The Getaway (PS2 Hands-On Preview)
By Libe Goad

The gentile land of tea and crumpets sports a seedy underbelly, and you’ll soon be able to tour London’s dark side in Sony’s upcoming action title, The Getaway.

In an effort to blur the thinning lines between film and video games, the Brit mobster game will feature distinct characters, a developed storyline and hyper-realistic graphics. You’ll take on the role of two characters in the game, a former gangster and a vigilante cop. Following a movie-worthy script, you’ll partake numerous car chases and gun fights, all leading to the ultimate demise of London’s crime boss Charlie Jolson.

I recently played though The Getaway’s demo, and had the first chance to see how the story would play out. At first glance, the graphics are slick, the music is hip and you’re thrown into blood-soaked action right after the credits. If this doesn’t grab your attention immediately, you should check your pulse.

The gameplay consists of either shooting or driving and both sequences so far have their positives and negatives. If you’ve been driving the streets of Vice City, you’ll have no problem maneuvering London’s tight, and often one-way, city streets. Granted, there’s the left hand side of the road thing—but once you get the hang of it, no sweat. In fact, driving the cars around town was rather amusing, especially when you break a traffic law, the more vocal Londoners can only manage to scream is, “Hey, you can’t do that!” That’d never fly in New York City, pal.

The run-and-gun portions are pretty amusing as well. Like any similar action game, you can either charge into a room full of baddies or sneak around carefully. Either way, you’ll have to get used to the aim-and-shoot controls and the fact that there’s no true free-look mode, unless you're in manual targeting mode.

Most of the on-foot controls seem to be a tad wonky as well. At times, your character seems to take on a mind of his own, walking in doors automatically and going the opposite direction of your controller. Not to be too judgmental – this is the demo after all – but the 'X' button also carries too much responsibility. It’s bound to be confusing when the same button can make you crouch, roll across the floor and sidle up to a wall.

To its credit, The Getaway has integrated several impressive elements. During the driving segments, your path is led by the blinker on the car, not an innocuous floating arrow. Also, if you manage to hit the X-button at the correct time, you can snuggle up to a wall next to a doorway and have your guy target and shoot his gun around the corner without putting his body in harm’s way. Best of all, you won’t have to find special pills or medi-kits to regain health. Once your guy starts dragging a foot and bleeding all over his tweed suit, you can simply steer him to a wall and let him lean. The longer he leans, the better he feels.

It’s uncertain how women gamers will take to The Getaway. Those who scoff at random acts of violence will probably steer clear of this title. If you’re one to take in the occasional action flick and like to shoot guns, you may find this game a worthy candidate. So far the only women in the mix include a seasoned lady killer, a dead spouse and a few hapless bystanders. Based on current information about the game, though, it's safe to assume you won't be fulfilling any kick-butt heroine fantasies with this one.

The Getaway seems to desperately want to fill the shoes of Max Payne. While the Brit mobster title brims with potential, we’ll see how it fares under the scrutiny of game consumers when it hits retail in late January 2003.