Back in both 2006 and 2007, the world was shown screenshots and a teaser trailer for the up and coming, Getaway 3 on the PS3 by the developers, Team Soho. Fans of the series looked like they would be in for a treat as to what the full game would have to offer. The screenshots that were shown were of various places like Piccadilly Circus and let’s be honest here, they did look very nice indeed and consumers agreed. What was clear was that Team Soho really did put a lot of effort into improving the graphical side of things but fans wanted the gameplay to be improved a great deal as well as lets be blunt here, the previous Getaway titles on the PS2, were not exactly classics and that’s the trouble Team Soho has when coming up against the top Mafia don that is Grand Theft Auto. Although both games take a slightly different approach to how they want to be portrayed (The Getaway with realism and GTA with its fun and humour) but because they are in the same genre, there will always be comparisons between the two series and Rockstar with Grand Theft Auto really did have it nailed down.
After hearing bits here and there about the up and coming title from Team Soho, the news totally stopped and fans were wondering what was going on with the title. Release date been pushed back? Cancelled…nothing. Months and months passed with not a sniff of new details, screenshots or even another teaser trailer. What was going on?. Fast forward to the 4th June 2008 when screenplay writer Katie Ellwood announced that The Getaway 3 had been cancelled and work on development would stop. Ouch!. So that was that then, the end of The Getaway as a series it seems. What was the reason? Money? Development team working on other projects? Who knows but one thing we thought we knew at the time was that The Getaway 3 was no more.
Moving on even further to October 2009 and an interview with Nicolas Doucet producer and creative art director at Sony Computer Entertainment’s London Studio, revealed some interesting news about The Getaway 3. The title is now ‘on hold’ and not cancelled. Here are some extracts from his interview –
GK- Before EyePet, the teams at Sony London were working on two projects that have since fallen by the wayside: Eight Days and The Getaway 3. Can you confirm that both of these have indeed been abandoned?
Nicolas Doucet – I would not say they have been abandoned, just put to one side. Much work had been done. The studio just wanted to focus on its strengths, EyeToy and SingStar. Given the potential of EyePet, priorities have been changed, but the other projects aren’t dead yet. Ultimately, the decision [to put those games to one side] has benefited everyone.
GK- How far through production were they?
Nicolas Doucet- It depends. I think they were just over halfway through. They had a plan, everything was ready…
So we now know that the Getaway 3 is on hold rather than cancelled which is good news for the fans of the series and we also know that the development team are around half way through the development of the title but when will we see some more info about this game. It’s been a long time coming but my guess and this is only my guess, E3 2010. The reason, Team Soho first showed the title to the world back at E3 in 2006 and with the world biggest Electronic Entertainment Expo in LA in June 2010, it’s the perfect place to show to the world that The Getaway 3 is back and with a bang!. Maybe Team Soho won’t show the title there as of course, there is a chance they won’t but i have this gut feeling that it’s the place where we see the title come back from the dead (or half dead anyway) and get people talking about The Getaway 3 once again.
One question still remains though; will consumers still have a passion for the game after all these long months without even a sniff of new details coming to light? That’s a tough one to call as of course i can’t speak for everyone but i personally think most will be very happy once the game is shown again as there are a lot of fans across internet forums/blogs and everything in between, that want to see this game again.
Keep an eye out for any details at E3 where hopefully something will be shown. Nothing is definite but my guess is we will see something in Los Angeles regarding The Getaway 3 in June.
The E3 Expo @ the Los Angeles Convention Centre runs from June 15th – June 17th, 2010.
