The Getaway: Black Monday
- December 22, 2004 11:02 AM PST
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The Getaway showed us that crime has no borders. But can the followup once again recruit action felons, or will it be sentenced to misdemeanor failure?
Sure, the gameplay felt familiar, but that didnt stop The Getaway from being a popular free-roaming, carjacking, criminally inspired game full of violent undertones two years ago. This year, you can guarantee that same familiar feeling in the sequel.English Accent
Black Monday continues its take on the gritty modern-day London underworld. In the 22 game missions, you take control of three different characters who are all tied to a small-time bank job that went awry. But this isn't just another game where you can play with multiple viewpoints. The choices you make in each mission actually influence the outcome of the entire game, which means there's more than one conclusion to the story.
The story itself is told like a gangland film. Much like the first Getaway, your actions require lots of shooting. In fact, the first few levels in an early build of the game required you, playing as a cop, to clear rooms full of bad guys using any means necessary, which included smearing multiple fellows with lead, pistol-whipping foes, and, if you felt nice, cuffing then butting a suspect. You could also pop perpetrators while you're behind the wheel.
Oy, You Got a Problem?
Performing a drive-by isn't the only thing you can do in the streets of London. In fact, you have access (see: carjack) to more vehicles, including motorcycles. Each ride has bigger damage zones, too, which means more realistic road carnage as you race from one destination to another. The city of London has also received a face lift. Besides an increase in recognizable locations, the Underground subway system and the River Thames can be visited, as well.
Early play of the game, however, looked and played much like the original which, in today's standards, doesn't bode well. Yes, most of London has been accurately re-created, but a fare amount of in-game pop-up didn't look good. London never has that much fog. And the controls were unforgiving. It was difficult to remember all of the button combinations, especially while in a heated gun battle. Still, with some time left until its release, Sony can easily fix these hindrances and get away with a solid Getaway.
