The Getaway

 PlayStation 2
  • Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Jan 21, 2003
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 123 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 64 out of 123
  2. Mixed: 35 out of 123
  3. Negative: 24 out of 123
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  1. PhillipS.
    Jun 30, 2003
    9
    This game is cool but the only problem is that the cars are to slow but I think it is still better than Grantheftauto3/vice city.
  2. CinnDerby
    Jun 26, 2020
    10
    My favorite game ps2 :') Il fût une légende à sa sortie, un exploit visuel et une très bonne jouabilité.
  3. Psyco6
    Jul 13, 2012
    8
    This game is a British version of grant theft auto. It takes place in England, it has a lot in common with GTA, it has real cars,but no bars for health and it doesn't tell you how much ammo you have left. It kinda feels more like you are playing the person and not just controlling them. The story has been used alot,but isn't bad,the driving does get a bit wacky at times, the gun play isThis game is a British version of grant theft auto. It takes place in England, it has a lot in common with GTA, it has real cars,but no bars for health and it doesn't tell you how much ammo you have left. It kinda feels more like you are playing the person and not just controlling them. The story has been used alot,but isn't bad,the driving does get a bit wacky at times, the gun play is great and has good aim. Overall its a good games.… Expand
  4. Colonel_Radec
    Mar 26, 2012
    9
    Fantastic game with a focus on immersion. The world is well crafted and the licensed vehicles are a nice touch. Don't expect it to play like GTA. It feels much more realistic, which can be good or bad depending on your taste.
  5. sityoazzdown
    Jun 8, 2014
    8
    The getaway was a very good game. It had an amazing story, and the gameplay was decent and pretty fun. The city itself is kind of lifeless with not much to do, but the story was immersive to the point I want to keep playing to see the ending. The driving was good and the setting pretty big, overall a good open world game with a very immersive story, but lacking of things to do outside theThe getaway was a very good game. It had an amazing story, and the gameplay was decent and pretty fun. The city itself is kind of lifeless with not much to do, but the story was immersive to the point I want to keep playing to see the ending. The driving was good and the setting pretty big, overall a good open world game with a very immersive story, but lacking of things to do outside the main missions.… Expand
  6. fabiolfpinto
    Jul 5, 2013
    8
    The Getaway is a good game, it has some problems in terms of controls and some bugs, but it has a compelling story with good characters. The voice acting is good especially the police officer Frank Carter. The game does a great representation of London and manages to capture its atmosphere. Overall it is a good game.
  7. SHOTINATOR1243
    Sep 28, 2015
    9
    'The Getaway' is an excellent title that captures the dirty underworld of British crime in the early 2000's.
    You play through the 24 mission story list as 2 characters, with 12 missions suited to each. The twist is that the game adds depth to its storyline by making you play from different perspectives of the story, through each character. Mark Hammond; an ex-gangster, is hunted down by    'The Getaway' is an excellent title that captures the dirty underworld of British crime in the early 2000's.
    You play through the 24 mission story list as 2 characters, with 12 missions suited to each. The twist is that the game adds depth to its storyline by making you play from different perspectives of the story, through each character. Mark Hammond; an ex-gangster, is hunted down by an old rival gang boss who uses Mark's skills and techniques to help take down a lot of the crime underworld in London. You will then play as the police officer who sees the story as it unfolds, away from Marks eyes.
    The gameplay is fluid and new, with no HUD. You rely on your sense for magazine counts, sound and your own surroundings and awareness. This makes the combat a lot more interesting and different from other shooters of the time.
    The driving sequences are... Mediocre, they offer no real change from titles such as 'GTA' and 'DRIVER' . The AI is odd and jerky, but the driving is still interesting as you will see well known stores, such as Carphone Warehouse. And vans like Royal Mail and FedEx this just adds a sense of realism when you are driving around London. If you live in the UK, you will enjoy it even more as you will notice the look of everything, even police cars look very familiar. The absence of a HUD makes it difficilt to know where to go when you are driving, the use of the vehicle's indicators show you where to turn automatically, which is a very nice feature. This also means, no map or objective icon, you just simply pause the game and listen to the audio tape for the objective that is taken from the previous cutscene, genius. To heal, you simply stand next to a wall and rest as your character places his arm on there to catch his breath back. This is a handy feature as you will notice when to heal, by looking at your blood soaked clothing and the way your character moves, whether his arms hang down and flail, or his legs look like they will give in at any moment. This new system really makes the game more immersive and interesting. Overall, 'The Getaway' is definitely up there as being one of my favourite PS2 games of all time.    … Expand
  8. SeriousGigi98
    Oct 2, 2022
    8
    Good graphics for a 2003 PS2 game, pretty good physic too, very good soundtrack and an addictive story mode with two different points of view, Mark Hammond, the main character and Frank Carter, the co-protagonist.
    it's one of my favourite PS2 games
  9. JamieD.
    Oct 20, 2003
    9
    Excellent game. I've had a PS2 for about 4 months and haven't really used it much. Then my brother lent me this game and I've been on it every night. It's really easy to get into and it really sucks you in. It's a great stress reliever too after a hard day!
  10. HazP.
    Oct 6, 2003
    10
    First of all to Chaos.S.....u suck. i cant bellev u gave this a 0 u obviously got yor review from yor blind grandpa and he told u. because if u gave it a 0 u defentely havent played it. 10 for graphics 10 for gameplay and 10 for kickin peoples ass. even if u dont like the missions put on the free roaming cheat tri,tri,tri,left,left,squ,tri,tri,tri,left.circle. duh!! and just drive around First of all to Chaos.S.....u suck. i cant bellev u gave this a 0 u obviously got yor review from yor blind grandpa and he told u. because if u gave it a 0 u defentely havent played it. 10 for graphics 10 for gameplay and 10 for kickin peoples ass. even if u dont like the missions put on the free roaming cheat tri,tri,tri,left,left,squ,tri,tri,tri,left.circle. duh!! and just drive around at yor own pace. sure u dont have a health meter and u hav to lean against a wall to gain health but i think the mesage the producers wer trying to get was to make it realistic. if u dont like this game then u dont like real crime.… Expand
  11. TimV.
    Dec 29, 2002
    9
    If u llike a huge city (50x bigger then GTAIII) and british humor, buy it. Otherwise dont.
  12. PaulC.
    Dec 30, 2002
    9
    This is one of the better games on offer at the moment. The graphics are superb and the gameplay very challenging. The days of cartoon games are numbered, realism is what we really want, nice one SoHo.
  13. NinjaMafia
    Nov 23, 2003
    8
    This game is like watching a movie, too bad you couldn't put down the controller and just watch it. The whole game has such a cinematic atmosphere that I couldn't help but keep on playing it. But seriously now, on to the review. The game starts out with our protaganist, Mark Hammond, witnessing the death of his wife and kidnapping of his son. When he goes after his son, he gets This game is like watching a movie, too bad you couldn't put down the controller and just watch it. The whole game has such a cinematic atmosphere that I couldn't help but keep on playing it. But seriously now, on to the review. The game starts out with our protaganist, Mark Hammond, witnessing the death of his wife and kidnapping of his son. When he goes after his son, he gets into a intersting position with London's supreme crime boss. Thus you are thrust into a world of betrayal, crime and violence. The games story is actually pretty interesting if you are willing to keep with this game for all of it. The gameplay, is kind of a mixed bag. The driving around was sort of boring, your car would get screwed over in seconds by the cops. The gun fights were awesome though. I like the whole usse of hiding behind an object and then shotting without even looking, more games need to do that. The gun fights were like watching a movie, I only wish they added a few things to the gun fights to make them more interesting, like alot more guns or different manuevers. The sound in this game is really good. The voice acting is anyway. I love the voice acting, it really was like a movie. The music, however, was pretty forgetable ( was there any music?). The graphics are astounding. I actually watched a movie that was filmed in London and I could reconize some of the streets. The characters look great, the enviroment looks great, Londnon was created in an almost perfect fashion. So, after all my praising of the game, why am I only giving it an 8? Well, there is no replay value. Sure there is an unlockable character with his own story and free ride mode but heres my problewm. Free Ride is kind of pointless since you have no way of telling where gangs are that you can start a gun fight with. If there was some way to tell, I would actually buy this game. I would do nothing but start giun fights with gangs and such, however, there is no way of telling where gangs are. This game is actually really good if you can take the mature content ( I didn't really notice much but they say f*ck al ot in this game.) If they aren't making a movie of this game yet then I will kill myself.… Expand
  14. RicoA.
    Jan 3, 2003
    9
    Just need to come out and say it: I absolutely love and am addicted to this game!!! If you are anything like me, and like (slight understatement for me) cars, driving them, racing them and all this on a brilliant games console like the PS2, then you truly have to get this game. For those of you who know and respected the PC game "Driver" (also released on PS One I think), then you will beJust need to come out and say it: I absolutely love and am addicted to this game!!! If you are anything like me, and like (slight understatement for me) cars, driving them, racing them and all this on a brilliant games console like the PS2, then you truly have to get this game. For those of you who know and respected the PC game "Driver" (also released on PS One I think), then you will be blown away with this game. It combines all the driving fun, adrenaline and realism plus a whole spectrum of other "pleasures" such as great graphics, details and story-line. Without wanting to spoil the plot or fun for anyone, the story is that you start off by playing an ex-gang member in London (great detail, if you have a huge screen/TV you think you're actually in the city) who's wife has just been murdered and your kid has just been kidnapped by one of your "ex-friends". Obviously, you are going to do everything you can in order to get your kid back; and this is where the fun starts! You get given missions to complete which take you all around London and various dodgy areas of the city, and all the time you can drive around the city in a whole range of vehicles performing all kinds of driving stunts (you can even steal police vehicles and joy ride them or use them on a more serious note to try and complete the task at hand. Nah, trashing them is way more fun for me..... The kid can wait a bit longer...). Seriously, If you are thinking about a great game to get for your PS2 (or a friend's console for that matter), or if you are "thinking/hesitating/contemplating" of getting this game, stop thinking and go out and get it. … Expand
  15. A.H.
    Feb 11, 2003
    10
    Kick ass.
  16. AlexanderK.
    May 5, 2003
    9
    OK I've decided that the game needs more guns and vehicles such as tanks, hummers, and boats. The graphics are good and the game is fun to play. All I would add to it is more characters.
  17. FernandoC.
    Jan 26, 2004
    8
    Spanish comment: Pues a mi me gusto. Es entretenido, buena accion partes dificiles... buena historia... Pero! me parecio que es facil, corto... la segunda parte es mas facil ya pasando la primera... casi que sin mucha emocion... Pero es buen juego...
  18. TuomasK.
    Jun 30, 2004
    9
    Great graphics, which stands up to todays PC standards. Looses last point because sluggish control that sometimes kill player. Very enterteining, and good driving sequences, I hope Getaway Black Monday gets even better.
  19. KevinC.
    Dec 22, 2002
    10
    Eveybody compares this game to gta vice city, the getaway is a totally different game than vice city. The getaway is more like an action game where you can drive with cars in london, vice city is just a huge city where you can do what you want. About the getaway it's a bomb!!
  20. Freud
    Dec 28, 2002
    8
    GTA VC is for kids - it´s filled with cartoonish gameplay, ridicilous weapons, senseless random violence ("cool, I killed the prostitute"),etc. The Getaway is far more realistic and feels more challenging.
  21. KevB.
    Jul 22, 2003
    8
    Brilliant game, slick look , cool missions, the two points lost go solely to the controls which are weak at times, solve this for a sequel and its a classic, metal gear solid meets gta, next game should be based in Paris.
  22. KenR.
    Apr 13, 2004
    9
    The getaway was lent to me by one of my friends as i had just received a PS2 and needed a great action game to get me going. i played it and was blown away by the entertaining videos, the incredibly relistic driving levels and tense and difficult shooting and kicking everyones ass levels. The accent, swearing, and variety of angry gangs make the game all the more entertaining and The getaway was lent to me by one of my friends as i had just received a PS2 and needed a great action game to get me going. i played it and was blown away by the entertaining videos, the incredibly relistic driving levels and tense and difficult shooting and kicking everyones ass levels. The accent, swearing, and variety of angry gangs make the game all the more entertaining and exciting. The graphics were good.. not great but so much work was put into the 40 squared kilos of london and other details like cars .. enemies ect. how could there be incredible graphics?? ALL PS2 players with any sense at all should try this game. CUZ WOW! … Expand
  23. MarcP.
    Sep 11, 2004
    10
    This game is great, takes a while to get used to the direction instructions (no arrows, car indicators flash to show which way to turn, so you need to learn to keep an eye on the back of the car!) but it sems so real & gritty, compared to the likes of GTA Vice City. London location is a bonus, with recognisable cars & you can take any, even the memorial Tank near Buck Palace! I cant wait This game is great, takes a while to get used to the direction instructions (no arrows, car indicators flash to show which way to turn, so you need to learn to keep an eye on the back of the car!) but it sems so real & gritty, compared to the likes of GTA Vice City. London location is a bonus, with recognisable cars & you can take any, even the memorial Tank near Buck Palace! I cant wait for the next installment...... … Expand
  24. OrenM.
    Dec 15, 2002
    10
    It?s the best game of his kind; I am not the only one that thinks that way. Please update your database because simple search in google brings better scores then yours. Not all the best games must come from the USA, Japan end the UK are not less talent.
  25. JohnR.
    Dec 17, 2002
    10
    Awesome title, classy Brit game, stunning graphics (and thats 99% of the value) get this game now boys and girls!
  26. KaspervanMerrienboer
    Dec 17, 2002
    10
    They put real cars in this game like renault laguna and i think Tommy Vercety from Vice City sucks, Mark is much cooler from the getaway. And London is just cool to drive in.
  27. JoshC.
    Mar 22, 2003
    9
    It's a shame that Vice City and The Getaway were released so closely together. The fact is that too many people are comparing these games when these games are not related. This game is more of a James Bond type game where you do your missions and save the girl. Personally I rate this game a 9/10. The storyline is great, the characters are fun and I hope Studio Soho can duplicate this It's a shame that Vice City and The Getaway were released so closely together. The fact is that too many people are comparing these games when these games are not related. This game is more of a James Bond type game where you do your missions and save the girl. Personally I rate this game a 9/10. The storyline is great, the characters are fun and I hope Studio Soho can duplicate this awesome, fast paced thriller of a game.… Expand
  28. Fasn8u
    Oct 18, 2004
    9
    a really excellent game, though the gameplay could have been improved, like more variety of gun's.
  29. A.A.
    Dec 11, 2002
    9
    WHYYY!!?...this is good game...why?
  30. Flashyboy89
    May 19, 2023
    9
    The Getaway has to be amongst the most memorable, best gaming experiences I have ever had. Classic. Masterpiece.
  31. RTCWFAN
    May 10, 2023
    8
    This is a dirty british version of GTA. The soundtrack is great, the atmosphere fits, but the difficulty is way too high. Overall rating: 8.0.
  32. cranos96
    Jun 5, 2023
    8
    My first PS2 video game, and I'll tell you... I still dream about many missions to this day after more than 20 years. One of the first open world games, lacking many mechanics and features, but fun in its simplicity. Trivial story, but I replayed it so many times that I ended up cosplaying Frank Carter at the age of 8... good times... the only thing I missed and dreamed about was hisMy first PS2 video game, and I'll tell you... I still dream about many missions to this day after more than 20 years. One of the first open world games, lacking many mechanics and features, but fun in its simplicity. Trivial story, but I replayed it so many times that I ended up cosplaying Frank Carter at the age of 8... good times... the only thing I missed and dreamed about was his police car. I can never afford to say it's superior to Vice City, but I will say it's superior to GTA III.… Expand
  33. VLG
    Aug 22, 2023
    8
    The realistic approach to the GTA style kind of game was very successful in my opinion. It was very, very hard. Car chasing missions were terrible, and shotting was janky, but when it worked, it worked.

Awards & Rankings

99
#99 Best PS2 Game of 2003
15
#15 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2003
22
#22 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2003

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 49 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 49
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 49
  3. Negative: 4 out of 49
  1. GamerWeb Sony
    90
    This game deserves a look at, even if just to admire the scope to which Lindon was recreated and the movie-like feel.
    Read full review
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    25
    The level of detail is extraordinary... but the slickest graphic presentation can't cover for Getaway's flawed script... In a game infused with more humor and less pretentious aspirations, these flaws would be more forgivable. [24 Jan 2003, p.106]
  3. Game Informer
    90
    It's definitely the closest video games have ever come to capturing the essence of a kick-ass action flick. [Feb 2003, p.92]
See all critic reviews »