Word has reached us from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe that the PAL version of The Getaway has gone gold, meaning that development has finished and the game is now being prepared for retail.

　　In the game--which was recently the focus of a movie-style promotion at London's Leicester Square--players assume the role of a retired bank robber in present-day London who is forced back into a life of crime by a mob boss who has kidnapped his son. A large area of London has been painstakingly re-created by Team Soho for The Getaway, and it can be explored either on foot or from behind the wheel of one of the numerous licensed vehicles that appear in the game. Though, perhaps the most impressive feature of the game is the fact that there are absolutely no onscreen energy bars, arrows, ammo counts, or small maps to detract from the game's cinematic feel. Instead, the team has devised often ingenious ways to replace them, such as using the indicators on the player's car to tell them which direction they need to go, or having the main character start to limp or get bloodstains on his clothing when his energy gets low.

　　The news that The Getaway is finally finished will no doubt please the legions of gamers who have been following the game's progress for well over two years now, and it must also come as something of a relief to SCEE, which now has another big game in its pre-Christmas arsenal. The PS2 is facing its first Christmas in Europe with competition from both Nintendo and Microsoft.

　　The Getaway is scheduled for release in Europe on December 11 and in North America early next year. For more information, check out our previous coverage of the game.