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The Getaway: Black Monday Review
There are quite a few reasons for making sequels. Fans want to see more of their favorite characters, a better story, more action and an overall experience that is on par or better than it’s original. Lets face it, that’s their intent and purpose, but quite a few sequels of years past just don’t cut it. The Getaway: Black Monday is an example of a sequel that tries out new characters, a different story and an overall different approach to the groundwork set in the original. There are some shining moments of victory for the game, but it has several glaring issues that bog down the experience. The original Getaway was a promising title that received its fair share of praise, but everyone was quick to point out things that should have been fixed. It seems that with the sequel, for every little thing that was fixed or improved, something else loses its polish.
Black Monday puts players in the shoes of three different characters. Sgt. Mitchell is a conflicted officer of the law who is haunted by decisions he has made in the past. He is part of an elite squad formed to deal with tough situations and his patience is tested at every corner as he faces the criticism of his team and the dangers of an increasing crime threat.
Eddie O’Connor, the second playable character is an amateur boxer in the middle of a mess after a job falls apart. The only person he can turn to is the third playable character, Sam, a technology inclined teenager who is completely out of her element.
All three characters have back stories that make the world of Black Monday fresh and interesting. Normally you see stories about futuristic wars and medieval kingdom conflicts. With Black Monday you get a story that is set in the present and represents the types of conflicts people face today. The entire plot is very strong and presents the games biggest strength, but also its biggest weakness. What good is an excellent story, when the game it’s powered by isn’t screwed in tightly? Players will find themselves getting involved with the characters and the game’s gritty urban world, but actually playing it presents varying degrees of tedium.
As with the first Getaway, the game tries to immerse its players into the world of the character. By doing this the developers have removed any signs of an in-game hud or map (the city map is located on the pause screen). There is no health bar, as you character can only take a certain amount of damage before beginning to bleed and eventually collapsing. The only way to heal is by standing next to a solid surface so the character can lean on it and rest. This can only be used a few times during a mission, and death comes pretty easy, especially when the enemies seem to have a lot more endurance than your character.
The game looks to play like a normal third person shooter. You are given the behind the back camera angle and can aim and move with the analog sticks. One thing that should be mentioned about aiming weapons is that there is absolutely not target or crosshair. To actually hit an enemy you must align the tip of the gun on top of the enemy. No matter where you are firing from the setup seems awkward and fidgeting with it is something you never have time for as enemies will begin shooting at you the second they spot you.
Players are able to wall hug, throw grenades (also with poor aim and depth perception) and do a neat ground roll. These features all seem pretty nice, but as long as you have a gun, you pretty much never really need to use anything else. The most difficult and frustrating missions of the game involve Sam who absolutely “loves” the art of stealth. Unfortunately with a camera severely limited in movement, seeing around corners and spotting oncoming enemies is sometimes impossible. Most people will find that most of their game time is spent during these segments, not because they are long or engaging, but because they feel broken and disjointed.
The game's commonly touted element of driving is back (of course) and the game features a “picture-perfect” model of London. If the street exists in reality, you can drive on it. The car selection is quite good and the driving physics are well tuned. The problem is when you are told to reach a destination without an onscreen map. You can press pause to access the London map, but since there are so many roads to remember, you will be flipping inconveniently through the map more times than you can count. The game tries to remedy this by providing guiding lights on the cars. They help, but still don’t get you exactly where you need to go. The city of London is nicely detailed and you can check out the sights with a good degree of success but the city itself is quite dead. There are cars and pedestrians running about, but none of them really have any personality and often times it feels like driving through an assembly line manufacturing plant.
At its core the game means well. It features well detailed character models that each have their own personality, a detailed game world to travel through, some tense moments of exploration (flashlight + dark = fun) and some entertaining tunes to please the ears. The visuals overall are quite good although hiccups in the game's speed could be noticed in quite a few areas. The game is pretty decent in length, but considering the size and scope of its world its surprising there wasn’t more. Its story has a lot of strengths and it succeeds in presenting its world seriously. If the controls weren’t so broken, the game mechanics so tedious and the presentation so ambitious, the game could have succeeded as a good action game. As it stands, it’s not really even on par with the original, and its disappointing because The Getaway was a seed well planted. Unfortunately, not very well watered it seems. 
Written by Joseph Bennett. Posted year 2005.
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Released on
January 11, 2005
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