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From The UK - played it (for once the UK has a game first!)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 47 / 53
Date: December 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

OK, most of you will have played Vice City, and all of you will agree that it is pretty much the best game ever made. But The Getaway is different, expect a more grotty, realistic experience. It is nothing like any other game out there, with the no frills gaming screen - no bars or ammo counts - like in rel life you must count your bullets one by one to keep track, and you must keep track of your health by your characters reaction, and if you get too blood stained - just lean against a wall to replenish your claret. Add to that the fact that the city isn't a represtation of London - it is London beautifuly mastered.
OK, here are a couple of nice details - go inside and shoot a crate of beer, and it spills bud all over the floor, and like in vice city, if you shoot a car window - it will not just smash - it actualy leaves a bullet mark until it smashes!

To sum up - take all the free roaming and shooting elements of GTA:VC, and add that to MGS:2, mix in a bit of Lock Stock, and you just about have it. If you are going to buy any game with your chrismas money - buy this (and a PS2!!!).

Great game, but has some flaws

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 29 / 34
Date: February 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When the reviews started coming in for The Getaway, i was getting mixed feelings to buy or not to buy it. I finally decided to get the game, well aware of its flaws. It turned out to be pretty good. The story here is great, it'll keep you interested all the way. You play as Mark Hammond, a retired mobster brought back to the job by Charlie Jolson, when he kidnaps his kid and kills his wife. You'll fight through 12 missions with Hammond and 12 more missions with a cop obssesed in putting Jolson behind bars.

The game features dozens of cars to steal, with manufacturers including Lexus (SC430, IS300, LS430), Saab (93), Toyota (1990 MR2), Honda (modified 1997 Civic), Nissan (Skyline), Mercedes (E500), Land Rover, Jaguar (S-Type)and much more. Driving is realistic, the physics are very different from GTA3/VC. On foot, the game is a mix between MGS2, Hitman 2, and GTA. When your guy takes a hit, you'll regain health by leaning on a wall.

The graphics here are gorgeus. Cars are modeled nicely and the game has good lightning effects. Sure it isn't GT3 but pretty close in some aspects. The faces on the characters are well done and the city of London is brought to life in the game.

Overall, this game was quite a surprise, rent it first, if you like it buy it. If you don't like realistic stuff in games, then ditch this one.

Graphics: 9.1
Gameplay: 8.9
Sound: 9.0
Replay: 8.0
Overall: 9.0

A rockstar type of game. too bad they didn't think of it!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: January 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The Getaway is Grand-theft-auto mixed with James Bond mixed with Max Payne. It is probably one that Rockstar Games would've tried to make. It is just too bad that they didn't think of it in the first place! I give this game a triple A plus!!

DO NOT GETAWAY FROM THIS ONE! AMAZING GAME!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: January 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Oi!!! This game is wicked!!! Oops, the authentic british accents on this game really gets in your head. But the very second I turned the game on, my jaws was opened the whole bloody time! The graphics are top notch. The character animations are smooth and accurate. The language in this one is not for the young peeps, violence is off the charts. I have never heard so many uses for the F-word in this game anywhere. And the large detail and authentic look of London they created for the game gets high marks from me. This game has everything! And I'm talking about the demo game not the full version. Imagine how much time you will lose once the full version comes out this coming January 22nd.
The game is like this. If you got the teams of Grand Theft Auto, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid 2, Splinter Cell, and Dead to Rights with Guy Ritchie directing the whole project and having the elements of the movie "Snatch", and "Locks Stocks and 2 Smoking Barrels, with a dash of Micheal Bay and the game Max Payne, mix it up and you get "The Getaway". This game is surreal!!!!!! You get so many out of this one game!!!!!!
The game is going to be compared to Grand Theft Auto automatically. So that aside, you can jack any car you want. Anytime and anywhere you want. The car explodes when you crash it too much. It smokes up and boom! You can even shoot out the tires. You can go on foot, or go the faster way by jacking one of the many licensed authentic cars in the game. The best part is that you can kill anyone you want. It even has that "Dead to Rights" hint where you can sneak up behind someone and hold them as hostage and use them as shield. You can either let them go afterwards or shoot them on the head. I usually shoot them.
This game requires stealth as well as brains to survive the onslaught on the London streets. This is where you can be like Snake in Metal Gear. Go up against the wall to sneak around the corners. Use an arsenal of machine guns, handguns, and other goodies to the mix. The cut scenes are very cinematic and well done. You can now tell why this game took such a long time to make. It is worth the wait for the visuals it produces.
The lighting in this game can compare to "Splinter Cell's" lighting. The shadows and light is well placed and realistic looking. The movements and muscle tensions are all there. You got to be tactical so you must place some well timed bullet firing to your enemies and make sure no one is around to shoot you on the back.

Now let's talk about the driving experience. WOW!!! The cars are almost as detailed as the ones in Gran Turismo 3! Really great lighting and reflections and all. The driving dynamics and feel reminds me of Gran Turismo 3. If you brake too fast and turn the corner, you will spin out of control. The damage control is really good as well.
The game has no map, no time limit, and no damage/life bar. So if your navigating your way to the destination during a mission, whatever car your driving will have its blinkers flashing to indicate what direction your suppose to go to. It takes time to get use to it but it's no big deal once you get the hang of it. But make sure your backside hasn't sustain too much damage or else your blinkers won't work. And there is no life bar to indicate what damage state your in. Instead the damage indicator relies on how much blood is on the main characters suit. To gain your health back, you have to lean against a wall to rest a bit and get some energy back. It takes about maybe 15 to 20 seconds to get back to full health after a heavy fire fight. Team Soho the makers of The Getaway wanted to let the game have a movie feeling to it by not including any icons or maps on the screen. Yes it also takes time to get used to but after a while, it actually isn't a big deal too.
The game also boast one of the best environments I have ever seen. It recreates about 30 miles of London to drive and explore around. Think of it as a game that can also be a tourist guide for you when you go to London. After playing this game for a while, you might just know the streets of London by heart. It's that accurate!
In closing, The Getaway for the PS2 is a must have and a good game to get for the beginning of this year. From the demo I have seen so many things that reminds you a lot of the great Grand Theft Auto games. It will and always be compared to GTA, but this game offers a lot more difference for a fresh playing experience. It won't be as fast paced as GTA or the cars won't be that easy to drive just like in GTA, but this game you can say is an answer to GTA in full british style. BUY THIS GAME!!!!

Good game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: December 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Well, I finally got to play Getaway(U.K version) and for the most part, am quite pleased. I only played it for about 1 hour, and then took it 'round a friend's house, where we induldged in some serious playing tme with the game. General census after a few hours was that at first it's a bit hard to like, but it does start to grow on you eventually (we played into the very early hours, which is kind of testament to the game's charm). It's neither a GTA clone and doesn't try to be, but it mixes aspects of GTA and SC with driving and stealth.
In the game, you're Mark. Mark's wife goes outside their house with son intact and out of nowhere some Landan (which is how it's pronounced in Cockney rhyming-slang) gang try to kidnap the kid. Wife interferes - gets shot). Mark hears the shot and out he goes. The kid's kidnapped and the cars burning off. He stupidly handles the gun used to shoot his wife and hence he is the number one suspect and accused of kidnapping his own kid. Mark tends to his wife, and then jumps in a car and the chace begins. The whole game then revolves around you getting your kid back by working for this gang and doing everything they tell you.
The cars actually control quite nice. Framerate's pretty good, but studders in spots. It runs 60fps mostly but dips to 30fps on occasion. Especially when there's too much on screen/or you crash into someone and multiple cars catch fire. The streets are much more populated than the barren streets of GTA Vice for instance, there is alot of traffic, just as there always is in London. There's also a nice little touch where your indicators blink when you need to turn (in relation to your mission) and both flash when you've got to your destination. The city is also rendered very well. If you live in London, you'd be amazed that a game could be designed so cloesly to it's real life structure. The cars are modeled extremely well, with enviroment mapping and impressive physics. All the cars are licensed from real manufactures, unlike GTA. Draw distance is also quite good. In comparison to GTA3/Vice, the Getaway looks ten times better, it really does.

Controlling Mark on foot is gonna be where the game gets its criticism by some. Aiming is a bit ropey, along with controlling the camera. Control of Mark on foot is akward at first, but get's a bit easier as you play. For example, the shooting sections of the game, I discovered I'd been using the wrong button to enter shooting mode - I'd been using manual aim rather than auto-aim. With that minor correction, I was silently flitting through the warehouse MGS style, popping up over benches with a shotgun, or firing two guns round doorways. You can only carry one [set of] weapons, and walking over another one will automatically result in Mark picking it up. Whether or not you intented for him to is another matter. Though it must be said there is a nice variety of weapons in the game.

The basics of what Mark can do is back up to a wall (peer around). You can point your gun around the corner and take random blasts in hope of hitting someone with the benefit of them not being able to hit you. This usually leads to mass ammo being wasted. You can crouch under small walls (waist height) and strafe around them. Also a nice little tactic is to line yourself up with someone behind the wall and press shoot to point your gun over and fire off a few rounds. Like GTA, you can take any car you want, stealing or otherwise. You can also hold people hostage at gunpoint, if the cops get too close for your liking. Also, you get to play as two different characters in the game, one is Mark, I'll keep the other as a secret. The AI is standard stuff. The cops (when in a vehicle) are lethal in trying to run you off the road when you're wanted, and makes for some pretty exiting police chases, espescially in the crowded London streets. The vehicles do take damage so if you bang up your ride too much, you'll need to ditch it and steal another one. All in all, the missions are fun and are quite varied. They take place both outdoors and indoors. You're probably asking if there is a non linear free rome mode, ala GTA, and the answer is yes, and it's a blast to play. It will definitely take you awhile to completely finish the game, and offers fairly good replay value.

The cinematics/voice acting is superb. Some real nice cinematics, and some of the dialogue is L-O-L funny. Some nice product placement going on. Cans of Stella, XXXX, Sony mobile phones and most high-street stores (Burger King, McDonalds, Odeon Cinemas, etc, etc). These is some adult words used here as well, actually alot. All in all, Sony delivered on a very ambitious game and I am quite plesaed with the results. I'd give the game a 9/10 score overall and definitely recommend fans of the genre to pick this game up when it hits the States.

This is better than GTA 3

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: October 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

First off all the controls are fine. I have had this game since March because i am British and have recently moved. The oneb thing that i do find annoying is that you health yourself by leaning on a wall. This is the only unrealistic aspect of the game. People complain about the language but it is pure South London and Kent which is where i'm from. The violence is graphic but realistic, i think that GTAVC glamorises violence whilst, the Getaway portrays the nitty grity reality of gang warfare in the Eastend. The driving is better and more accurate than GTAVC. The games main strength is it's compelling storyline. It is unlike any other game out there. I would say that the game is probably not suitable for those who are easily offended, the "filth" or police and anybody under 14. the fact that you cannot skip cut scences is the games major flaw along with the leaning on the wall buisness.

BUY THIS WITHOUT DELAY THOUGH

wat did u say

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 32
Date: December 31, 2002
Author: Amazon User

so u like gta3
well from wat u see in the simpsons and things like that u yanks(americans) think we brits are all suits tees and posh
...
its gta3(another british game) meets max payne the driving is amazing you can actully drive a fiat de punto or a merc no rubbish names like murcedas bens then and the look is brilliant its like a london tour without payin 200 quid or about 300 bucks to you its worth the money on the fact its a free tour and its 40 bucks
GET IT!!
and the other reviewer said u have to wait 5 minuits
i dont think so push R3 on the controller and u do get all the best bits about gta3 in their and yes i mean the golf buggy and go cart
think bout it driving a golf buggy on some of the bussiest streets in the world or a london bus and in gta3 u cant open doors so stop wingin
have u noticed all the ppl who complain are yanks because your jelouse we have a cool game in london and dont worry gta4:london is out in 1 year

u get hostages,no stupid police,strip clubs,gangsters,cool cars,huge huge huge city wat takes like 1 hour to get to 1 side to the other,and best of all HARD ASSED BRITS

GTAs are the GUNK under THE GETWAY's FOOT

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: February 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The Getaway is an astonishing game for the PS2. Its combined plot, action, gameplay and recreation London in its entirety all merit it for 5 stars.

The story of the Getaway is real. It is very believable and not Hollywood-ized like the GTAs. The plot twists are unexpected yet believable. Anyone who plays the Getaway will always know the plot, understand why something is happening, and not question its believability. The story of the characters are great and the plot really is excellent, making the game impossible to put down, even when the action (rarely) becomes dull.

The action of the Getaway is beyond most action category games for PS2. It is realistic, and when shot by a shotgun at close range, you don't just fall to the ground and then stand up (GTA), you just die. Yet this is not frustrating, unlike GTA. In GTA, when one dies, the controller is thrown and swears fill the room. It is rewarding to know that you die basically as easily as your opponents do. The gunfights are beyond amazing, entailing shootouts which can't be won by charging into a room with and UZI and balsting the hell out of the bad guys (GTA anyone). Instead cover needs to be used, conservative shooting is a must so as to avoid wasting ammo, and injurys slow you down greatly, giving you limps and making charging into a room with an UZI unthinkable. 90% of the missions have these spectacular action moments.

The recreation of London, although amazing, is the only flaw with the Getaway, but a truly minor one. This flaw is frustration. There are a few missions where it is required to drive across all of London, 40 square Kilometers. And to add to this, cops and gangs constantly stop you, forcing you into many gunfights before you get to where you need to be. This however, when looking back, only adds to the games greatness. The driving in the game is amazing. Sure, you can't do 540 degree spins and drive in oncoming traffic (GTA garbage), but instead the cars handle like real cars, spinning out uncontrollably (unlike GTA where spin-outs are common driving moves) and more realistic damge, slowing the car to a halt even before it bursts into flames. The driving in GTA is uncomparable to the godliness of the Getaway's. The map of London and driving are really exemplary.

BETTER THAN GTA WITH ONLY ONE MINOR FLAW
GTA fans are probably going to say "NO" this was not helpful

Letting You know

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

After you beat all the missions, go to extras and you can do free roam mode where you can do whatever you want.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you are looking for realism this game has it. It is by far one of the best games out there. I am a huge GTA fan, but GTA lacks realism, and this definately doesn't. When you play it, it is very obvious that alot of time has been put into the game, more so than other games. The cars are real, and if you are a car fan you'll love this game. For example you can get a mercedes benz S500 brabus, CL500, Lexus LS, LX, SC430, and a bentley. These are just a few great cars in the game, and the creators are liscensed to use the true names. The combat is realistic because you cannot pick up health, no health bar, no automatic bullet in the clip counter, and when you aim independently you are almost lining up the sites. To sum it up, great game, get it.

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