When Sony revealed their first screenshots of The Getaway back in 2000, I didn't really take any interest towards the game. Sure, The Getaway looked gorgeous, but it appeared to be just another one of those cookie cutter racing games.

However, now that Sony has revealed more interesting info on The Getaway, I couldn't be more excited about the game. With Grand Theft Auto 3 still fresh in my mind, I can't wait to see how The Getaway stacks up against Rockstar's blockbuster crime simulator. At this stage, the gameplay in The Getaway doesn't appear to be as open-ended as GTA3, but that really isn't Team Sohos' main goal. They are leaning more towards realistic gameplay with a more ingrossing storyline.

For example, The Getaway takes place in London, rather than a fictional city loosely based on a real U.S. city. The streets of London are also filled with real life cars from BMW, Audi, and Toyota. The best part is that you can realistically damage your car -- which is something that many games with licensed cars lack. And if you damage your car too much, it will affect the handling.

In addition, you need to be careful when moving around on foot. If a bad guy manages to shoot you in the head, your character will instantly die (if you get shot anywhere else, your character will move more slowly and more sluggish -- kinda like in Resident Evil). As a result, stealth is a very important element in The Getaway. If you don't take the opportunity to hide behind objects during battles, you'll must likely be killed very quickly. Needless to say, this part of The Getaway more resembles Metal Gear Solid than Grand Theft Auto.

As for the visuals, The Getaway will easily beat the snot out of GTA: Vice City in this department. Most of the landmarks (such as the London Imax Cinema) all look photorealistic. As for the characters models -- they don't look too shabby either. The only downside for American gamers is that we have to get used to driving on the other side of the road.

Overall, The Getaway appears to be shaping up very nicely. We'll have more info on this potential Grand Theft Auto 3 killer soon.