The Getaway: Black Monday (PlayStation 2)

You play THE GETAWAY: BLACK MONDAY as three characters: Sergeant Mitchell, a troubled cop with a dark past; Eddie, a small time thug who uses his fists as well as weapons; and Sam, a female hacker and gymnast who accomplishes missions by stealth. The game begins with Sergeant Mitchell pursuing the Latvian mob and trying to rescue a reporter

After eight or so missions you play as Eddie (with Sam leading you), involved in a failed bank heist and then up against the Russian mob and a London gang, and then you play as Sam in a game of infiltration, after which you once again play as Eddie with the option of leaving or helping Sam. There are a total of four endings based on whether or not you helped Sam and/or rescued the reporter as Mitchell. While the various endings of the game are innovative and support the movie-like feel, the storyline gets lost.

The dreary, rainy London backdrop is well-drawn, and the dialogue of the cut scenes is impressive, despite often incomprehensible British slang and excessive use of the F-word. But the linear gameplay grows boring, and the characters must be "steered" using a limited camera swivel that can make you nauseous. Enemies are easily dispatched with very little skill. And like a movie, the action feels far away.

The killing is not the kind of close-up goriness found in first-person shooters, but the game combines mature themes. There is nudity (bare breasts) and sexual suggestion; characters smoke cigarettes; and the cussing includes use of the F-word, C-word, and other genitalia references. Overall, though the novelty of multiple plots and the blurring of lines between video games and movies are compelling innovations, the mature material makes this a bad choice for young players -- and even older teens will be bored.