The Real Getaway Tour

August 26, 2003 5:07 PM

The Getawayis a game for the PS2 set in a realistically modelled representation of London. You'd have to be really bored to go and find all the locations in the game and re-create the missions for real, wouldn't you?
posted by Mwongozi (16 comments total)

I wasn't even bored enough to finish going through the site.
posted by jpoulos at 5:17 PM on August 26, 2003

The game is freakishly realistic, if a bit tedious.
posted by shoepal at 5:24 PM on August 26, 2003

I love people who do this stuff. This is almost as good as the The Mario guy.
posted by iconomy at 5:46 PM on August 26, 2003

holy crap! it has a saab 900! why don't i have this game yet!?!
posted by bhayes82 at 7:00 PM on August 26, 2003

wish they did Miami like this in GTA3..
posted by shadow45 at 8:04 PM on August 26, 2003

I would have more license to mock these guys if my trip to London this spring hadn't had several moments where I said, "Hey--I recognize this place from The Getaway..." At least I know that a) I'm not alone in my insanity, and b) further from a tie-behind jacket than these two. At least until I take an umbrella next time...
posted by Inkslinger at 8:20 PM on August 26, 2003

Are there secret sections too?

Has anyone done this for Leisure Suit Larry?
posted by RubberHen at 8:56 PM on August 26, 2003

Inkslinger, every time I prize my darling son away from his playstation and take him into London he only comes alive in the back of the car whenever we're on the Getaway map. He predicts minor landmarks streets ahead, then goes crestfallen when we go off the map- as if I'd just ejected the CD. Ony worse...
posted by marvin at 10:30 PM on August 26, 2003

As a London resident, I played this game just to find out how closely they'd modelled the virtual world. I was astounded at the level of detail in some places - there are small shops and bars in my area which they have photographed exactly and inserted into the game... these are places of no consequence, in fact some of which have since closed down... yet they are perfectly represented in "The Getaway". Meanwhile, whole streets in other parts of the game are filled with the wrong stores, with the wrong branding... I wonder if this has something to do with product placement? And I wonder if the cost of modelling a real city in this way is justified by any income they may or may not get from product placement?
posted by skylar at 12:00 AM on August 27, 2003

I love this sort of thing. I love the fact that there are people with enough time on their hands to do pointless things like this and also have enough time on their hands to share their endeavors with the world. One day I plan to go to London and recreate scenes from films, for no good reason other than shits and giggles.
posted by chill at 2:52 AM on August 27, 2003

holy crap! it has a Rover 75! that's why don't i have this game yet!!
posted by Frasermoo at 2:54 AM on August 27, 2003

I know some people witheld permission from the games designers, Skylar. I have friends at the Serpentine gallery. They were approached about their inclusion, but the trustees felt a game of gang violence might not be the best place to promote a modern art museum, so turned the request down.

So the designers turned it into a gang boss HQ called the reptillian (I think). Ha. Take that modern art.
posted by ciderwoman at 5:14 AM on August 27, 2003

Great site. And the game is amazingly realistic. Funny thing is, as someone who basically never drives in London (you'd have to be borderline insane) the few times I've played it, I've been totally messed up by the one-way system. Walking from place to place is pretty easy, but driving is another thing entirely.

It makes me respect those, like cab drivers and the people in delivery vans, who have to know these things for their work. Well, either respect or fear. I don't know exactly which.
posted by riviera at 7:17 AM on August 27, 2003

I look forward to True Crime : Streets of LA coming out so that I can learn the streets of Hollywood better.
posted by starscream at 10:45 AM on August 27, 2003

Hollywood?
Wow. A big virtual map of block apartments.
W00t.
posted by linux at 5:14 PM on August 27, 2003

I enjoyed the game for the overall gameplay and realistic London city map, but as mentioned by shoepal, it gets a bit tedious. Overall it doesn't hold a candle to GTA: Vice City, which is set in a fictional city.
posted by cell divide at 5:31 PM on August 27, 2003