The Getaway

"It has its flaws, but The Getaway is a good game as long as you don't expect GTA standards"

GRAPHICS 8/10
The Getaway has great graphics for a game that rarely loads. The textures for the characters are sharp and well done, and the faces are capable of facial expressions and great lip syncing. The cars are also well done, with realistic reflections on their surfaces and many damage zones. Shooting tires will tear off the rubber and leave the metal hubcap, windows will shatter upon violent impact and the car will gradually look more and more bent and twisted as it takes more damage, as opposed to hoods and doors flying off but the overall frame staying the same. The frame rate is for the most part very smooth, though it can take some hits when things get heated up. As far as blood goes, there's a realistic amount of that. Your character, when shot at, will act in a different manner depending on where he's shot. If shot in the arm, his aim is bad. If shot in the leg, he limps and so on. The biggest plus for the graphics is the fact that London has been recreated accurately, and there is a good amount of cars and people populating the streets, which creates a realistic atmosphere. Surprisingly the game doesn't need to load at anytime while you're playing. You can move in and out of buildings seamlessly, and you can travel the whole city without a single loading time. On the down side, some of the building textures look blurred and fuzzy but thats about the only serious gripe I have. Overall, graphics are good for a game that can support an entire living city without slow frame rates and such.

SOUND 9/10
The Getaway has terrific sound. The voice acting is great, done by professional voice actors, and the music is also good and fitting for the game's mood and storyline. People on the streets curse at you when you drive down the wrong side of the road, or when you drive recklessly. The sound of the car engines are satisfying, and you can hear them gradually die down as your car takes damage. The weapon sounds are mostly solid and have a punch, with the exception of the pistol which sounds a bit weak, though it does have a punch to it. Overall, sound is great.

GAMEPLAY 7/10
The Getaway is a very fun game to play as long as you don't set your expectations too high. Let me remind you this isn't the open ended gameplay found in the GTA games. Once you finish a mission, a cinematic takes over and you begin the next one immediately. That doesn't make it bad though, that just makes it a different game. One thing I like about this game is that it loads very quickly. Every mission starts off with a loading time no longer than 5 seconds, and after that the only other loading times are either when you progress to the next mission, or you die and restart. Considering that you'll be dying quite a lot of times, and that the whole game takes place in a huge, populated city, the lack of loading times is a big plus. The controls are pretty good too, though I personally would like some better responsiveness to the movement of your character. Cars handle differently, and they handle more realistically than the GTA games where fast cars handled a bit too well to stay in one piece. When on foot, your character can lean on just about any vertical surface to peak around corners, and to restore health. Restoring your health isn't accomplished by picking up a spinning red cross, instead its done by leaning on walls and waiting till your wounds disappear. This isn't realistic by any means, but since the designers wanted a realistic feel to the game, leaning on walls to restore your health looks more realistic when compared to picking up health crosses. If the designers wanted to go all the way with the realism, then you wouldn't be able to heal at all, yes? Anyway the combat system is pretty effective though I would have liked it better if your autoaim targetted the closest enemy first. The combat system makes it hard to go into a gunfight without cover, but then again in real life it isn't very wise to do that either. The stealth elements are good as well. You can hug walls with ease, and you can sneak up on people and take them hostage and use them as a human shield. One thing I like doing is to take a gangster hostage, walk up to his friends who won't shoot, quickly kill them then shoot my hostage in the head. Stylish. The game is hard though, since you are in no way bulletproof and will die after a few bullets. The driving elements are great too, but I have one huge gripe: Why is your view restricted to a 3rd person view? Why can't you look around, or go into a first person view which would be more realistic? I don't understand why the developers didn't go into this. Also, the cops seem to start shooting at you for merely running traffic lights. Very strange. Anyway, on the plus side the cops have better AI than in any game similair to this. Unlike GTA3/VC and Mafia, the cops actually fight people other than you. You can lose pursuing gangsters by getting the police in between you and them which is a welcome and new strategy. They also genuinely try to ram you off the road and box you in. I just wish they weren't so trigger happy. The game missions are all fun too, as they are varied with things like sneaking around, getting into violent shootouts, starting gang wars and so on. A good number of the missions also involve driving away from the crime scene while being chased, hence the name. So overall the gameplay is pretty good but different people will have different tastes on it.

STORY 10/10
Wow, The Getaway has a brilliant story, script, and acting to make it a real cinematic experience. You are Mark Hammond, working against your will for a crime boss to go on various suicide missions all to preserve the life of your son, who this crime boss has kidnapped. What I also liked about this game is how you also play as a cop in the second half of the game, and how both characters' storylines intercede. The story is very interesting as it develops, like a good page turner. The character of Mark Hammond is very likeable, as opposed to the authoritative Tom Vercetti who I personally wouldn't mind to see get killed. The Getaway's storyline is a very serious one too, there's rarely any humor except maybe in Jake who can't stand being insulted. I've always liked the mafia in Britain better than the ones in America or anywhere else, so this really helped the game appeal to me. Also, to parents, this game is just as mature as it the GTA games. Its is probably the first out of many many games I've played that uses the F word more than once. The F word is said dozens and dozens of times, in fact. There's also images of strippers, people getting tortured and so on. The game's script and language is also very influential so I'd keep any children away from this game if I were you. Anyway, storyline, perfect.

Replayability 8/10
You get to replay all your missions whenever you like, and you can also unlock a free ride mode where you get to explore London on your own. Considering the city is modelled accurately after the real thing, I think this free ride mode is better than the one in Mafia. While there isn't any other special bonuses to unlock, the replayability is overall fine with these two features.

Buy or Rent?
Rent this first. I bought this game without renting it and I liked it because I was interested in the story, I liked the idea of driving around a virtual london, I liked the idea for the character and I liked the idea for the gameplay. This game delivered all those well. For some others, I highly recommend renting it first. And, just as it is with any game you burn, its illegal.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/26/03, Updated 01/26/03