The Getaway: Black Monday (PS2)
The Getaway: Black Monday builds on the digitally replicated 25 square miles of London and brings gamers deeper into the cut-throat underground world for a thrilling adventure game. This time around, the sequel offers more control over driving and on-foot controls, a nice variety in mission types with the ability to freely roam around the city, and all new characters.
The Getaway: Black Monday leaves it up to the player to decide how to play and how the story ends, from choosing how to complete missions, to deciding how to get to the next real-life London location.
The breakdown:
The Getaway: Black Monday combines cinematic narrative with driving and shooting missions in the gritty streets of London, updated with 17 new landmarks/city locations, including portions of the "Underground" subway system and the Thames River.
Explore the ultra-realistic city of London where interior, exterior and narrative sequences blend together seamlessly in one continuous experience.
Three new playable characters, Mitch, Eddie and Sam, each with their own skills, abilities, attitude and motivations.
One story is told from three different perspectives, but ultimately the player decides how the story ends as they play through 22 missions. Finding the best way to get to and complete the next job requires brains as well as brawn.
A more predictable control system, both on-foot and driving, deliver unparalleled fluidity and control over the playable character.
All new cast of more than 20 actors whose performances were motion-captured for the digital The Getaway: Black Monday underworld.
Gamers can choose from a variety of new vehicles including motorcycles, buses, vans, taxis and more, to steal, drive and crash, experiencing re-defined physics and damage models.
New interiors of buildings and interactive objects in the story mode; explore old locations in free-roaming mode and unlock more bonus game modes.
Team Soho has built on its "talking heads" technology (a facial animation system that creates real-time facial animations while simultaneously synching voiceover), as well as implementing "rag doll" death animations to deliver hyper-realistic characters.
The branching narrative moves backward and forward in time through gameplay and movie sequences, offering multiple story endings.
Utilize high-powered weaponry including pistols, automatic weapons, and shotguns as well as brutal melee weapons for close combat.
The mature script, compelling cut scenes and distinct editing add another layer of sophistication to deliver a heightened movie-goer's experience in a videogame.
Vastly improved from the first game, Black Monday's controls are MUCH more responsive. Driving around won't give you a headache anymore (I kept crashing into everything in the first game), as controls for both running around and driving around seem much more responsive. The game itself goes through an entire story from the perspective of the three playable characters, each with their own unique spin and story on things. The game's story branches in various directions, all based off of how you complete your missions. The story begins two years after the demise of the most notorious crime boss of London's East End, Charlie Jolson. A bank job goes wrong – a small-time thug gets in way over his head and a cop is out for revenge – sending two sides of the same tale into a collision course for an explosive showdown. By choosing which path to take, players will make critical decisions that influence the final outcome of the game.
The game also features all new cars, weapons, and explosions, as well as some fun hand-to-hand combat for when the going gets rough. Undoubtedly the game is far superior in all ways to the first, and on its own is a fun game whose emphasis on story and not blowing things up is a welcome relief to this die-hard gamer.
I love games that are imaginative, fun, and driven by a unique story. The Getaway: Black Monday is all of those things wrapped together in an amazingly accurate rendering of London (yes, I've been there). The voice acting and storyline will definitely make the game ridiculously addictive, with the gameplay much improved over the original title. The graphics don't seem greatly improved from the first title, but there are new areas to find and check out.The longevity of the game is actually pretty good … I know some reviewers are saying the play time is short since you could play through in 20 hours, but I think it's actually rather long since you'll want to play through twice to make different decisions to see differences through the game. The best feature of the game, by far, is the original script, story line, and depth the game goes into for the London Underworld and how easily it sweeps you into the whole genre. Overall, Black Monday is a good game and worthy of your gaming dollar.
SYNOPSIS:
The Getaway: Black Monday builds on the digitally replicated 25 square miles of London and brings gamers deeper into the cut-throat underground world for a thrilling adventure game. This time around, the sequel offers more control over driving and on-foot controls, a nice variety in mission types with the ability to freely roam around the city, and all new characters.
The Getaway: Black Monday leaves it up to the player to decide how to play and how the story ends, from choosing how to complete missions, to deciding how to get to the next real-life London location.
FEATURE LIST
The breakdown:
The Getaway: Black Monday combines cinematic narrative with driving and shooting missions in the gritty streets of London, updated with 17 new landmarks/city locations, including portions of the "Underground" subway system and the Thames River.
Explore the ultra-realistic city of London where interior, exterior and narrative sequences blend together seamlessly in one continuous experience.
Three new playable characters, Mitch, Eddie and Sam, each with their own skills, abilities, attitude and motivations.
One story is told from three different perspectives, but ultimately the player decides how the story ends as they play through 22 missions. Finding the best way to get to and complete the next job requires brains as well as brawn.
A more predictable control system, both on-foot and driving, deliver unparalleled fluidity and control over the playable character.
All new cast of more than 20 actors whose performances were motion-captured for the digital The Getaway: Black Monday underworld.
Gamers can choose from a variety of new vehicles including motorcycles, buses, vans, taxis and more, to steal, drive and crash, experiencing re-defined physics and damage models.
New interiors of buildings and interactive objects in the story mode; explore old locations in free-roaming mode and unlock more bonus game modes.
Team Soho has built on its "talking heads" technology (a facial animation system that creates real-time facial animations while simultaneously synching voiceover), as well as implementing "rag doll" death animations to deliver hyper-realistic characters.
The branching narrative moves backward and forward in time through gameplay and movie sequences, offering multiple story endings.
Utilize high-powered weaponry including pistols, automatic weapons, and shotguns as well as brutal melee weapons for close combat.
The mature script, compelling cut scenes and distinct editing add another layer of sophistication to deliver a heightened movie-goer's experience in a videogame.
GRAPHICS
The game boasts some good graphics for the PS2, but there hasn't been much upgraded from the first edition. Yes, there are new weapons, explosions, and visual effects, but essentially nothing will pop out at you as being stunning and new. As it is nevertheless, the game offers up some nice graphics and an amazingly accurate rendering of a 25 square mile radius of London.
SOUND
The Getaway: Black Monday offers up some of the best voice talent I've heard in a game in a long, long time. The acting is really what sells the storyline over for gamers, and the job done mastering the sound and integrating it with the characters was superb. There's not too much to brag about soundtrack wise, but overall I really enjoyed the sound effects and voice talent.
GAME PLAY
Vastly improved from the first game, Black Monday's controls are MUCH more responsive. Driving around won't give you a headache anymore (I kept crashing into everything in the first game), as controls for both running around and driving around seem much more responsive. The game itself goes through an entire story from the perspective of the three playable characters, each with their own unique spin and story on things. The game's story branches in various directions, all based off of how you complete your missions. The story begins two years after the demise of the most notorious crime boss of London's East End, Charlie Jolson. A bank job goes wrong – a small-time thug gets in way over his head and a cop is out for revenge – sending two sides of the same tale into a collision course for an explosive showdown. By choosing which path to take, players will make critical decisions that influence the final outcome of the game.
The game also features all new cars, weapons, and explosions, as well as some fun hand-to-hand combat for when the going gets rough. Undoubtedly the game is far superior in all ways to the first, and on its own is a fun game whose emphasis on story and not blowing things up is a welcome relief to this die-hard gamer.
ONLINE / MULTIPLAYER
Playing the game for 20 to 25 hours will take you through the whole thing, which is a tad short for most titles. There's no on-line capability, so once you've played through, well … that's it. The good news is that there is an incentive to play through again with different choices in how you finish your missions, bringing you through a different chain of events through the story. With that in mind, the game gets a decent score for longevity, since you'll most likely play through twice.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
I love games that are imaginative, fun, and driven by a unique story. The Getaway: Black Monday is all of those things wrapped together in an amazingly accurate rendering of London (yes, I've been there). The voice acting and storyline will definitely make the game ridiculously addictive, with the gameplay much improved over the original title. The graphics don't seem greatly improved from the first title, but there are new areas to find and check out.The longevity of the game is actually pretty good … I know some reviewers are saying the play time is short since you could play through in 20 hours, but I think it's actually rather long since you'll want to play through twice to make different decisions to see differences through the game. The best feature of the game, by far, is the original script, story line, and depth the game goes into for the London Underworld and how easily it sweeps you into the whole genre. Overall, Black Monday is a good game and worthy of your gaming dollar.
Related Posts :
Sean W. Gibson
@gamingillustrat
Latest posts by Sean W. Gibson (see all)
- Panasonic Talks Plasma TV Console Gaming at CES - January 23, 2013
- Konami and UnitedHealth Interviewed About Classroom DDR - January 21, 2013
- AMD Senior Manager Talks Gaming Tech at CES 2013 - January 11, 2013
