In recent years, we've often marveled at how recoloured film footage provides a glimpse of what our cities looked liked in decades past. Video games don't usually provide such high fidelity, but we may have found an exception: a video game that captured the look and feel of London in a recent past that already feels remote.
A writer has noted that Getaway for PlayStation 2 is like a time capsule from 2002. The action-adventure game from Team Soho was unusual at the time for the authenticity of its real-life setting, with real landmarks and even details like street art and retail brands such as HMV. And it still stands out today (see our picks of the best games consoles and the best retro games consoles for more nostalgia).
Video games are portals to worlds beyond imagination. pic.twitter.com/RhhELL5j7ONovember 6, 2024
It's wild that The Getaway is now an explorable 3D time capsule of the British high street at the turn of the millennium. pic.twitter.com/75GLMA2XF1November 6, 2024
Andy Kelly, a gaming writer and a PR at Devolver Digital, posted an X (Twitter) thread, noting that The Getaway "holds up surprisingly well as a London sightseeing simulator." His screenshots show the results of Team Solo's determination to capture the city realistically – its an attempt to capture 70 square miles of London (finally 10 square miles) in high resolution led to the game being delayed from the PS2's launch in 2000 until 2002.
It turns out the game has also received perhaps the ultimate validation of its authenticity. Three years ago, a London cab driver called Tom revisited the game. He said the map included was "bang on" accurate, and while some streets were missing from the game, the main London streets seem accurate to how they were at the time. Tom described the game as being "empowering" when he played it at the age of 11 – and perhaps his first introduction to "the Knowledge" of London taxi drivers.
It's incredible that this game was made 22 years ago and still feels like an authentic representation of the British high street of the time (before online shopping killed it!).
Both hardware and graphics may have improved enormously since then, and we now have the ability to combine photogrammetry or Gaussian splatting with the power of Unreal Engine 5 to capture incredible fidelity (see this recent Rome-inspired tech demo). But this PlayStation 2 game shows that graphics aren't everything when it comes to creating atmosphere or even achieving a feel of authenticity. Just compare it to the Rome-inspired Unreal Engine 5 tech demo that we reported on recently.
For more retro gaming fun, see the best prices on retro consoles below.
