Long ago, back when The Getaway was first announced for PS2, many people claimed it could be a GTA killer. It didn't turn out to be quite that, but the exceptional levels of realism, gritty, London-based storytelling and technical prowess made this game a force to be reckoned with. Closely followed by a sequel called Black Monday, the Getaway featured hyper-realistic graphics (for the time anyway) and was a hard-hitting journey through the gang underworld of southern Britain. It also featured interlocking narratives from the perspective of both a police officer and a former bank robber, real world cars and a more natural approach to gaming with the removal of a HUD and indication signals to turn right and left as you navigated open world London. The main reason that The Getaway never truly succeeded lies in Rockstar's timely release of GTA Vice City. Both games pretty much released simultaneously and - unfortunately for the Getaway - GTA won and has gone on to be an unstoppable juggernaut of biblical proportions. Fast forward about ten or so years and we're at a place where this underrated gem could be brought back. The realistic graphical approach is now more possible than ever thanks to the power of the PS4, everyone is eating up strong narrative storytelling in games at the moment and there's a competition going on for best open world design. With the right resources, a lot of development, excellent storytelling and a good hearty push, there's no reason this franchise couldn't be brought back and succeed in the world of modern gaming. What other Playstation classics would you like to see make a long-due return? Let us know down in the comments!
Dan Curtis is approximately one-half videogame knowledge, and the other half inexplicable Geordie accent. He's also one quarter of the Factory Sealed Retro Gaming podcast.
