looked AMAZING, and many assumed the graphics were simply not real time or not even PS2 at all. Well, they were wrong. The graphics are not as good as the early screen shots were showing them to be, but lots of stuff has been added since then. Still, The Getaway is one of the prettiest next generation titles, be it on PS2, GCN or the XBox.

Like GTA, a huge amount of praise should first be given for the sheer size of the games city. It is very capacious, and will definitely take longer to fully explore than any game before it. As big as it is, it’s just as detailed. Virtually every vendor name, address, nook and cranny of this map can be explored and seen.

After the buzz from the environments has worn off, you’ll stumble upon the car models, and how great they look. They are definitely not up to par with stuff like Gran Turismo or Need for Speed, but they are very detailed and look fantastic. Not only that, but they can be fully damaged, making for even better eye candy. Smashed windows, bent bumpers, flat tires, broken headlights. It all looks good.

Beyond the amazing environment and the car models, you’ll see the character models themselves. Not only are they very detailed and realistic, but their animations are incredibly fluid and lifelike. Nothing can make this point clearer than simply running up to someone and shooting them. Not only do the cars take realistic damage, but the people do too. Shoot someone in the leg and watch as they limp away. Shoot them in the stomach and they’ll slowly wince away in pain, hand clutching the bullet wound. It all adds to the fantastic sense of realism the game offers.

The game offers a variety of special effects, which, for the most part, are average at best. That’s not the only flaw in the graphics either. There are also graphical bugs and glitches, such as clipping, etc. Sometimes walking close to a corner, you can see through it and sometimes completely into the building. However, when you look at the accomplishment Studio Soho has as a whole, these gripes are nit picking at best. Is the game the greatest looking PS2 game ever? Depends on your preference. For me, this one is definitely top 2 material, either right above or just behind MGS2.

Sound

The sound in Getaway is just as good, if not better, than the graphics. To pass off an environment like this and succeed in making the game feel, look and sound like the British crime action spoof it tries to be, you’d need excellent acting and Getaway has it in spades. The voice acting, though definitely different, rivals even the greatest games ever, such as MGS and Soul Reaver. Not only is the accent superb, but the attitude and feel of the voices are spot-on.

The soundtrack is pretty good as well, hitting at all the right spots. My only complaint in this department is the same as the graphics special effects. The sound effects are just too... average. The only sound effects that stand out are puncturing tires and gun effects. Everything else could have used more work. However, I guess average sound effects are better than mediocre. But when every other area of the game is so polished.. I guess you get a little spoiled.

Gameplay

Where to begin? The Getaway is the type of game with layer after layer of gameplay. Here’s how we begin.

You are Mark Hammond, a former member of the ’Collins Crew’ gang. Retired from the life of crime, you’re now the owner of a nightclub and trying to live a respectable life with your wife and son. Charlie Jolson, the most powerful man in London, has other plans. He sends out a group of his thugs to kidnap your son. Things go awry though, and in the end not only does your son get taken but your wife is also shot dead. The game begins with you chasing the thugs car across London.

The game consists of 24 missions, involving several characters. About halfway through the game, you will control Frank Carter, a cop hell bent on bring Charlie Jolson down. Throughout various missions you’ll have computer controlled partners helping you along the way.

The mission variety is very good. Each one usually involves a drive somewhere, then your main objective. The objectives range from burning a club to the ground, stealing an expensive statue from a gang, dumping the body of someone, picking up a lap dancer, etc. As Frank Carter, your mission objectives are different. As a cop, you’re a lot less ’run and gun’, but the missions do still have more of an action feel to them.

First, the driving section of the game. The Getaway has many licensed cars, each able to fully take damage. The control goes against most traditional action games, going for a very realistic feel. It takes awhile to get used to, but once you have the control down, you can drift between cars in the narrow roads and speed through corners with ease. The game has absolutely no map whatsoever, instead relying on the turn signals on cars to tell you where to go. Driving into an intersection, you’ll likely see your blinker flashing. Go wherever it tells you to go. If it’s not blinking, go straight. Sometimes this is a good thing. Other times, however, the streets of London are very confusing and even the blinker system won’t help. Also, sometimes I feel like just having a map and letting the gamer find his own way there like GTA would have made the game better in this department.

Speaking of GTA, anyone familiar with that series will feel right at home here. You can hop out of your car and steal any other car you see, and each vehicle has its own unique feel and attributes. The damage system is very good, and affects your cars performance immensely. Wreck your car hard one time and you’re liable to need another one. When the action’s strong and you’ve got cops and gang members chasing you down, this adds a lot of strategy to the game, as you’ll not only want to avoid accidents and keep your car in tip top shape, but you’ll also want to force your enemies into accidents to lose them.

The police in this game are very aggressive. Driving towards one, they will not try to collide with you head-on like Vice City. Instead, they use strategies, such as spike strips, roadblocks that actually work, and teaming up on you. They’ll slide around you and box you in, then get out and fill the car with about 50 bullets in no time.

My only gripe with the driving, other than lack of a map in some situations, is the lack of speed with most of the cars. Most of them are painfully slow. This might be realistic to the automobiles of London, but it’s not something that makes a fun game. However, look hard enough, and there’s always something with a little speed.

When you’re out of your car and causing havoc, that’s when the real fun begins. Getaway takes elements from many games, including Winback, Syphon Filter, and GTA. Most apparent is probably Winback, as anyone who has hidden behind corners and strafed along the walls in that game will be right at home here.

There’s no on screen help for you in this game. No health meter, no cross hairs, no nothing. When armed, pressing R2 will put you in aim mode. You can blindly move your gun around and hope for the best, or you can use the auto-target button, R1, to home right on target. The targeting system works very well, the only game I’ve seen with a better one would probably be Syphon Filter. It makes taking out a room full of bad guys very easy. It does have moments of frustration though. Sometimes an enemy will be 5 feet away from you but the game will see an enemy crouching behind a wall 10 feet away as a bigger threat. It’s not that big a deal, but you’ll sometimes die or take a couple bullets because of it.

The gunfights are great. Finding cover is crucial, because the AI is very good. They’ll run, duck for cover, and then hide and only come out to get off a few quick shots before taking cover again, just like in the movies. The damage system for gunfights is just as good as the driving. Take a bullet in the arm and your aim will be messed up. Take one in your leg and you’ll run much slower and limp around. The same goes for your enemies. It adds a lot of realism to the game as well as makes it more fun to play. There are also quite a few weapons to choose from, so you won’t be very bored. There are bats, crowbars, pistols, machine guns, shotguns and more. You can even take innocent civilians hostage and use them as a shield. If you grow tired of them, snap their neck or just shoot em right in the head.

Overall, the gameplay is very solid. Both areas of it are very polished, suffering from only minor flaws. If you can overlook the lack of a map and the difficulty of the game, you’ll find lots to love.

Conclusion

Better than Vice City? That’s what most people want to know. Well, I prefer Getaways gameplay and realistic approach, but really, aside from the ability to steal cars, the games are completely different.

The game does suffer from a lack of great replay value. Once you are done with the missions, all you really get is a free roam mode, which is great but won’t add a lot of replay value. Unless you play as Carter and use a glitch, the interior sections of the game are not even available. There’s also a lack of balance in mission difficulty, but that’s really no big deal because most of the missions are a blast to play regardless. My last gripe would be with the method of recovering health. With no meter, the only way to know you’re in bad shape is the blood on your clothes and the way your character walks. If he’s hobbling along on one leg with one arm useless and the other one clutching a stomach wound, he’s probably not in good shape. How do you recover health? You get against a wall and he’ll automatically prop himself up against it. This gets somewhat boring and tedious after awhile.

Well, the game is finally here after a 5 year wait and a switch from PSX to PS2. Was it worth it? You bet. It is kind of a hit and miss though. Some will see it for the beauty it is, others will be thrown off by the minor flaws and somewhat linear design and write it off as a letdown. I say it’s one of the best games ever, and will have you screaming ’Have some of dat!’ in no time.

The Good
+ Great gameplay
+ Some of the best graphics around
+ Loads of licensed cars
+ Mature, realistic approach and gameplay
+ Excellent story, feels almost like a movie
+ Good variety in missions
+ Nice amount of difficulty
+ Awesome driving physics
+ Blood and profanity galore

The Bad
- No health meter or map
- City is so huge you’ll get lost quite often
- Somewhat linear design in the story mode