The Getaway: Black Monday E3 2004 Hands-On

Released early last year, The Getaway was one of the most ambitious action games to come around in a long time. Featuring a style that can only be described as purely cinematic, the game was also, in many ways, a severe failure. Despite the game's cool, cinematic elements, the underlying game design simply wasn't enjoyable or fleshed out enough to make for a proper game. For SCEE London Studio's follow up to The Getaway, titled The Getaway: Black Monday, the studio plans to address many of the issues players cited through feedback and ultimately make the game a far more cohesive and enjoyable experience.

In Black Monday, you will play as one of three characters. The first, Sgt. Ben Mitchell, is a cop who is living somewhat on the edge. His story begins with him returning from a two-year absence from the force after an investigation into a shooting. Specifically, he was accused of shooting a kid in the back during an attempted arrest. Many of the officers who once respected him are now resentful of his return, and Mitchell quickly discovers that he has a lot to prove. The game's other primary protagonist is Eddie O'Connor, an East Ender with a storied criminal past, mostly as a muscle for hire. Eddie is a former boxer who finds himself involved in a bank heist, which subsequently goes horribly awry. Both Ben's and Eddie's storylines are mostly separate, but unlike in last year's game, toward the end of the game, both their plots will merge into one, and the outcome of those stories may differ depending on certain moral choices you make throughout the game. There is also a third, female character you will be able to play as after completing both of the main storylines, though her role was not identified except to say that she would tie in more heavily to Eddie's side of things and be largely stealth-based.

The first mission shown during our demo session was one of Eddie's early missions. After the bank heist went bad, Eddie and a female companion arrived rather suddenly at a bar, where a bloodbath seemed to have ensued. After forcefully suggesting to his female friend to stay in the car (by handcuffing her to the seat) and a bit of curt dialogue, Eddie moved into the bar, only to find bodies everywhere. As Eddie came upon each corpse, a brief flash showing how that person died would come across the screen. Eddie isn't psychic, mind you; he's just perceptive. Suddenly, thugs began to appear, and Eddie was in for some hand-to-hand combat. For both hand-to-hand and weapons-based combat, Black Monday will feature a targeting system via the R1 button that lets you lock onto any nearby enemy. The hand-to-hand combat seemed to involve a bit of grappling before Eddie could finally lay in a few stiff ex-boxer-styled punches to his foe.

Once Eddie moved on, he finally picked up a gun, and we started to see some examples of weapon-based combat in the game. The only weapons we saw were a basic handgun and an assault rifle, but both seemed quite effective against the enemies. Also, to avoid gunfire, Eddie could duck and dodge behind objects, as well as peer around corners to see if any enemies were lying in wait. When you do find yourself injured in the game, it appears as though Black Monday will use roughly the same health system as the last game, where you will have to stop to rest in order to gain health back. However, it was mentioned that some levels would provide health boosts in specific areas, such as a medical pack kept in the kitchen of an office building.

Next, we got a look at how the driving portions of Black Monday will work. Though much of the driving mechanics in the game looked roughly similar to those in the original, a few bonuses have been added. Specifically, the AI of typical traffic, as well as police cars has been given quite a boost. Police cars will group up to try to run you off the road in a pretty realistic fashion, and roadblocks with tire spikes can be put up at various intersections on the fly. More overall cars will be available in the game, though information on specifically how many wasn't available. However, we did get a quick peek at one of the new motorcycles, which appeared to be more of a Ninja-styled speed bike. Additionally, when towing an AI-controlled ally, you'll be able to have that person hop on the back of the bike,

While we didn't get to see too much of Sgt. Mitchell's portion of the game, the one brief portion we did see looked pretty cool. We were part of a tactical police unit, sent into an apartment building. Similar to the bar scene, bodies were strewn about, and a number of crooks were fleeing the scene. Eventually, it was up to us to chase after them alone, running and jumping through fire escapes and across rooftops, gunning crooks down as we went. We also saw a scripted sequence, where one crook went to jump onto scaffolding, and it collapsed on him, sending him screaming down to the street.

Other points of interest from our demo session included the layout of the game itself, as well as its cast. Black Monday is set in modern-day London, and the game retains roughly the same map as before, but with 17 new locations and additional back alleyways and other shortcuts. You'll also be able to ride the underground system at certain points in the game. Black Monday will feature a cast of more than 30 characters, and all of the game's cutscenes will be motion-captured, based on real actors playing out the scenes.

The Getaway: Black Monday is currently slated to hit stores in November of this year, exclusively for the PlayStation 2. We'll have more coverage of the game in the coming weeks.