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The Getaway: Black Monday for PlayStation 2
In The Getaway: Black Monday for PlayStation 2, three Londoners become entangled in the same crime story. Policeman Ben Mitchell, boxer Eddie O'Connor and thief Sam each see events from their own position. A police operation and a failed robbery bring their paths together. You drive to new locations, follow suspects and confront armed opponents on foot. The story switches between characters, gradually revealing how an event on the other side of the city has consequences elsewhere.
The missions combine different skills. Mitch carries out armed police operations, Eddie gets involved in fights and Sam progresses by moving unseen and climbing obstacles. In cars, indicators help you reach your destination; as well as cars, you can ride motorcycles. During a gunfight you use walls and other obstacles for protection. Actions remain tied to the situation and character, so not every mission calls for the same approach.
Certain decisions change how the story progresses and which ending you reach. The different protagonists are always controlled by one player, not by a group of people playing together. You use an ordinary DualShock 2 controller and do not need a Multitap. Outside the story you can race, pursue a car, carry out taxi journeys and roam freely, among other activities. This lets you learn London's roads without immediately starting another story scene. Recognisable buildings and British dialogue keep the city firmly present.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
The Getaway: Black Monday for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of The Getaway: Black Monday
Sony Computer Entertainment released The Getaway: Black Monday in Europe in 2004 for PlayStation 2. The North American release followed in January 2005. The sequel was made by the London team behind The Getaway, associated with Sony's London Studio. The first game had already established London as a continuous setting. For Black Monday, the developers expanded that environment with new places, including rooftops and parts of the Underground, allowing them to build more types of missions.
The biggest change was in the storytelling. Instead of the two fixed perspectives of Mark Hammond and Frank Carter, the team chose three new protagonists with different skills. Their experiences interlock, while choices at certain moments have consequences. Sony presented these branches as a way to give the player more influence over the crime film. The different outcomes are therefore already part of the original PlayStation 2 release; they were not added in a reissue.
For the scenes, the developers again worked with actors performing together. They recorded voice, facial expression and body movement to transfer conversations and confrontations as a whole. Controls, driving and the recovery system were also changed from the first game. Black Monday thus retains its predecessor's London identity while placing more emphasis on variety between characters and activities. This is the second standalone PS2 game, without Hammond as the original's central protagonist.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
The Getaway for PlayStation 2 uses the same London setting and likewise alternates driving with on-foot shooting. The original follows Mark Hammond and Frank Carter in a more fixed campaign. Black Monday introduces three different protagonists, each with their own skills, and lets choices at certain moments change the course of events. If you recognise the restrained screen presentation and British crime atmosphere, you get new events and extra driving activities here, not a repeat of Hammond's story.
Driver: Parallel Lines on PlayStation 2 shares the combination of a crime story, freely drivable streets and combat outside the car. However, it follows one central driver in New York across 1978 and 2006. Black Monday stays in London and switches between three perspectives within a shorter period. Parallel Lines places greater emphasis on collecting and customising cars; Black Monday uses differences between its characters to change the type of mission.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PlayStation 2 combines car journeys, gunfights and conflicts between criminals and police, just like Black Monday. San Andreas builds a much larger world with several cities and development of protagonist CJ around that framework. Black Monday concentrates on London and an interwoven story with three fixed characters. Both let you switch between cars and movement on foot, but their scale, leisure activities and approach to developing characters differ greatly.
True Crime: New York City on PlayStation 2 also uses a real metropolis as the backdrop for pursuits, gunfights and police work. You follow officer Marcus Reed, who investigates corruption against the background of his own past. Black Monday instead brings a police perspective into conflict with those of Eddie and Sam. Patrolling and decisions as a police officer take up more space in True Crime; Black Monday builds its variety mainly around fixed chapters and the intersection of three personal stories.
Headhunter for PlayStation 2 shares Black Monday's alternation between vehicles, shooting, stealth and a cinematic crime story. Jack Wade investigates a conspiracy in a futuristic city and rides between locations on a motorcycle. Black Monday uses recognisable London and three different protagonists. In Headhunter, licence tests and environmental puzzles interrupt the investigation; Black Monday instead distributes skills between its characters and connects them to the sequence of events in London.
