'the Getaway' gets a test drive

Perfect Stu · 11-01-2002, 03:24 PM

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/front_index.php

WE'VE KIDNAPPED THE GETAWAY!

Code of Sony Europe's biggest game of the year drops into our laps ahead of its December launch: full playtest and screens inside

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17:15 Shut it, alright? The Getaway is almost upon us, and we finally got to give the London crime title a full going over today. First impressions are all good. Hardcore violent adult action is the future of gaming.
The 18 certificate slapped on the title is well deserved, as becomes immediately apparent when you fire the title up. The use of language is strong, and the opening sequence of main character Mark Hammond's wife being brutally murdered on a London street and his child being kidnapped by four gangsters is hardly material for your two year-old kid
Cut-scene quality is exceptional in terms of visuals, and the game does a decent job of getting over that London underground feel from the off. Nasty but cool.
Play itself is instantly fun, although the controls take a little getting used to. Understandably, you're not exactly thrilled that criminal scum just shot your wife, so you set off to shoot some bad guys. Within minutes you're driving a car through a brilliantly reconstructed central London, tooled up and ready for action.
Cars are entered and left using a simple press of the circle button. Once out of the car it's triangle to pull your piece, then R1 to aim at a baddie and square to fire. You pick up dead enemy's weapons simply by walking over them and cycle through your armoury with the X button. The shotgun is particularly satisfying.
Get shot and Hammond instantly sports a bloody patch on his suit and starts to limp. There's no energy bar. This is the first of immediately noticeable efforts to up the ante in terms of gameplay. Another is the way the car you're driving indicates to show you where to go in missions, rather than an arrow floating above the car. Innovation in modern gaming? Heaven forfend.
Realism and interactivity are, on first impressions, everything that Sony promised. We can tell you right now that the accuracy of the lay-out of central London is nothing short of astonishing. Really, honestly and truly, it's genuinely amazing.
Added to the impressive reconstruction of the British capital are the fact that you can steal any vehicle you see by simply walking up to a car's door, pressing a button and watching Hammond hold up his pistol and shout, "Get out of the car!" You can even get into the world famous London buses and drive around in a first-person view. Very cool.
We'll go into far deeper detail on The Getaway soon, but from every indication we've had today we'll be hammering the game very soon indeed. Now take a look at the screens before we rumble your manor, you slag.

To check out some screenshots from the Getaway, go here

CrOnO_LiNk · 11-01-2002, 08:26 PM

Woah... Those pics look a lot like GTA: Vice City... I can't tell weather you will have freedom like in GTA but let's just hope you're able to go around and kill cops, screw hookers, and start a riot.

But overall, the game seems to look like a combination of Rockstar's GTA3 and Max payne... Don't know why but it just seems like it.

Perfect Stu · 11-01-2002, 11:59 PM

I'm thinking that anyone who enjoyed Guy Ritchie's Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells will enjoy this game. And I really enjoyed those two movies. British humour and violence at its best...

DarkDemonic726 · 11-02-2002, 07:52 PM

The getaway will probally be better than Vice City

CrOnO_LiNk · 11-02-2002, 08:06 PM

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Originally posted by DarkDemonic726
The getaway will probally be better than Vice City

I highly doubt that.... I really doubt that.

Shiz · 11-02-2002, 08:14 PM

i bet you it wont.

something in my mind is telling me it will be no where near as free

CrOnO_LiNk · 11-02-2002, 08:34 PM

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Originally posted by Shiz

something in my mind is telling me it will be no where near as free

That's exactly what I am thinking too, Shiz. Vice City and GTA3 give you unlimited freedom. You can just go around and do whatever you want... The Getaway seems like a only-mission-and-no-freedom type of game.

Joeiss · 11-02-2002, 09:28 PM

I don't think that the developers have commented on this yet... But it does sound like it will be strictly mission based.... However, if you are allowed to have the freedom as in VC, then this game might just surpass it it gameplay, but not in sales, IMO.

DarkDemonic726 · 11-08-2002, 08:56 PM

Vice City and GTA3 gave u nowhere near total freedom. You can barely go inside any buildings in Vice City, the city is just a big endless nothing with brainless peds walking around. If u ask me the GTA Series gets very boring fast

magus113 · 11-20-2002, 07:51 AM

Everyone hopes that The Getaway will be better than Vice City, but I don't think so. If they wanted this to be a hit, then they shouldv'e released it a long time ago. The game is just a bit too realistic, and what everyone wants in a video game (at least I think) is a world that has no realism whatsoever. They want a world where you can go and unleash holy hell and not get in trouble for it (at least in real life).

That is why I think most people prefer GTA.
Besides, the game looks like it is hard as balls. I mean, one head shot and you're dead? No way.