Basics
Controls
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As Mark Hammond and DC Carter
- Directional Pad (D-Pad): The D-Pad has no function in The Getaway.
- Left Analog Stick: Move around the Left Analog Stick to move your character in any direction you press.
- Right Analog Stick: The Right Analog Stick has no function in The Getaway.
- Select: The Select button has no function in The Getaway.
- Start: Pressing the Start button brings up the in-game menu, where the game is not only paused, but you can also scroll your mission objectives, get to your options screen, et cetera.
- L1 Button: The L1 Button has no function in The Getaway.
- L2 Button: Pressing the L2 when your gun is out of ammo or almost out of ammo will reload your weapon(s).
- R1 Button: Pressing the R1 Button will allow your weapons (if drawn) automatically focus on the enemy closest to you and most in your line of view. Hold down R1 and then fire your weapon to hit the targeted enemy. If you don't like your target, let go of R1 and quickly press it again to get a new one. Simple.
- R2 Button: The R2 Button has two functions when you're playing as Mark Hammond and DC Carter. If your weapons are not drawn, holding down R2 will allow you to look around to your surroundings. If your weapons are drawn, then holding R2 will make you point your gun, and then you can aim to where you want to shoot with the Left Analog Stick.
- Square Button: The primary function of the Square Button is to attack. You can only use the Square Button when your weapons are drawn, however, and you have either the R1 Button or R2 Buttons held down. When that's the case, press Square to fire your weapon. If you're close enough to an enemy, and have your weapons drawn, you can pistol whip them. With no weapons drawn, walk up behind an enemy, press the X Button to grab them, then press the Square Button to snap their necks (as Hammond) or handcuff them (as Carter). With a weapon drawn, you can put a bullet in their head once you press X and have them in a hold.
- X Button: The X Button has numerous functions. Its most fundamental function is to get close to a wall and stay tight against it to avoid detection. If you're walking or running, pressing the X Button simultaneously will allow your character to do a tuck and roll. You can also duck down behind boxes, crates, and other obstructions by pressing X. And as I mentioned above, if you're behind an enemy, press X to grab him, and then do what you will to him from there (see the Square Button's description for a more in-depth look on what to do once you have a hold on an enemy).
- Circle Button: The Circle Button's function is simple. Walk up to a car's door (either side) and press the Circle Button to kick whoever is in that car out, and get in the car. From there, the car is theoretically yours.
- Triangle Button: The Triangle Button's function is another simple one. Press Triangle with your weapons drawn to put your weapons away. Press the Triangle Button with your weapons away to draw them. Woohah.
In a Vehicle
- Directional Pad (D-Pad): The D-Pad, when in a vehicle, is an alternate way to steer your vehicle. Pressing left will steer left, right to your right, et cetera and so on.
- Left Analog Stick: Use the Left Analog Stick to steer your car. Whichever way you press on the stick, your car will go.
- Right Analog Stick: The Right Analog stick is a complex way to drive your car. The harder you press up on the Right Analog Stick, the faster your car will go, while pressing back will make your car slow down, eventually to a stop. Not recommended to use for driving, it's just too complicated and annoying.
- Select: The Select button has no function in The Getaway.
- Start: Pressing the Start button brings up the in-game menu, where the game is not only paused, but you can also scroll your mission objectives, get to your options screen, et cetera.
- L1 Button: The L1 Button has no function in The Getaway.
- L2 Button: The L2 Button has no function in The Getaway.
- R1 Button: The R1 Button's function in a vehicle is to bring up the Emergency Brake, or the hand brake (whichever you prefer). This brings your car to a swift halt, and is good to use while turning a tight corner in a chase, or escaping from the cops or gangs. However, you still won't find yourself using this button whilst driving too often.
- R2 Button: The R2 Button has no function in The Getaway.
- Square Button: Pressing the Square Button will engage your car's conventional foot brake, which will bring the car to a halt. The faster your car is going, the slower your car will come to a complete stop, just like in real life.
- X Button: The X Button's function is to accelerate your car. The acceleration of your car depends on the brand and type of the car, and also the condition your car is in. Not all cars accelerate or drive exactly the same, remember that!
- Circle Button: When your car is at a complete stop, pressing the Circle Button will allow you (and your passenger, if any) to get out of the car.
- Triangle Button: When at a complete stop, press the Triangle Button to make your car jump into reverse. Just like accelerating, your car's reverse speed and whatnot is all based on model and make of the car, and the condition of the car.
Hammond-Carter Differences
There are no real differences between Mark Hammond and DC Carter. They both seemingly take the same amount of damage, run at the same speed, and have the same strength. However, there are two huge differences that you should know about, so that it doesn't come as an unexpected surprise.
1. Mark Hammond, when coming behind someone and putting them in a headlock, will do one of two things once you press the Square Button. Either he'll put a bullet into the person's head (if a gun is drawn), or snap that person's neck (if a gun isn't drawn). DC Carter, on the other hand, as an officer of the law, will put one of those tie cuffs on the person's hands and push him down to the ground.
2. Mark Hammond will have the cops on him once he's in a car cruising around London. It's basically impossible to not have the cops know it's Mark Hammond, just by the way he drives. However, playing as DC Carter, you are the cops, and they leave you alone. You can kill who you want, run over anyone (including cops), steal any car you want (including a fellow cop's car), and drive as crazily and recklessly as you want. No one will say otherwise.
Note: The gangs in the game all have equal hate for both characters, so they'll both still give you a hard time, regardless of who you're playing for. The only exception is Mark Hammond, because until late in the game, he works for the Bethnal Green Gang; hence they'll leave him alone when he's on the road.
Driving Tips
Driving is a huge part of this game. Cruising around the city of London at top speeds isn't for the faint-of-heart, so here are a few tips to help you drive a little bit better. Driving well can make or break a mission, and some of the driving missions are quite difficult.
1. Boosting a Car: Stealing cars is a fundamental exercise in The Getaway. As I mentioned in the "Hammond-Carter Differences" section, stealing cars for each character is different. Mark Hammond stealing a car is illegal, so it'll draw attention of the London citizens and cops. However, as a police officer, DC Carter can legally commandeer a citizen's car, and answer to no one about it.
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However, boosting the right car is vital. Do you want a car that can take an amazing amount of damage, or do you want a car with speed? Some missions call for one type, while others call for the other type. You'll know what cars are fast just by looking at them. A basic rule of thumb is that the sleeker the car looks, and the more rare it is, the faster the car goes. However, in The Getaway, the faster cars usually take little damage before completely self-destructing, so keep that in mind. On the other hand, another good rule of thumb is the bigger a car (or other vehicle) is, the more damage it can take. However, the bigger the vehicle is, the slower it is. Decisions, decisions!
2. Know When to Bail: Your car takes damage (see number 3). Basically, when your car starts to emit dark black smoke, it's time to stop that car and get out before it (literally) goes up in flames. If you don't get out in time, the flames will burn your character alive. And even the billowing smoke has the capability of hurting or killing your character. In other-words, know when to quit. Cars are abundant in London, ditching one won't hurt too much.
3.Know Your Car's Damage: The beauty of The Getaway in comparison to "similar" games is its realistic take on car damage. Everything from gun-shots to smashing into cars, buildings and poles will damage your car in a different way. Basically, there are a few main kinds of car damage.
- Window Damage: Window damage is common, especially in high-speed collisions and in gun-fights. The windows don't do much for you, so losing a window shouldn't be your biggest concern. However, in a gun-fight, the windows are all that's between you and a fast shooting bullet.
- Tire Damage: Tire damage is serious stuff. Your tires can be damaged in one of two ways - either they are shot out, or you go over a police spike-strip. In either case, your car will drive differently with blown tires. You'll go slower, and most notably, your car will start to favor either one side or the other (and automatically go in that direction) depending on which tire or tires were shot out. Eventually, if all four tires take damage (which is common after going over spike-strips), or tires will fall off and you'll be driving on bare rims. Your car will hardly move in this state, so your best option is to bail.
- Rear Damage: Rear damage isn't too threatening, but it does completely suck for one reason. If you take rear damage, one or both of your blinkers and brake lights will be taken out, and without two working blinkers, you can navigate the streets of London very well (see number 4). If you take bad rear damage and one or both of your blinkers are damaged, get out of the car and boost another one. Otherwise, how will you know where to go? Exactly. You won't.
- Side Damage: Side damage isn't too damaging, but it can still be bad as far as steering your car goes. If you take side damage right in the middle panel of the car, there's nothing to worry about. But if you smash into something or a car smashes into you in any of the four wheel-wells, you're going to be in trouble, especially with the front two wheels. If this happens, your car will start to favor one side or the other, and start automatically pulling in a certain direction, making the car harder to steer. If this happens, you might want to bail and try another car.
- Frontal Damage: The most damaging kind of car damage in The Getaway, frontal damage will directly effect what's under your car's hood. This is the most notable reason of why smoke starts to come out of your car. If you smash head on into a car a few times, you'll start to observe a whitish-gray smoke coming out of your car. The more frontal damage you take, the darker the smoke gets. When the car takes enough frontal damage, it'll refuse to drive anymore. If you try to keep driving the car in dark black smoke, it'll eventually erupt into flames, killing your vehicle's occupants, including yourself. Try to avoid frontal damage at all costs - it's the most debilitating vehicle "injury" the game has to offer.
4. Listen to your Blinkers: The game has no map of London, so the only way you'll know where the hell you're going is to follow your car's blinkers. First and foremost, as I said in number 3, if you receive rear car damage and one of your blinkers (or both) are broken, it's in your best interest to get a new car. Otherwise, you'll have no idea where you're going.
In any case, if you need to right, your right blinker will flash. If you need to left, your left blinker will flash. They might flash when there's no roads to go down for a while - don't worry, you still need to take the first road that the blinker is pointing to. If you get to a junction where no blinkers are on, but you have to turn, then turn either way. This means that you'll end up in the same place eventually, so the blinker doesn't turn on. On the otherhand, if you get to an intersection where you can turn or go straight, and your blinker doesn't come on, keep going straight.
When both of your blinkers begin to blink simultaneously (like a car's hazard lights), you're in the general vicinity of where you need to go. Look around for a place to park your car, or an open building entrance, et cetera. The walkthrough of this guide will tell you when to expect your blinkers to both blink simultaneously, and what to look for depending on the mission.
5. This Isn't America: For our American players out there (like myself), this game, as you know, takes place in London. Because of this, they get in the car on the other side, and drive on the other side. You know what I mean, so I won't get in-depth with it, but... just get used to it as soon as possible. It gets confusing at first, but you'll no doubt soon adapt.
Battle Tips
Fighting is something you'll be doing in The Getaway just as much (if not more) than you will be driving. It's good to know what to do and what to expect in a gun-fight.
1. Have Your Weapons Drawn: If you're following the walkthrough part of this guide, there should be no excuse as to not knowing when an enemy is coming, or when a gun-fight may begin. In this case, you should always have your weapons drawn unless the walkthrough says otherwise, as there are missions in the game where if someone sees you have a gun, you'll be in big trouble. With your weapons drawn and ready to go in most cases, however, will give you the heads up on the beginning of the battle, and perhaps an opportunity to take out a bad guy or two before they even know what hit them. Being prepared is the biggest key to surviving a fight in this game.
2. Upgrade Your Weapons: Pistols are fine and dandy, but if enemies you are fighting are using machine guns and shotguns, then the battle remains a little un-even, wouldn't you say? Once you kill an enemy, you can take their weapon. You will always have your pistol or pistols, but why not have a machinegun or shotgun as well? Even the scores when you can. Do keep in mind that pistols are the most accurate weapons, but they don't pack the most punch!
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3. Find and Take Cover: Standing out in the open will do you know good in battle. Shoot a few times, then find some cover, whether it be some crates, boxes, a building or a car; whatever. You can shoot behind corners, although you won't be that accurate. It's better than being torn up by twenty-five bullet simultaneously, though. The moral of the story... don't rush into battle. Take your time. Find cover. Plan your attack. Cover is the key to surviving some of the game's most brutal gun-fights, however.
4. The Silent Kill: There are some missions that command you, if you want to be successful, to kill enemies in a silent way. However, with no silencers available in the game, how are you supposed to do this, exactly? Well, if you sneak up behind an enemy, you have a few options. You can, first and foremost, pistol whip (or machine gun whip, whatever) them in the back of the head to send them to the ground. Another option is to choke them from behind and then do away with them from there by either (as Hammond) putting a bullet into the person's head or snapping their neck, or (as Carter) using a cuff tie on the person and pushing them to the ground to shut them up. Either way, it's better than drawing attention to yourself by using guns. And in more than just a few missions in the game, drawing attention to yourself will end a mission automatically.
5. Find the Time to Heal: Healing is a cool little option in the game. You can see the final section in the "Basics" area of this Guide for more information on it. In the mean time, when fighting, finding the time to heal is vital to staying alive.
Healing in battle is risky, but it goes hand-in-hand with finding cover, which I mentioned earlier. Through finding ample cover, you can make your character, whether it be Hammond or Carter, lean against a wall and rest, healing their wounds. See below for more on healing.
Character Damage and Healing
With no meters in the game telling you your character's health or how much damage he's taken, you're going to have to observe this for yourself. The more gun shots, pistol whips, stabs and beatings your character takes, the weaker your character gets. There are ways to know if your character is damaged.
1. Blood: If there's blood on your character, he's been hit at least once. The more blood strewn around his body, the more damage he's taken.
2. Stumbling: If your character is stumbling or barely walking, not only is he badly damaged, but he's damn-well near dying. If this is the case, you must heal yourself immediately.
3. Heaving Breathing: If your character is breathing heavily or moaning, he's hurting. Another cue to heal yourself as soon as humanly possible.
Now, to heal yourself, all you have to do is take your character and get him to a surface that's as tall as him or taller. This will mostly be walls, although it can also be vans, trucks, boxes, crates and other such hard surfaces. If your character needs to be healed, and he's facing the wall, he'll lean against the wall, start breathing heavy, and slowly recover. The more damaged your character is, the longer it'll take him to fully recover from his wounds. You'll know he's recovering because the blood will start to go away, the stumbling will turn into normal walking, and the heavy breathing will disappear.
Two things to keep in mind in reference to self-healing:
1. Healing in battle doesn't exempt you from being shot at/shot. If you heal in battle, find cover and do it in intervals. That's usually all you'll have time for before the next enemy is on top of you and your location.
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2. Once your damaged, you'll never be 100%, even if you heal yourself all the way. Self-healing is to make you better, not to fully recover you. There's really no way to fully recover once damaged, except dying in a mission and starting over, or getting to another mission.
On to Characters...
Up Next: Characters
Top Guide Sections
- Introduction
- Basics
- Characters
- Weapons
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In This Guide
The Getaway
SCE Studios Soho