10 More Underrated Video Games Way Ahead Of Their Time
2. The Getaway
Today, 2002's The Getaway is largely remembered as a decent-but-flawed GTA clone, which rather uncharitably ignores the game's own distinct breakthroughs.
The Getaway was delayed by over two years due to Team Soho's decision to photorealistically recreate large areas of London, and in the team's defense, it remains one of the most impressively grounded open worlds in any video game to this very day.
While the PS2-era Grand Theft Auto games got around technical limitations by splitting their worlds into several separate locations, The Getaway continuously streamed the surrounding environment to the player as they moved around it, giving the impression that they were playing in a teeming, actually alive sandbox.
Despite its Guy Ritchie-esque crime caper plot, The Getaway was thoroughly concerned with gritty realism, opting for a minimalist HUD in which players were guided to their next objective by their car's taillights, and a character's low health was only indicated by them limping or bleeding on-screen.
Moving characters around was also slow and clunky in a manner not unlike Red Dead Redemption 2 - a fact that frustrated many expecting a more fast-paced, arcade-y romp in the vein of GTA.