The Getaway Comments by Kristan Reed

Nice review Krudster, pretty much what I was expecting after my brief time on the demo.

Any reason why this is out on a wednesday btw?

Yes, it's because Sony fancy themselves :)

Hrm good review... People complain about the comparisons to GTA but they do need to be made.

Good review Kristan. I though you would of implemented the new 40/40 style scoring by now??

I read somewhere that it did have 60Hz, any confirmation either way?

Why the heck do you all need 60 Hz? It's an European game, no borders, no slowed down gameplay, nothing. 60 Hz mode would probably mean the game's running 17,5% too fast.

It seems a 7 is in order rather than an 8. Judging from all the negative points mentioned in this review, I'm pretty surprised it scores this high.

It's has too much going for it (in terms of the London novelty factor) to score it at 7. Without its obvious USP, then I agree, 7 is fair.

Definitely no 60Hz chaps. Not that it matters - there are no borders anyway. As far as I can tell it's only when it's a 60 to 50 Hz conversion that it ever matters.

By the way, CEX were selling this on SATURDAY, and apparently Woolies has broken street date as well. Check it out.

My local Woolies were selling it on Friday too, ah well I've saved a few quid buying it online and I'm too busy being a starship captain in SFCIII at the moment.

Release dates are starting to become a bit of a joke these days aren't they? Any chance of an investigation to see if the softcos care or not? I don't think Sony would be best pleased to be honest.

"bar the still taboo ‘See You Next Tuesday’ word"

What word would that be than?

Ahh... a jack of all trades but a master of none.

What's the replay value like with this?

From the review it didn't sound like there's much to do after you've completed it.

No frame rate problems? Any others disagree?

Do you have to pay the congestion charge?

The NTSC/PAL, 60/50 Hz argument rages on. Will someone, somewhere give us an answer to this thorny issue. Frankly my head hurts. The bottom line is: there are no borders, and the frame rate is consistently acceptable.

7 or 8 seems fair - been playing it since Friday, and it is a great experience. With the caveat that I live in London, know my way around etc I can say I'm certainly enjoying it more than VC..and the map is simply huge, must be bigger than VC, I seem to find new places every time I play. Bugs aside (Look Yasmin, get in the car, get in the CAR, oh s*** don't shoot the police, nee ne nahhh restart mission?) I'd recommend it to almost anyone.

And for the swearing police - I believe one of the Triads does use the most colourful four letter word, and for those who can't speak Chinese, it's nicely spelled out in the subtitles.

I think c**t should be kept taboo. It's nice to have one swear word that still has some shock value.

It's hardly shocking these days. I find the racist crap more offensive, but sticks and stones, etc....

There's always *whispers quietly* Belgium *looks around makes sure no invasion fleets head towards Earth*

I like that game show bit in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus where they have a contest for the no. 1 insult for Belgians. "Let's not call them anything, let's just ignore them" is a runner up and the winner is "miserable, fat, Belgian bastards".

My answer to the 50/60Hz question is simple.

If a game is developed specifically for 50Hz, then I have no problems. It's likely the game's animation will be tuned to run at 25/50fps and all timing will reflect. Borders should be non existent unless absolutely necessary (technical reasons, see Fear Effect on PS1).

I do have problems when a game is a port of NTSC code, resulting in something like FFX (which does not need repeating). Rushed, lazy NTSC ports should have 60Hz options as standard.

So basically for me, it is a quality issue. I will buy a good game if it is a good PAL version, I will buy a good game if it is a shite PAL version with a 60Hz option (thus negating the 50Hz mode), but I ain't gonna touch no FFX calibre conversion. Not no more. No way, man, etc.

Now im starting to figure out why this game is $10 cheaper than the average PS2 game!

Pff! For you maybe. We're paying full whack. How the bloody hell does that work out? I say we strike. :-)

This 8/10 is surprising !
Is it because of Sony ? the London background ?

I've seen a 5/10 on the very serious french website gamekult.com, and based on all the game's bad points, it seems more realistic to me...

I like that game show bit in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus where they have a contest for the no. 1 insult for Belgians. "Let's not call them anything, let's just ignore them" is a runner up and the winner is "miserable, fat, Belgian bastards".

I love that sketch (for obvious reasons). On Sunday I watched a long interview with Michael Palin on Belgian telly, it was pretty good but I was very surprised they didn't ask him about that sketch... heh.

Eric, in Europe we have the PAL tv standard as opposed to the North American NTSC tv system. NTSC runs at 60hz but with a slightly lower resolution, PAL runs at 50hz (slightly lower refresh rate) but with a higher resolution. Console titles developed for NTSC (i.e. Japanese and US games) have to be converted to run on PAL systems - the problem which many people have is that such conversions are sometimes done very shoddily, and can lead either to big borders on PAL screens (because they're higher resolution than the NTSC original) or slightly slower game speeds (because 60hz is faster than 50hz). Fact is, it's become something of a hobby horse for some European gamers, to the point that they moan if they don't get a 60hz option even when the game is developed in Europe for the PAL system, in other words when it's native 50hz.

Started off hating it...
Grew to like it a little bit...
Now I hate it again.

It just doesn't look, sound, play or feel like a 3 years plus in development title. Sorry Soho, must try harder next time.

Peej

the point you all seem to be missing is that no game is developed in 50hz, all the dev kits are shipped from either japan or america and output NTSC. even if the company is based within the UK the PAL version will be handled afterwards and it'll always be a port of the US/JAP version.

if they worked on the UK version first, then the US/JAP version. surely UK developed games would be released in the UK first? but this isnt the case

Rareware went on record as saying all there games are developed NTSC, with work on the PAL version starting a few months before deadline in order to fully optimize it.

OK Pirotic, but presumably with a game like Getaway which is obviously going to be heavily reliant on the UK/European market, I'd imagine that they're thinking about the PAL version from a very early stage in the programming process, and that the 50hz will be pretty much native and identical in all respects to the NTSC one. Still, what do I know. All I can say is that in my very limited experience I have never noticed any discernible difference between 50hz and 60hz modes.

I have never noticed any discernible difference between 50hz and 60hz modes.

o_O

Anyway, I think the next generation of consoles should use PAL60 as a default standard, no fuss there as it's exactly the same as NTSC frequency and resolution wise. (HDTV is still unlikely to make an appearence)

As the reviewer has pointed out, the story revolves around an racist character, sadly this game goes to far with it's racist comments.

Calling black people, jungle bunnies and spear chuckers is not acceptable in this day and age.

Oh and the game attacks nearly other culture, foreigner etc.

Let's remember what happened with Hitman 2, this game is going to bring some major shit down on gaming.

If I wanted to, I could go to the police and report SCEE for releasing racist material, regardless of it being entertainment.

Im affraid no matter how much you "think ahead" about the PAL conversion, there is no way your going to make up that 5/10fps unless you include the 60hz option.

Also the 'no borders' argument. i think upon close inspection you'll find all fully-optimized PAL PS2 games do have borders, just very small ones. this is due to the PS2 not having enough VRAM to create the buffers for the PAL resolution.

Human Taco, I take it you think there *is* a discernible difference?

I'm a console newbie, the only 60hz games I have are Cube games (most of them are 60hz). I'm being totally honest when I say that I can see no difference between the 50hz and 60hz versions. I can think of two possible reasons for this: (a) at my advanced age, my gammy eyes and senescent brain can't register the 10hz difference (o_O); and/or (b) the conversions were very good in the first place.

Most racing games benefit from a higher frame rate of 60fps and no terrible flicker (see GT3)

otto, the 50hz conversions are getting better these days, but having 60hz as standard would just make things so much easier.

Did you own a PS1? I think the fact that just about every PAL PS1 was unoptimized 50hz gave a lot of people a trained eye to support such shoddy conversions. Going back and playing PS1 games now is terrible, the flicker and jerky 25fps framerate just kill the games.

Also, it's worrying to notice that just about every PAL dreamcast, xbox and cube game has a 60hz mode, but all the games from Sony's 'can't be arsed' market leaders PS2 don't.

All i can say is try PSO in 60hz, then go back to 50hz, the difference in both walking speed and visible flicker is blatantly obvious.

To most people who can spot it a 50hz picture does flicker and a 60hz picture doesn't.

Take a game that shows a SEGA logo on a white background as it loads up, try that in 60hz then 50hz - you will notice a difference.

Oh and it's worth noting that these differences will be much greater if you're using a proper RGB cable (as you should) Mushy Svideo and composite (for shame) pictures will downgrade both pictures significantly.

Give it time. Once the gutter press actually wake up and review it, the word will get round..then Sony will offer a hasty apology and resolve to remove all offensive material from the next version...

So in other words, it's a bit late to complain when they've already mastered and distributed their copies...Agreed that in this modern day and age it's a bit like watching "love thy neighbour" - ie, it's embarrasingly offensive (and I thought mankind had actually come on quite well in the last 30 years!)

Peej

Peej

There is an obvious difference in 50/G0hz once you know what to look for.

I have a terrible time at cinemas now I am aware of what a good projected picture should look like. I notice if a film is slightly out of focus, when it isn't framed correctly and I particularly notice sound problems.

Once it's stuck in your mind, it's there forever.

The main problem with 60hz is the stretching of the NTSC picture to fit on a PAL screen.

I hate it, I hate seeing the lines and I certainly hate seeing the artifacts you get with 60hz.

I like 50hz, you can do more in a frame in 50hz than you can with 60hz.

Ok, my mistake - there is indeed a 60hz mode; but unlike most games it doesn't ask you when you boot up. Instead it is, in fact, tucked away in an options menu. Good news also for those who can support progressive scan - that option is also included.

Give it time. Once the gutter press actually wake up and review it, the word will get round..then Sony will offer a hasty apology and resolve to remove all offensive material from the next version...

So in other words, it's a bit late to complain when they've already mastered and distributed their copies...Agreed that in this modern day and age it's a bit like watching "love thy neighbour" - ie, it's embarrasingly offensive (and I thought mankind had actually come on quite well in the last 30 years!)

I can bet you a dollar that SCEE will not withdraw it and make changes to it, not unless the suits in Japan don't like the bad publicity, and I am sure Mr Kutaragi won't be too pleased either!

The other question is:

If SCEE can release a game with racist material, what is stopping the BNP from doing the same? Nothing.

But if you pass out racist leaflets etc, you'll get locked up!

Gaming is going to get dragged over the hot coals for this.

Probably, but only if there are any sexual scenes in the game.

ohhhh 60hz goodness, im tempted now :)

wouldn’t it have been cool to have bundled a mini A to Z with the game to enable you to check your route in-game?

Hmmm... I got one through the post from Sony's marketing department a couple of days ago. An advert for the game and a fairly decent A to Z with it! Bonus!

I am quite tempted by this, although I'm not sure that the swearing and racism will necessarily make for a great game. I imagine I'll still enjoy the "cartoony" side of GTA Vice City a lot more.

Also, what is there to do in the free roam mode (other than roam, obviously)? Any taxi missions? Can you get the police to chase you if you kill enough civilians?

I'll probably wait till after Christmas some time before picking this up.

Gruff. The voice of sanity. I've had so many fellow games industry "professionals" dismiss The Getaway, it's untrue. Any game I can be arsed to finish means, as far as I'm concerned, it's good. Yes, you can pick holes in The Getaway, but that applies to every single game ever made, including Vice City, Splinter Cell, Halo, Half Life, and so on.

DKR? Are you seriously talking about Donkey Kong Racing?

Charlie Jolson is the racist, there was no comments saying Mark Hammond is racist.

Still, I don't think a game with any kind of racism is right, it shouldn't be allowed!

Bit pissed off to hear the free roam mode isn't unlocked until the end. Stupid sods.

I don't have a problem with racism in games, just like I don't have a problem with murderers, rapists, sexists and drug dealers portrayed in them.

However, I think you have to tread carefully and have a decent set of actors to perform it well, rather than the amateur dramatic society they seem to have employed.

Hear, hear.

Same thing goes for movies.

As a black gamer, I have to agree with gruff. Racism should never be glorified ala the BNP, but to deny its existence and pretend that old-timer east end scum like Jolsen were politically correct and all touchy-feely is ludicrous. The fact that YOU know its wrong means you are more likely to empathise with your character, and more likely to hate Jolsen and his mob. It all about emotional resonance.

The underworld Team Soho have created is very realistic and they should be praised for pushing the boundaries, not reviled.