Reviews// The Getaway 2: Black Monday

Sony people, you taking notes? Good, then let us begin. The Getaway, right, it's staring you in the face. Remember those Lunn Poly adverts? The future of The Getaway really ought to be a tourist advertising agency. Take the model of London (and even make some more), remove the gameplay, add functional public transport and key tourist attractions: museums, galleries etc. Get sponsorship funds (ie massive cheques) from all sites included: to the point of incorporating a virtual reality hotel Yellow Pages. Then port it to PSP and sell it to Americans. They can either use it to acquaint themselves with the city before they visit, guide themselves while they're here or perhaps use it to actually replace the visit entirely. That way, everyone's a winner! (except SPOnG if we don't get full royalty payments for that truly fantastic idea *runs to patent office*)

But back to reality and back to the point. The Getaway 2 is a bit of a disappointment. It’s not enough of a step up from its predecessor, and in the shadows of Q4’s big name, AAA gems it pales into insignificance. The London setting no longer has the same impressive novelty value, though to be fair, the game does look good through and through. And while it is quite good fun, it’s a pretty short affair and it doesn’t really offer anything that’s not done better in another superior title. But, if you’re a Londoner and you need another crime caper, you could do a whole lot worse than to pick this up and give it a try.

SPOnG Rating C

It really is a great idea, and certain elements of the overall presentation are fantastic. However, it doesn’t feel as fresh as the first game and there are persistently irritating shortfalls in the way the game’s been executed. There’s not much about it to actively dislike, but nor is there much to shout about. Rather plainly, it’s just satisfactory.