We all loved Driver to death, every soul on the planet most likely played the hell out of it. If you thought Driver was great wait till you see what may be one of the greatest games ever. Studio Soho, a European developer is hard at work doing their newest PS2 title, called The Getaway. Soho is not very widely known, but they are known for developing Porsche Challenge and a few other European and US games, one that I do not want to talk about (*cough* Spice World *cough*). Soho may actually be the first developer to be already pushing the PS2 slightly. See what info on one of the best looking and playing games is all about.

      The Getaway takes place in London, England. In-order to get the most realism out of the game Soho went all over London and photographed an areas adding up to 70 kilometers or about 45 miles. You will basically be driving all over the city and if you are fortunate enough you may even be able to visit your own house, that is if you live in England. The game is in early production and it already looks better than the most powerful PC title today. At present time only four screens are available. They show Mark (the main character) driving in an Audi TT, if we didn't tell you that this was a game you would have mistaken this as a real-life photograph, the only thing that gives it away is the blur effect which by the way looks sensational. The car models look perfect, they are mirror images of their real life counterparts, the anti-aliasing seems to be working already, the backgrounds are super sharp and they are incredibly real. What I like is that the attention isn't only paid to the car detail, but innocent pedestrians also walk around the game, and they would do common things, a lot like Crazy Taxi.

      Story of the game goes as follows; it is about a man and his past with a crime. Mark is an English man who used to be a big bank robber. He put that life behind him and re-started with a wife and kid. A crime boss Charlie Jolson has kidnapped Mark's kid, now Mark has to return into the world of crime in order to get his son back. You drive through photo realistic areas of London as you hi-jack cars, drive at break neck speeds and so much more. A lot like Grand Theft Auto, you can jump out of your car, walk around (hopefully enter a shop or two), steal a car, and fly down the real streets of London. A lot like Sega's Crazy Taxi you can jump from structures like ramps, buildings and maybe even other cars. Speaking of cars you have over 50 to steal, this is like a Gran Turismo game gone evil. You have tons of European cars to choose from, hopefully you get rewarded with a few Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, BMW's, or even Porsche's. There will be pedestrians who walk on the sidewalks as well as cross roads, so there may be some gore involved, but if the game is anything like Driver or Crazy Taxi they will just jump out of your way. If Soho really wants to go to the next level, they should also include noise pollution from pedestrians and other vehicles, now that will be the greatest video gaming product ever.

      There has been no announced date on The Getaway yet, and when it gets one, we will be on it like a pack of wolves. Soho may be brining out the most promising title a videogame console has seen. These are by far the most breathtaking visuals I have seen, and that includes the newest PC titles. Let's just really hope that this turns out as great as I want it to be.

04/14/00  SolidSnake

Playstation 2

Scheduled release date:
TBA

Publisher:
SCE

Developer:
Studio Soho

Genre:
Driving

Number of Players:
1 (1-?)