Free Roaming is a Special Feature that appears in The Getaway, The Getaway: Black Monday and Gangs of London.
Characters
The only playable character in the first Getaway is, Mark Hammond, who starts off driving a Caterham Super Seven in Soho. It is also possible to free roam as Frank Carter during a mission (see below). In Black Monday, it was expanded so that the characters Mitch, Eddie, Sam, Yuri, Jamahl, Zara, Viktor, Leo and Madame Celina, were all available to free roam with. Mitch starts off in Holborn, Eddie in Shoreditch, Sam in Southwark, Yuri in Borough, outside the Borough Factory, Jamahl in Finsbury, Zara in Mayfair, outside Viktor's Mansion, Viktor in the City of London, outside the Skobel Bank, Leo in Marylebone and Madame Celina in Soho, just outside Hector's Place.
Unlock
In The Getaway, the player must first complete all 24 Missions in order to unlock Free Roaming, although a cheat code can be used to unlock it. In The Getaway: Black Monday, Free Roaming is immediately available, but you can only play as Mitch to begin with. However, if the player wishes to play as other characters then they must work their way through the storyline. Completing the total of 21 missions will unlock Eddie, Sam, Yuri, Jamahl, Zara and Viktor and collecting a certain amount of Keyrings during missions will unlock Leo and Madame Celina. In Gangs of London the player starts off with Free Roaming and has access to some of the characters and vehicles.
Basics
Free Roaming has no objectives, allowing the player to explore London with little hassle. The police are not nearly as persistent as they are during the missions and gang members do not appear in Black Monday. Gangs are present in The Getaway, but will not attack the player unless you attack them. Becaue of this, most of the weapons from the games aren't available in free roam. The only weapons you will get in The Getaway is a Glock 17 Pistol and AK47. For Black Monday, there are ways of getting other weapons (see below).
Most of the buildings that are accessible in Missions cannot be entered without the use of cheats or glitches. In Free Roaming, many 'secret' vehicles can be found as well (see the map below for details). In both of The Getaway games, the player cannot choose where they start off at. The characters are assigned specific locations which cannot be changed. In Gangs of London the player has an option to spawn in specific locations across London, and can start off in any vehicle of their choice.
In Black Monday, Save Garages are also present around different areas of London. The player can store one vehicle and one motorbike in each of the Save Garages. The game will save when the player goes upstairs and has left a vehicle in the appropriate parking place. This means that if the player comes back another time, or visits the garage during a mission, they will be able to use this saved car. There are eight Save Garages around London, and they are all near the starting points of: Mitch, Eddie, Sam, Yuri, Jamahl, Zara, Viktor and Leo.
Free Roaming in Missions
In The Getaway it is possible to free roam in some of the games' missions where no timer is present, allowing you to explore London as Frank Carter. The best missions to free roam with him are, at the start of: Show some Remorse and The Jolson Files. This is because both missions require no time limit, and the player will be required to start the mission by driving straight away, without having to kill anyone. The only problem with this is the indicators will still be present and can be annoying, but also, when playing as Carter, every gang in London will try to kill him whenever they encounter you. There is no way around this, but the fact that the police will never try to stop Carter counters this. It's also possible to play as Mark Hammond during some of his missions if you want more police to chase after you. The best missions are at the start of: Burning Bridges, Art Appreciation and Filthy Business. The reasons for this are the same as the above.
In Black Monday it is again possible to free roam in some of the games' missions where no timer is present. For Mitch it is not easy to do, and the only missions you can really do it in are at the start of: The Latvian Cowboy and Under Ground Activity. However, Mitch will always be accompanied by other officers during these missions so it's not ideal. Similarly with Sam, the only mission that she can free roam in is: Return to the Scene of the Crime, by exiting the vehicle at the start of the mission as Eddie.
The best character to free roam in missions with is Eddie. The only missions you can do this in are: This Geezer, Hector and Jimmer Collins.
Weapons
In Free Roaming, due to the lack of gangs you will not be able to use many weapons. In The Getaway, the only available guns in free roam are the Glock 17 Pistol and AK47. The pistol will be equipped by Hammond at the start of free roam, and can also be looted from cops and the driver of gang vehicles. AK47's can only be obtained by the passenger in a gang vehicle.
In Black Monday, in theory the only weapons in free roam are the Glock 17 Pistol and MP5. Only Eddie, Yuri and Viktor will start off with a pistol. Jamahl and Leo are able to obtain them by killing police officers and looting their weapons. Sam, Zara and Madame Celina are unable to pick up and use any weapon. MP5's can be obtained and looted from dead SO19 officers, as well as getting into a police car or a police motorbike and then getting out again. The character will then be equipped with an MP5. However, there are other ways of getting some weapons into free roam including the AK47, Shotgun and PP-19 Bizon sub-machine gun. The PP-19 is the Uzi type gun used by the Skobel gang. One of these can be obtained by entering a Skobel gang car and then getting out again. When starting off as Yuri, exiting the gang car he starts off in, getting back in and then getting out again will result in Yuri equipping one of these. It's possible for other characters to get this gun as well using the same method.
In order to acquire these weapons you must get the relevant gang vehicles during the missions: This Geezer Hector and Jimmer Collins. When playing as Eddie, when you encounter members of the Skobel gang in their gang vehicles, kill the gangsters, steal the vehicle and drive it to one of the eight Save Garages. The game will save and you will be able to access the gang car during free roam. You can then get the gun by entering the gang car and then getting out again. This is also the same method used to get the shotgun and AK47. The shotgun is obtained through Collins gang vehicles. The AK47 is obtained through Yardie gang vehicles. So whenever you encounter any of these gangs, kill the gangsters, steal the gang vehicle and drive it to a Save Garage. You can then come back in free roam, enter the gang vehicle and then get out again. Your character will then be equipped with the matching weapon. Bare in mind that if you are already holding a better weapon, such as the MP5, you will not be able to get a hold of the shotgun or AK47. Therefore, make sure whenever you enter a gang vehicle that you are not carrying any weapon because you will only be able to obtain the weapon once after you've entered and exited the car. If you run out of ammo, you will have to start Free Roaming again and drive to the appropriate Save Garage.
Map indicating where to find Hidden Cars in The Getaway
Mission Briefing
Objectives
- Go for a drive around the city. Enjoy the sights and sounds of London.