The Getaway (video game)
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''The Getaway'' is an action-adventure open world
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
developed by
Team Soho Team Soho (formerly credited as SCEE Internal Development Team or also known as SCEE Studio Soho) was a British first-party video game developer and a studio of Sony Computer Entertainment based in Soho, London. The company was founded in 199 ...
and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
. ''The Getaway'' is inspired by British
gangster film A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The ...
s, most notably '' Get Carter'' and '' Snatch''. Initially, the release of the game was to coincide with the launch of the PlayStation 2 in 2000, but was delayed by 27 months due to the difficulty of re-creating large areas of
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in
high resolution Image resolution is the detail an image holds. The term applies to digital images, film images, and other types of images. "Higher resolution" means more image detail. Image resolution can be measured in various ways. Resolution quantifies how cl ...
. The game focuses on two characters each with their own plot settings, Mark Hammond, an ex-bank robber, and
Detective Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal Police, law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Ot ...
Frank Carter, a police officer in service with the
Flying Squad The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbrevia ...
, with both plots running parallel and intersecting before concluding in the finale of the game. A sequel, entitled '' The Getaway: Black Monday'', was released in 2004.


Gameplay

''The Getaway'' is designed as a third-person sandbox game in which the player controls the two lead characters as they carry out their missions for game progression. Both of the two characters can perform a series of physical tasks, such as walking, sprinting, rolling, shooting, and taking cover during a gunfight. Once Mark Hammond's missions are completed free-roaming is unlocked for his character, which allows roaming around the
City district A City district is a designated administrative division that is generally managed by a local government. It is used to divide a city into several administrative units. City districts are used in Russia (raion), Pakistan and Croatia ( hr, gradsk ...
and
Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...
without mission objectives or time-limits. Due to similarities to the '' Grand Theft Auto'' series, it is often labeled as a ''Grand Theft Auto'' clone. The game features a number of licensed vehicles from real automobile manufacturers that the player can control; unlike those seen in ''Grand Theft Auto'', which are fictional. The majority of the vehicles in the game are made by MG Rover Group,
Jensen Motors Jensen Motors Limited was a British manufacturer of sports cars and commercial vehicles in West Bromwich, England. Brothers Alan and Richard Jensen gave the new name, Jensen Motors Limited, to the commercial body and sports car body making busi ...
, Saab, PSA Peugeot Citroën,
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
, and Lexus, along with a number of others. Firearms and weapons available to the player include the Glock 17
pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...
, the AK-47 assault rifle,
Remington 870 The Remington Model 870 is a pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, LLC. It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide. De ...
pump action shotgun Pump action or slide action is a repeating firearm action that is operated manually by moving a sliding handguard on the gun's forestock. When shooting, the sliding forend is pulled rearward to eject any expended cartridge and typically to co ...
, and the Heckler & Koch MP5
submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...
; other weapons include a cleaver and
crowbar A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially, in Britain and Australia sometimes called a jemmy or jimmy (also called jemmy bar), gooseneck, or pig foot, is a tool ...
, among others. A major feature in the game was its approach to immersion and being "movie-like", achieved mostly by not including the typical
HUD Hud or HUD may refer to: Entertainment * ''Hud'' (1963 film), a 1963 film starring Paul Newman * ''Hud'' (1986 film), a 1986 Norwegian film * ''HUD'' (TV program), or ''Heads Up Daily'', a Canadian e-sports television program Places * Hud, Far ...
, such as with car chases being done by signaling the player with the vehicle's indicators, rather than a large arrow above the car, or the player characters limping or bleeding profusely to represent low health instead of a health bar/meter.


Plot

The entirety of the game takes place in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, during the span of a single day, and is played through the perspectives of two characters: ex-convict Mark Hammond and
Detective Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal Police, law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Ot ...
Frank Carter of the
Flying Squad The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbrevia ...
. Mark Hammond Recently released from prison for armed robbery, Mark Hammond witnesses the kidnapping of his son, Alex, and the unintentional murder of his wife, Susie. Mark pursues his son's kidnappers, but is knocked out and brought before Charlie Jolson, the head of the Bethnal Green mob. After Alex's life is threatened, Mark is forced to do several jobs for Charlie, such as ambushing a prison transfer to free Charlie's nephew, "Crazy" Jake Jolson, as well as instigating a gang war between the Yardies and the Triads. Due to Mark's criminal history, any possibility of police assistance to him unlikely, which was exacerbated by Mark unintentionally touching the gun that shot Susie, leading to the police believing he killed her and kidnapped Alex. Mark is sent on increasingly risky tasks, culminating in the execution of corrupt
Detective Chief Inspector Chief inspector (Ch Insp) is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police (CIP). Usage by country Australia The rank of chief inspector is use ...
Clive McCormack, who arrested Mark five years prior, in a police station. However, Mark spares his other target, Yasmin, in return for information on Alex, as she was present at his kidnapping and Susie's murder. Afterwards, Mark steals £300,000 worth of Yardie drug money, but secretly stashes it with Liam, his close friend, having become wary of Charlie's intentions. Mark's suspicions are later confirmed at the cash drop-off, but before Mark can flee, he is captured. Charlie later reveals to Mark and Yasmin that his ultimate plan is to wipe out his rivals and take over London in their absence, with Mark acting as the scapegoat. Frank Carter Detectives Frank Carter and Joe Fielding identify Jake at a safe house, and move in to arrest him; Joe is wounded in the encounter, but Frank successfully arrests Jake. Frank is then sent to respond to the chaos instigated by Mark, but his suspicions are roused when he is placed on a convoy escort duty for Jake, which Mark attacks. McCormack, Frank's boss, suspends Frank on trumped-up charges following the incident. A suspicious Frank follows McCormack to one of Charlie's depots, but before he can clear his name, he witnesses Mark murder McCormack. Recovering in the hospital, Joe points Frank toward another one of Charlie's warehouses, where he finds the captured Mark and Yasmin, and agrees to help them in bringing Charlie down. Finale Mark, Yasmin, and Frank converge on the ''Sol Vita'', berthed at St Saviour's Dock, where Charlie has taken Alex and where he intends on destroying his rival gangs with a bomb. Following a shootout, Mark and Yasmin rescue Alex and are able to escape the ship mere moments before the bomb detonates, while Frank fights his way out, leaving Charlie and several gang affiliates to die in the explosion .


Development

The game originally began life on the
32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in 32-bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculation ...
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
, off the back of ''
Porsche Challenge ''Porsche Challenge'' is a racing video game developed by SCE Studios Soho and published by Sony Computer Entertainment released for the PlayStation. The player and computer-controlled cars in the game consist of Porsche Boxsters. Gameplay Pla ...
''. After having made an acclaimed circuit driving game, Brendan McNamara – like many other developers at the time – felt that a free-roaming vehicle game was an interesting concept worth exploring. The title was prototyped and playable missions were made, but it then evolved into a
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
project. However, the original code was kept and there was talk of including it on the finished game, which would ultimately not happen. Apart from several screenshots printed in the ''
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine ''Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine'' (often abbreviated to ''OPM'') was a monthly video game magazine, published by Ziff Davis Media. It was a sister publication of ''Electronic Gaming Monthly''. The magazine focused exclusively on PlayStation ...
'', the original version would never see release. In moving over to vastly more capable hardware, the scope of the title expanded, as did its ambitions. Bizarre Creations were generating a lot attention due to their successful result in reproducing the streets of central London for their
Sega Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nint ...
racer ''
Metropolis Street Racer ''Metropolis Street Racer'' (''MSR'') is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Sega exclusively for Dreamcast. The game was intended to be a Dreamcast launch title, however, due to numerous delays it was not releas ...
'' (''MSR''). As ''MSR'' was being hyped and primed for release as one of the Dreamcast's so-called " killer applications", Sony Computer Entertainment Europe felt compelled to attempt to steal
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
's thunder by promising the creation of a PlayStation 2 title which would re-create a massive 113 square kilometers (70 square miles) of London, displaying the ferocity with which Sony Computer Entertainment Europe was willing to attempt to challenge its veteran competitor. The final creation actually only yielded an area of 16 square kilometers (10 square miles). Re-creating even 16 square kilometers proved a daunting task and a technical nightmare, factors which may have delayed the release of ''The Getaway'' by several years. In the case of the latter, the programmers had to perfect an engine that could constantly stream three-dimensional geometry and texture data; of the areas of London the player was currently in close proximity to. At no point was the entire city loaded into memory, as it simply wouldn't fit. Unlike
Rockstar Rock Star or Rockstar may refer to: Films * ''Rock Star'' (2001 film), an American film starring Mark Wahlberg * ''Rockstar'' (2011 film), an Indian Hindi-language film by Imtiaz Ali * ''Rockstar'' (2015 film), an Indian Malayalam-language fi ...
's ''
Grand Theft Auto III ''Grand Theft Auto III'' is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 1999's ''Grand Theft Auto 2'', and the fifth instalment o ...
'', it was not an acceptable option for the Team Soho developers to break the city up into separate regions and impose a loading time delay when crossing between areas. The hype surrounding the project began in earnest just before E3 2000, when a series of screenshots were published online. They revealed an amazing level of detail, clearly showing the very identifiable streets near Team Soho's studio. Though it has been argued that these shots were actually mock-up pre-renders, it is possible they were taken from actual code that received further detailed vehicle and character models, higher resolution textures and also anti-aliased the final output. Although the prototype game was constantly shown behind closed doors, the public was not privy to its results for at least another year. It was only finally made playable at E3 2002. By then, the project had ballooned, exceeding its development budget many times over. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe had a range of other titles in development; however, the decision was taken by
Phil Harrison Phil Harrison is a vice president and general manager for Google, and the former corporate vice president of Microsoft. Previously, Phil was the British corporate executive and a representative director of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (SC ...
to can many of them, perhaps to allow yet more funds to be poured into ''The Getaway''. As a result of this, the axe was to fall on two of its studios, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Manchester and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Leeds. When the game was launched in December 2002 it was a huge seller across Europe, especially in the United Kingdom. Worldwide and particularly in the United States, the game received mixed reviews and sales. The fact that it was released around the same time as the hugely-popular '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' (to which the game was often compared) also hurt sales, despite a large marketing campaign in the United States.


Soundtrack

The game's soundtrack is complemented by a title song and cutscene soundtrack, performed by the
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...
. The game's soundtrack was chiefly composed by Andrew Hale, while portions of the soundtrack were written by Shawn Lee, who would later compose music for another sandbox-style game, ''
Bully Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by ot ...
''.


Controversy

One alteration that Team Soho had to make was the removal of a vehicle and phone box logos which appeared in the initial release of the game. During one of Hammond's missions, a British Telecommunications (BT) van is used in a mission in which Hammond must kill the driver and take the van to assassinate a corrupt police officer. BT complained that it "did not want tsname and livery associated with the violent scenes" in the game, and was worried that it "might incite attacks on tsengineers". Although the initial release of the game was not recalled, subsequent production was amended to remove the offending details.


Ban in Australia

Originally passed with an '' MA 15+'' rating for the uncut version on 22 November 2002, it was resubmitted and banned 5 days later due to a scene of detailed torture. A censored version, omitting this scene, was released on 13 December the same year, with the identical rating.


Reception

''The Getaway'' received "average" reviews according to video game
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. '' Maxim'' gave the game a score of eight out of ten and wrote: "If the ensuing police brutality doesn't mold you into the model Wheelman, then having to endure those whiny English cop sirens surely will". '' FHM'' also gave it a score of four stars out of five and said: "Not just a little similar to ''GTA III'' in look, feel, and gameplay, it's nonetheless worth sleeping in front of the game store for this one". However, '' The Cincinnati Enquirer'' gave the game a score of three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that "the biggest hindrance in ''The Getaway'' involves its user interface - or lack thereof - as the development team attempted to make the game look and play out like a movie". ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' was very negative of the game, giving it a D and stating: "The level of detail is extraordinary; even the facial expressions are
motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...
d. But the slickest graphic presentation can't cover for ''Getaway''s flawed script. ..In a game infused with more humor and less pretentious aspirations, these flaws would be more forgivable". Sales of ''The Getaway'' reached 300,000 copies within two weeks of the game's release. It received a " Double Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom. By July 2006, ''The Getaway'' had sold 1 million copies and earned $36 million in the United States. ''
Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...
'' ranked it as the 53rd highest-selling game launched for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
,
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...
, or
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between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country. According to Mike Rouse, a former Sony developer who worked on ''The Getaway'', it sold almost 4 million copies in total. In a retrospective article from 2014, Den of Geek made the game number 23 in their top 50 underappreciated PlayStation 2 games list. In 2020, '' Push Square'' included the game and its sequel in a list of games they would like to see released on the PlayStation 4.


Sequels


''The Getaway: Black Monday''

''The Getaway: Black Monday'' is the second game in the series and was again developed for the PlayStation 2 in 2004. The game's story is based on such films as ''
The Long Good Friday ''The Long Good Friday'' is a 1980 British gangster film directed by John Mackenzie from a screenplay by Barrie Keeffe, starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. Set in London, the storyline weaves together events and concerns of the late 1970s, ...
'' and '' Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels''.


''The Getaway 3''

''The Getaway 3'' was to be the third installment of Sony's ''The Getaway'' series for the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
console. The title was reported as cancelled on 4 June 2008, along with '' Eight Days''. In October 2009, the games were reported as not being cancelled, but "on hold". A technical demo featuring Piccadilly Circus was demonstrated in May 2005 at E3, but this was not directly from the game. It was confirmed that the game would again be set in London. Information regarding ''The Getaway 3'' was released on 7 March 2008 by screenplay writer Katie Ellwood, who affirmed the action title was still in the works. No estimated release date was given, but Ellwood did say that Sony executives were making deals with film companies about the possibility of a future film adaptation of ''The Getaway 3''. Nicolas Doucet said: "I would not say they have been abandoned, just put to one side. Much work had been done. The studio just wanted to focus on its strengths, '' EyeToy'' and '' SingStar''. Given the potential of ''
EyePet ''EyePet'' is a game for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, developed by London Studio and Playlogic Game Factory. The original PlayStation 3 version was released in Europe on 23 October 2009 and in Australia on 27 October 2009. This ...
'', priorities have been changed, but the other projects aren't dead yet. Ultimately, the decision o put those games to one sidehas benefited everyone". Richard Bunn, a former developer, had noted the game was cancelled shortly after Phil Harrison was replaced by Shuhei Yoshida as president of SCE Worldwide Studios.


References


External links


Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Getaway, The 2002 video games Action-adventure games Censored video games Child abduction in fiction Obscenity controversies in video games Open-world video games Organized crime video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 2-only games Single-player video games Sony Interactive Entertainment franchises Sony Interactive Entertainment games Video games adapted into television shows Video games about police officers Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games set in 2002 Video games set in London Video games set in the 2000s Team Soho games