The Getaway is basically Grand Theft Auto III/Vice City in London, albeit with a stronger storyline, slightly less variety and a slightly different control system. You start the game in the rhythm and blues (shoes) of ex-cockney gangster Mark Hammond, who has to watch as his trouble and strife (wife) is killed and his dustbin lid (kid) kidnapped. As the game begins you tear off in hot pursuit along the impressively detailed fields of wheat(s) (streets) of London.
The driving is a notch more realistic than GTA's in terms of handling and the damage your jam jar (car) can take; this realism means The Getaway is not so immediately appealing as the GTA games, but it manages to be amusing enough since you're still allowed to run over people and half-inch (pinch) their cars.
Where the game is unquestionably better than GTA is in on-foot combat. This features much tighter controls, including two aiming modes and a wall-hugging option like that of Metal Gear Solid. No doubt Sony are also under the impression that the story is far superior to GTA's rather amorphous narrative, but it's certainly an acquired taste, featuring as it does enough non-subtle language, mockney accents and poor dialogue to make even Guy Ritchie blanch.
In terms of freedom of movement The Getaway is more restrictive than GTA--but what it loses in freedom it gains in tighter gameplay and, of course, the ability to drive on the right (i.e., left) side of the road without the Old Bill getting in a how's your father. --David Jenkins
