[2] The game was planned to be released alongside the launch of the PlayStation 2 in 2000, but was delayed by over two years due to the difficulty of recreating large areas of London in high resolution.

The Getaway focuses on two characters: Mark Hammond, an ex-bank robber, and Frank Carter, a police officer in service with the Flying Squad.

[4][5][6] The game features a number of licensed vehicles from automobile manufacturers that the player can control, unlike those seen in Grand Theft Auto, which are fictional.

The majority of the vehicles in the game are made by MG Rover Group, Jensen Motors, Saab, PSA Peugeot Citroën,[7][8] Fiat, and Lexus,[3] along with a number of others.

A major feature of the game is its approach to being "movie-like" and immersive, which was achieved by excluding features that are present in most games; there is no HUD or map system, players driving in a car are guided to a destination by the car's indicators and hazard lights blinking, running out of ammunition is signalled by the character dropping their weapon, health points are represented by how badly the character is bleeding and limping, and recovery to full health is done by resting against a wall.

[3] The game takes place in London during a single day, and is played through the perspectives of two characters: ex-convict Mark Hammond and police officer Frank Carter of the Flying Squad.

Mark Hammond, a former member of the Soho-based Collins Gang, witnesses the kidnapping of his son Alex and the unintentional murder of his wife Susie by the kidnappers.

Mark is sent across London on increasingly dangerous tasks, such as ambushing a prisoner transport vehicle to free Charlie's nephew "Crazy" Jake Jolson and instigating a gang war between the Yardies and Triads.

Mark is sent on his most dangerous mission yet: the execution of corrupt Detective Chief Inspector Clive McCormack, who arrested him five years prior and who was also working for Charlie.

Mark, Yasmin, and Frank converge on the Sol Vita at St Saviour's Dock, where Charlie has taken Alex and where he intends to wipe out the rival gangs with a bomb.

As MSR was being hyped and primed for release as one of the Dreamcast's so-called "killer applications", Sony Computer Entertainment Europe felt compelled to attempt to steal Sega's thunder by promising the creation of a PlayStation 2 title which would re-create a massive 113 square kilometers (70 square miles) of London, displaying the ferocity with which Sony Computer Entertainment Europe was willing to attempt to challenge its veteran competitor.

In the case of the latter, the programmers had to perfect an engine that could constantly stream three-dimensional geometry and texture data;[9] of the areas of London the player was in close proximity to.

Unlike Rockstar Games's Grand Theft Auto III, it was not an acceptable option for the Team Soho developers to break the city up into separate regions and impose a loading time delay when crossing between areas.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe had a range of other titles in development; however, the decision was taken by Phil Harrison to can many of them, perhaps to allow yet more funds to be poured into The Getaway.

The fact that it was released around the same time as the hugely-popular Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (to which the game was often compared) also hurt sales, despite a large marketing campaign in the United States.

One alteration that Team Soho had to make was the removal of a vehicle and phone box logos which appeared in the initial release of the game.

[12] Originally passed with an MA 15+ rating for the uncut version on 22 November 2002, it was resubmitted and banned 5 days later due to a scene of detailed torture.

[16] Maxim gave the game a score of eight out of ten and wrote: "If the ensuing police brutality doesn't mold you into the model Wheelman, then having to endure those whiny English cop sirens surely will".

[31] FHM gave it a score of four stars out of five and said: "Not just a little similar to GTA III in look, feel, and gameplay, it's nonetheless worth sleeping in front of the game store for this one".

[46] Richard Bunn, a former developer, had noted the game was cancelled shortly after Phil Harrison was replaced by Shuhei Yoshida as president of SCE Worldwide Studios.

[47] Gareth Evans and Matt Flannery created a television adaptation of Gangs of London starring Joe Cole, Sope Dirisu, and an ensemble cast, which debuted on Sky Atlantic and AMC in April 2020,[48][49] with Dirisu portraying Elliot Carter / Finch, a character loosely based on The Getaway's Frank Carter, and Colm Meaney portraying Finn Wallace, a character loosely based on Gangs of London's Andy Steele.