The Getaway
PlayStation 2 £44.99 Sony ***
Forty square kilometres of London streets, all accurately modelled down to the chain-store exteriors; 20 real-life interior locations; cinema-quality cut-scenes. There's no doubt that The Getaway is the most ambitious videogame ever devised. In development since 1999, The Getaway attempts to marry the videogame with a modern British gangster film. The results are mixed, with the cinematic style over-shadowing the game itself. Split into 12 missions, your aim is to free your kidnapped child by doing a few jobs for a crimelord.
However, despite a variety in location, the majority of these challenges are of the "drive to target, kill bad guys" variety. Not terrible, but not the revolution we may have expected. What does work, however, is the atmosphere. This is a grittier affair than the darkly humourous Grand Theft Auto games, which, thanks to the carjacking and violence, it will be compared to.
With murder, kidnapping, torture and strong language, Getaway certainly isn't for the kids. However, considering the non-gaming audience that will be attracted by the London setting, Getaway is an arduous challenge. The driving sections are good. The accurately detailed vehicles handle well, with noticeable differences between them. But it's the pedestrian parts that will cause you to curse louder than your onscreen character. A camera seemingly controlled by a child on a waltzer makes it hard to concentrate. It's tough enough dispatching adversaries as it is without the camera focusing on the ceiling.
The over-fiddly controls don't help either, and during the stealthier later levels this proves particularly infuriating. In fact, less committed players will be happier simply sightseeing, although this isn't readily accessible until later in the game. Driving over Waterloo Bridge or around Trafalgar Square is satisfying but it's the less touristy areas, never seen in a game before, that really impress. Aside from the eerily small number of pedestrians this is a marvellous depiction of London in the early 21st century. The interiors are nicely done too. There aren't many, but whether it's sordid nightclub or grubby warehouse, they all look the part. The novelty of hearing cockney accents and gratuitous swearing never really wears off, although it's obvious that the developers have watched Lock Stock... one too many times.
Sadly The Getaway lacks the freedom of GTA, forcing you onward to each mission with little time to explore. But it's the fiddly controls and stop-start gameplay that are ultimately disappointing. The digitising of London is a breathtaking feat, while the movie-quality production is a success. Sadly these lofty achievements mask a strictly average game. (GH)
Dead To Rights
Xbox £39.99 Namco/EA ****
Electronic Arts' status as the biggest publisher in the games world usually means that it churns out games suitable for all ages. But it recently signed a distribution deal with Japanese arcade veteran Namco, and Dead To Rights, the first fruit of that deal, bucks the family-oriented EA trend. Dead To Rights is a 15-rated all-action arcade-style shoot 'em-up which should generate a serious cult following.
In the time-honoured arcade fashion, it lacks sophistication, but it more than makes up for that with non-stop action and attitude. You play Jack Slate, a cop in an unnamed American city. A short and effective tutorial leads into Slate finding the dead body of his father, cueing a quest to get revenge which sees Slate beset by hoodlums and police in equal measure.
A spell in prison on Death Row sets the scene for imaginative mini-games (in the outside world, at one point, you must make a stripper do her stuff by means of a Parappa the Rapper-style timed button-bashing session). The hard-boiled, Raymond Chandler-influenced voice-over and cut scenes provide the requisite atmosphere, but the game's real joy lies in Slate's array of moves.
As well as Max Payne-style "bullet-time", Slate can grab villains around the neck, disarm them and either dispatch them with their own weapons or use them as human shields. All of which is triggered by a gloriously simple control system. The graphics are a bit rough around the edges, and Dead to Rights is both linear and shortish, but it will give console shoot 'em-up cognoscenti serious satisfaction. The only problem is that its release has been delayed until January. (SB)
