Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure
Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under PressureAtari, PS2
In a shrewd marketing move that could inspire Tommy Hilfiger to start a line of joysticks, clothing designer and urban entrepreneur Marc Ecko is taking a stab at videogames. Paying homage to old-school graffiti culture, Getting Up is set in the heart of New Radius, a thinly veiled NYC overrun by paramilitary police and rival gangs ready to fight over a drop of paint.
The storyline combines Jet Set Radio–style graffiti with Splinter Cell–style stealth as you control graffiti artist Trane, voiced by former Black Star rapper Talib Kweli. Tagging everything in sight will prove irresistible, but staying out of sight is essential—if ball-busting cops or oddly violent sanitation workers spot you, prepare to stand your ground with some button-mashing hand-to-hand action.
The tagging isn’t your standard bomb-the-subway-yard variety—shimmy across phone wires and billboards to make your mark. And, in a move that’s both frustrating and inventive, you’ll have to develop your own tagging skills, using the controller’s analog sticks to manage the weight and stroke of the spray can.
Along the way, Trane encounters real-life graffiti godfathers like Futura, Seen and T-Kid 170 as he traverses the urban landscape. Filled with action and a hip-hop soundtrack, all that’s missing is the buzz from huffing fumes.
