Review for The Getaway

It seems as though this game has been in development since the begining of time and many questioned wheather it would be released at all, but after years of wait and rumours, The Getaway is finally on our shelves. But is it worth the wait, or have Team Soho presented us with an over cooked christmas turkey? Read on, and find out...

Beleive it or not, The Getaway first started life way back in 1996 as a PSone title. However Team Soho decided to develop the game for PS2 and started digitally recreating London. However budgets spiralled and release dates slipped, and The Getaway was fast becoming a complete disaster. With the game costing in excess of 5 million pounds to make, only a hit will do for Team Soho...

Graphics - 2 words. Photo Realistic. Honestly this is incredible. Team Soho have been working for years on re-creating London, and they have made a bloody good job of it. Any game developer can stick a clock face on a large rectangle and kid gamers into thinking there driving around London, but every street and every inch of the gaming map has been digitally recreated from the real city. Famous landmarks are all here, with Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalger Square, The Tower Of London and even the London Eye all recreated to perfection. However its the small things that make the biggest impact. Black cabs, big red buses, pelican crossings, traffic lights and red pillar post boxes all help to re-create the feel of London. You'll also be able to recognise all your favorite shops, ranging from Virgin Megastores and HMV, down to McDonalds and Burger King. How great it feels to be razzing around, with these shops lining the streets, as apose to racing past "8-Balls bomb shop" in GTA. Ok. So weve established that the backgrounds are some of the best ever seen, but what about the car and character detail. Well neither let the game down at all. All the cars are full licensed so you'll be driving Lexus's and TVR's instead of Washingtons and Cheetah's as in Vice City. The cars are all detailed down to perfection and all are incredibly like there real life counterparts. Only Gran Turismo 3 beats this quality. Any car on the road is potentially yours, so this includes Police Cars, Ambulances and Fire Engines, all of which are also superbly detailed. The Realism is just incredible, its a challenge to describe how amazing it is. The car's damage is also top notch, and the windows and bodywork smash and crumple with unrivelled realism. To top this off, the cars also burn with superb realism, compared to the "small fire on the engine" of Vice City. The flames will also engulf the car completely, and if u dont escape the car quick enough, you'll burn down with it. So, now onto the character models, and they dont dissapoint. The characters look superb. The mouth action is is incredible and fits almost perfectly with the voices. Facial expressions are brilliantly animated, various skin textures and facial hair are some of the best seen yet and there clothe's are actually modelled from real suits and uniforms. The only queary with the characters is the movement. There running looks awkwrd and its a shame that Team Soho didnt take note of this. However this is a very small fault in a game that is graphically outstanding, and thats an understatement. if i could give it 11/10 for graphics..i would.

Sound - More bad language than a double bill of The Osbournes, The Getaway makes full use of its 18 certificate by stringing "the F Word" into almost every cutscene. This certainly is not one for the kids, and if you must play it while the youngens are about, turn the sound down and put the subtitles on, because theres an F word in almost every scentence, along with other forms of profanity. You have been warned. However, this is London. What do you expect? Theres more cockney slang in here than an argument between Pegay Mitchell and Pauline Fowler on Eastenders, and it sounds bloody fantsatic. Those that are unfamiliar with the terms "Muppet" and "filth - ( to describe the police )" will adopt such frases into there everyday language. Its addictive. It really gives you the feel of London and its characteristics. The game is backed up by a mixture of different music composed by a 3 time award winning composer. It dosnt beat Vice City and its 80's groove music, but Michael Jackson and The Human League would hardly fit into The Getaway. Team Soho have made the right decision in the music they have chosen.

Gameplay - GTA will always rule the gameplay roost because its just so damb playable and most importantly, fun. However The Getaway is no slouch itself in this department. The gameplay is solely mission based so theres no opportunity to cruise round the city in between missions, but an unlockable "Free Roaming" mode allows u to admire London whenever you please. The game map is huge. Theres no question about that. There are so many different locations hidden away, you'll still be discovering new locations long after completing the game. The story starts outside Mark Hammonds house. 4 Members of the Bethnall Green Mob are sat in ther car waiting for Mark's wife, Suzie, to come out with her child, Alex. The plan : kidnapp both in a trap to lure Mark into working for the Bethnalll Green Mob. As the pair exit the house, the Mob exit the car and confront Suzie. However things go terribly wrong, and Suzie is shot and killed. The Mob escapes the scene with Alex, just as Mark rushes out of his house. In a state of Anger, Mark rushes over to the nearest car and tries to catch up with the mob. Mark falls stright into the mobs trap, is ambushed and knocked unconscious. He arrises to find himself face to face with Charlie Jolson, cigar chewing leader of the Bethnall Green mob. Charlie tells Mark that if he wants to see his son again, he must do a series of missions. The plot becomes more and more involving and Mark soon finds himself the most wanted man in London by both the police and rival gangs.

The Getaway gives gamers the opportunity to play as 2 different characters. First you must play as Mark Hammond and work for Charlie Jolson and his crooked Mob. Once Marks's story has been completed you get the opportunity to play as cop DC Frank Carter and see the unfolding story through the eyes of the law. As DC Carter you will receive backup from the police on some missions and will also not have to worry about the cops chasing you. This is a huge relief as the cops can become very annoying and sometimes, very hard to outrun. The story on the whole is fantastic and would'nt look out of place in a blockbuster gangster movie. You get drawn closely into the story and get to see both sides of the situation, as both the Hammond and DC Carter missions closely interwind at some points.

So what about guns? Well to be honest there isnt a fantastic selection available. There's the basic handgun, of which u can carry two at once, a shotgun, an A.K and another type of automatic rifle used by the S.W.A.T teams. It isnt great, but my god u can still have plenty of fun with them, and they sure as hell get the job done. The double pistols will become your best freinds very quickly and can make short work of most opponents. The Shotgun is lethal at close range and can result in a one shot kill and the A.K is brilliant for laying waste to large groups of people. Without a doubt though, the S.W.A.T rifles are the cream of the crop. They are more powerfull than the A.K and you can also carry two of them at once, resulting in maximum carnage. However they are rare and can only be found on missions involving the S.W.A.T teams. Possibly my favorite feature of The Getaway is that you can take people hostage. Just walk upto anyone and press X. U then grab there heads and hold them at gun point. This is great when escaping the police, as they will not shoot if they know that there is a civilian, or even fellow cop in danger. Once u have the civilian in your grasp you can choose to do either two things. If you are Mark and have a gun equiped, you will blow there brains out, but if u dont have a gun equiped, u can just simply break there necks. While playing as DC Carter you can choose to either hit them over head with gun, or if your gun is not equipped you can arrest them by kneeling them down and cuffing there hands behind ther backs. Brilliant stuff. Another excallent feature is the fact that there is nothing on screen. No health bars, no ammo tally's...just plain action. So how do we navigate our way around the busy London streets i here you ask. Team Soho have come up with the ingenious idea that the game uses the cars indicators to tell you which way to turn. If you need to take the next left, the car will indicate left untill you reach the turning. As with all new and inutative ideas, people will be divided in there opinions about this, but i think it is fantastic. The game also dosnt have any health pick ups or powerups. To recharge you players health, you must find a safe spot away from the combat and lean up against the wall. The character will stand and take his breath for a short period untill he is back on his feet, realistically. As with the indicator idea, i think this is fantsatic, although some may find it an unwelcome change from health pick ups.

The only fault i have with the gameplay is that there isnt as much to do as in Vice City. The missions are great and Free Roaming mode does have playability, but there are no side missions or anything like in Vice City.

Controls - IN CAR : X is acclerate, Square is break and triangle is reverse. Circle Exits/enters cars.

ON FOOT : Tap triangle draws gun's. Holding R1 auto aims. Holding R2 is manual aim. X grapples hold of civilians.

Lastability - 24 missions, 2 characters, 12 missions each. Its not huge, but it has stunning pick-up-and-play value. At any point you can just skip back to a previous mission so if your the mood to burn down a nightclub, just load up your data and skip back to the relative mission. You can also unlock the Free Roam mode which adds playabilty. However it wont last as long as Vice City, but in this day and age, not many games will. Compared to many of todays rushed games, The Getaway offers fantastic lastability and incredible pick-up-and-play value.

Overall - Deffinently worth the wait. Tearing it up through the busy London streets with real cars and highly detailed surroundings, backed up by a movie worthy story line and amazing graphics and sound. What more could you want? This really is London at its finest. You can take Vice City and its cartoon violence, but nothing compares to causing realistic chaos in the most superb looking London ever recreated. Whatever you do, dont buy Vice City and think you've got your fill of criminal carnage, because you obviously havnt played The Getaway.

Graphics - 10

Sound - 10

Gameplay - 9

Controls - 8

Lastability - 8

Overall - 90%

More tricks, tips and cheats for this game are right here - The Getaway cheats