THE GETAWAY is 21 Years Old | Retrospective Review

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The Getaway is 21 years old, which means it’s old enough to drink and gamble in the USA. And I haven’t played it since I was a young 13 year old boy. I have fond memories of this game, it was one of the games I begged my parents for for Christmas and I remember spending the first month or two just trying to figure out exactly what it was I needed to do. Long before I could find a YouTube video or jump on GAMEFAQS for a walkthrough, I had no idea how to do anything in the game. I spent a good two weeks on the first mission trying to figure out what it was the game wanted from me. And even during this play through I ended up doing the same thing again.
But I’m getting ahead of myself the Getaway is a ‘realistic’ GTA clone set in London. Kind of like if GTA: London got the GTA 3 3D treatment and was directed by Guy Ritchie. If that sounds like your cup of tea then get the kettle on and make yourself a nice cuppa as we look back at this absolute classic of a PS2 game 21 years later.
Before we begin I played this on AetherSX2 on Xbox Series S. And whilst the gameplay itself runs smooth in 1080p 30FPS. The cutscenes do chug along at 45-50FPS and it does take away from the wonderful voice acting and the story itself. I tried it on my PC using PCSX2 and whilst it’s much better it still chugs along at places. If anyone has an Xbox Series X and Aethersx2 installed. Let me know if it’s any better on that in the comments down below. I’d say the best way to play this game is on a PS2 itself with an original copy of the game. But I doubt all of that is easy to come by these days.
The Getaway was release on 11 December 2002 here in the UK, one year after Grand Theft Auto 3. It is often touted as a GTA clone but was in development long before GTA 3’s release and was supposed to launch with the PS2. It was delayed 27 months because the developers had difficulty recreating large areas of London in high resolution. In fact the game itself began life on the PS1 but was delayed and upgraded to a PS2 game when the scope and ambition of the game far exceeded the PS1’s capabilities. (find something for this)
Let’s start with the graphics as they’re main reason for the delay. London looks great especially considering the time in which the game came out. All the tourist spots are there too. Buckingham Palace, The London Bridge, Westminster, The London Eye. And all the buildings and store fronts look clear and although it looks very boxy it still looks pretty good. There’s also a lot real life shops and companies that at the time really brought London to life. For example, you can roll down any London Street and spot a Café Nero, Jessops, HMV, William Hill, Carphone Warehouse etc. Even the trucks and vans have real companies on them. There did also used to be BT vans in the game until BT complained because one of their vans was used in criminal activity in a mission.
Another thing that set this apart from Grand Theft Auto was the licensed cars. There’s such a wide range of manufacturers and models here. Citroen Saxo, Peugeot 306, Lexus, Alfa Romeo, Nissan Micra, Transit Vans, MG convertibles and a TVR to name a few. The only thing missing to add a real London feel to it would be a Mini Cooper. They even got all the Busses, Black Cabs and Royal Mail vans spot on. It really is a snapshot of London in the late 90’s. It’s just a shame there’s no in game map or anyway to figure out where you are.
Which brings me to the gameplay. This game has zero tutorial and absolute zero hand holding too. I remember when I first got the game it took me around 2-3 weeks of trial and error to figure out where the first mission wanted me to go.

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