The Getaway

The Good
The Getaway is a cross between Grand Theft Auto and Driver 3, but has a uniqueness all its own. The story is actually well written and compelling and I love how the two stories intersect at times and the voice acting is pretty damn good with a list of professional actors, it really draws you into the story even more and gives it the feel of a movie. The graphics are pretty decent for the game as well, giving it the look of Driver 3 and the sound and music are expertly done as well.

The game also gives it a real feel of authenticity with the actual car brands and real locations of London. The physics are pretty decent too, hitting a pedestrian will send them flying in a fetal position over your car as opposed to lying straight on their backs and high into the air as in Grand Theft Auto games. Also a nice little feature is the ability to take hostages to stave off police, pretty handy at times. I also like how the cars won't explode on you, now granted they do catch on fire, but it gives you enough warning and time to get out before you get caught. The health system is also a nice little touch, you don't have to search around for various items to rebuild your health, instead all you have to do is find a place from crossfire and enemies and lean against a wall and after a minute your set to go. Now granted sometimes you don't have time especially when you get surrounded and the more damage you take the slower he gets, but still it's a nice feature.

The Bad
Well, there are things that did bother me, one of which is the lack of weapons in this game. You get a choice of a 9mm, shotgun and a machine gun and that is about it. Now granted they probably wanted to stay away from Grand Theft Auto with an insane amount of weapons, but still a few more wouldn't have hurt. It also sucks when you have to get ammo for your weapon of choice, mainly because when you are out you have to resort to stealing a car and hitting a nearby enemy in hopes of picking up some ammo. Problem is if you are caught off guard you can be easily taken out before you get a chance to reload.

There are also a lack of options in this game including the ability to change the volume of the sound effects and music. Now there is a "balance" meter that you can configure that substitutes, but the problem is on older TV's that the sound is at severely distorted at times. On newer TV's this has been negated, but for the older ones you have to really turn down the effects and gear it more to the music so it is kind of a hassle. Also it would have been nice to configure the controls, the problem with that is that if you are used to playing games like Grand Theft Auto and Driver 3, you'll be pressing buttons in this game that will do quite the opposite. Once you get used to it, it won't be a problem, but it still would have been nice for some configuration options of sorts.

Also it would have been nice for a camera system while driving, there is one for when you are on foot, but the problem is that you have to hold the "R2" button then use the left analog. It would have more simpler just to use the left analog instead, especially for the driving section so you can gauge how far the cops are back of you, but for the foot section if you are not careful you can be easily killed or arrested. That also brings me to another point, you can be too easily arrested in this game, there are times where a cop will sneak up behind me and before I know it, I'm on the ground in handcuffs. It would have been nice to have some sort of way of getting away or try to keep from getting handcuffed, also it would have been nice to the ability to climb over some obstacles or even jump.

The Bottom Line
In the end, this game isn't that bad at all, it's pretty damn good. With the cinematic feel and the decent graphics it really gives it a uniqueness. However the lack of weapons and the other little niggles does bring down the joy factor to it, but it's still good. If you have never experienced this game at least give it a try, even if you don't like games like GTA. On a side note, the instruction manual actually comes with a glossary for some of the British terms that are used in the game. It is kinda funny since my brother tried this out and was looking at me in hopes I could enlighten him on some of the words in the game he thought was made up. Luckily, the public broadcasting near me has had many British shows on the airwaves that I have been watching since I was a kid so I knew the terms. The sad part is, however, I'm just wondering how many people actually used that glossary when playing caused they were confused. Oh well, like I said this game is good for a rental at least.