A few years and five million quid later, Sony Europe's internal dev crew, Team SoHo, has pushed The Getaway out of the door and onto the streets. Released just before the big Xmas rush in the UK and Europe, The Getaway now graces the US PlayStation 2 audience with all the grace and style of a rabid pit bull dressed in an Armani suit. Anyone that might have been following the game will know that it was influenced by the likes of top-quality British gangster movies such as Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and more recently Snatch.
Obvious comparisons to Rockstar's legendary Grand Theft Auto series will be drawn, but The Getaway tries to be more of an interactive movie rather than a free-form action title. At some levels it succeeds, but in other ways, the game falls short of its goal.
"Do me a favour, guv'nor!"
The experience is a two-stage affair. At first, you assume the role of shady ex-gangster Mark Hammond who recently did a five-year stretch in prison at Her Majesty's leisure. Just when Mark seems to be on the straight and narrow, his old Soho-based gang pops up and turns Mark's world upside down. In what should have been a simple kidnapping move, the gang ends up killing Mark's wife on the street outside his apartment. And in the panic and confusion, his son Alex is stolen away with the intent of being used as a blackmailing pawn by crime-boss Charlie Jolson.
It's at this point that the game begins with a high-speed pursuit across city-center London as Mark desperately tries to catch up with his son's kidnappers. Things go from bad to worse very quickly and soon enough, Charlie has the upper hand and calls on Mark to carry out some truly abhorrent acts in order to gain Alex's freedom. You'll play through 12 missions as Mark, in which time you'll be sent all over the city committing premeditated acts of arson, murder and robbery. The Getaway is not for the faint of heart; slapped with a Mature ESRB rating, it features a foul-mouthed script carried out by British actors who really manage to capture the seedy gangster vibe of the aforementioned filmsAfter you've completed Hammond's story, an additional 12 missions become available, only this time you assume the role of maverick copper DC Frank Carter of London's Flying Squad. It's really neat how Team SoHo has woven the two different story perspectives into two totally unique gameplay experiences. As DC Carter, you'll have to pick up the trail of carnage that Hammond leaves behind. Ultimately, when both scenarios have been played out, the game will unlock a "free roam" mode, allowing you to take in London in a more slow-paced civilized manner
The Getaway is noteworthy in a few key areas. Team SoHo spent a massive amount of time re-creating 40 square kilometers of central London in painstaking detail. Using over 30,000 digital photos for reference, the accuracy with Britain's capital city has been portrayed is undeniably cool. A large part of the game consists of high-speed driving scenes through London which are carried out very well indeed. The driving engine is really tight and with over 50 licensed cars, trucks and vehicles -- including the famous red London double-decker buses -- the action comes thick and fastYou're able to jack cars ala GTA3 but expect the police to respond in much more realistic manner than similar games. A neat idea that you'll either love or hate is that the car's turning signals act as you're only means of road navigation -- it works OK half the time, but the other half, you'll probably have to employ the hand-brake turn move to get back on the right path
