Get the Getaway! (The Getaway (PS2))

Member Name: heekeer

Product:	The Getaway (PS2)
Date:	11/08/09 (11 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good story, cinematic feel, good graphics

Disadvantages: Lack of life bars/maps can be annoying

The Getaway is an action game developed by Team Soho exclusively for the Playstation 2.

The story follows Mark Hammond, his wife is shot in the stomach and his son kidnapped. He is seen with his wife holding her as she dies and is mistaken for the killer himself. Mark must escape from the law and rescue his son. The story is quite decent and takes you into the criminal underworld of London involving gang warfare. I also felt some sympathy for Mark as he is in such a helpless situation which kept me playing to see what happened next.

The gameplay could initially be compared with Grand Theft Auto, but The Getaway goes for an entirely different feel. The city of London is yours to roam around in and is recreated in pretty excellent detail for a PS2 game.

Usually your missions involve using guns and driving cars, the cars are all real world models from Lexus to Vauxhall and handle somewhat realistically and the damage models are very good, a nice touch is your cars indicators will flash when you need to take a turn instead of just reading where to go off a map. That said the lack of a map can be really frustrating as the indicated directions are not always spot on.

Gunplay goes for quite a realistic look too, Mark is no bullet sponge and take a few shots and the poor bloke will be dragging himself around at a snails pace, guns are available though only a few. Pistols, machine guns and shotguns. There is no ammo count so the only time you know when you're out is with the frustrating ticking noise of an empty gun.

The games health system is also a bit strange, simply lean against a wall and Mark will recover his health though there are no bars to tell you how much health you have, you must simply observe your character.

Graphically the game holds up well, even now the city of London looks good with recognisable streets and landmarks. The cinematic feel the game goes for is good presentation wise.

Even if the cinematic presentation of no life bars, no maps and so on look good visually they don't always make the game as fun as it should be.

Summary: A good action game