The Getaway: Black Monday (PS2)

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With all that said, there are a few things in Black Monday that are improved, compared with the last game. Namely, the driving portions of the game are far less frustrating, thanks to a sped-up traffic flow that no longer prevents you from completing missions simply because you can't get past the onslaught of AI-controlled traffic. Also, cars can take a lot more damage than before. There is also a map in the game now, though it can be accessed only via the pause menu, and, honestly, you're unlikely to ever need it, as the weird but effective turn-signal direction method the last game used is back again. However, it bears mention that there's also less driving to do in this game compared with the original, so you probably won't notice these fixes quite as much.

As far as any real changes to the on-foot missions go, the only one of any real note is the fact that there are health packs scattered about some of the missions. You'll hardly ever find them useful, though, as you can still simply lean your character against a wall to regain health. And, incidentally, it's still bizarre to see your character leaning against a wall after sustaining multiple gun wounds, and then suddenly going right back to normal, with all the blood on his or her shirt disappearing into nothingness.

Black Monday is altogether a less frustrating game than its predecessor, but that also makes it a much shorter one. You can probably blow through the game's whole story in about nine hours, though there are two different endings, depending on a "moral choice" you make at one point in the game. Once you're done with the main game, there are some bonus sections to check out, including a race mode, a taxi-driving mode, a chase mode, and a free-roaming mode. All these are exactly what they sound like, and none of them are good for more than a quick, meaningless distraction, as the races and chases aren't really that exciting, and the taxi-driving mode is just kind of boring.

The free-roaming mode is probably the most appealing of all, simply because the main game never really invites you to explore the huge, accurately rendered model of the city of London that has been created for the game. It's basically the same city model that was used in the last game, but with some new locations and roads. If you're a Londoner or just a geography buff, it's kind of neat to see the city laid out in such a fashion, but apart from that, there's not really a lot to look at, since the textures on the buildings and landmarks are actually kind of flat and ugly, and there's not a lot of foot traffic or activity in the city as you play.

The most interesting aspects of the game's visuals, in fact, are its cutscenes. The game's story is told through nearly an hour's worth of very well-directed cutscenes that, were it not for the whole CG thing, could have just as easily come from a British crime film. Sadly, the quality of the graphics actually brings the scenes down a peg, as the character models aren't very detailed. There obviously was a fair amount of effort put into making the facial animations and mouth movements more realistic than in the first game, but the models are still pretty weak by today's standards, and the background scenery isn't any better. There are also some frame rate issues, physics glitches, and other problems that pop up from time to time, ultimately giving the game an archaic look.

As mentioned before, the audio is excellent, thanks largely to the dialogue and voice acting. These elements are so well done that, at times, you won't even care about the plot holes or the gratuity of the swearing. The music in the game is also quite good, consisting of a lot of electronic tracks from UK trip-hop label Ninja Tune, as well as a few orchestral tunes. There are times when these tracks seem a little too sparse, but some of them are also very good, and fit with the action nicely. The same goes for the sound effects, which all work quite well in the context of the game. Throw in some great gunshot noises, plenty of screaming bad guys, and some solid ambient effects, and you have pretty much everything you could ask for. That is, apart from a better overall game.

Like its predecessor, The Getaway: Black Monday is a "love it or hate it" kind of game, though it definitely leans a little more toward the "hate it" side of the scale. The Getaway got away with a lot of what it did mainly because it tried to do something fairly original, whereas with the sequel, there aren't many new elements, and what is new isn't exceptionally meaningful in the grand scheme of the game. Black Monday should be commended for crafting another unique crime story with plenty of memorable, well-acted characters, but unfortunately it fails to create gameplay of equal caliber. In the end, there are just too many design flaws and annoying little glitches in Black Monday to make it a recommendable play.

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The Getaway: Black Monday (PS2): $13.04 - $28.99

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