So Marc Ecko, fashion designer, entrepreneur and a lot of other things that I do not know. I am not familiar with this man, and I’ve never seen any of his works. But I am familiar with his one time video game directorial debut. Wanting to create a game all about hip hop and graffiti, Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Content’s Under Pressure was born. The game was published দ্বারা Atari, the kings of the bargain bin, and developed দ্বারা The Collective, responsible for creating a lot of licensed games before merging with Shiny Entertainment to become Double Helix Games, which would later go on to be bought দ্বারা মর্দানী স্ত্রীলোক and turned into মর্দানী স্ত্রীলোক Games Studio, stuck in a horrible state nowadays. Marc Ecko’s Getting Up did not sell too well and was hit with harsh criticism on release day. And Marc Ecko took it well. So well that he insulted game reviewers and gamers in general, calling them suckers and nerds and then blaming the hardware of the PS2 because আপনি can’t have a graffiti game and picture perfect climbing and combat… Jet Set Radio, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and Any of the 3D beat em ups released at the time. Clearly, Marc Ecko was just being a bit salty, but maybe he was right. Maybe the reviewers were being harsh. Some reviewers on the back of the box have described this game as the Tony Hawk of graffiti. Maybe we can find something good here.
Despite the title, this is not a game about a man trying to “get it up” in the bedroom, but is actually about a young graffiti artist named Trane as he goes on a rebellious journey across the city ruled দ্বারা the corrupt politician Mayor Sung and his attack unit known as the CCK দ্বারা লেখা graffiti of anti-political propaganda, and also getting into fights that may অথবা may not end with thugs getting set on আগুন and being thrown off edges to their deaths. But it was all in self-defense, আপনি know. Along the way, you’ll meet other characters who will say things to each other that I am just far too white to understand. Despite that, I can appreciate a good style when I see one, and this game does have it. I প্রণয় these big urban settings with the hard graffiti all over the place which can contrast hard with the pure white buildings that the CCK occupy. And climbing up these buildings and subways to do stuff like this is pretty intense. Made আরো crazy when আপনি do research and find that real graffiti artists do this kind of stuff. Stuff that my vertigo ridden গাধা could never attempt. I can barely look down the stairs in my own house without feeling the urge to vomit. It’s pretty fun… in concept. While it is satisfying at times to climb up buildings, a problem I’ve noticed is a combination of the controls and the camera. The controls sometimes feel delayed. Trane just won’t go down to the পরবর্তি pipe at times, so আপনি gotta hit down অথবা বৃত্ত a few times before he finally does it. Adding the stubborn camera that is fine on foot but once you’re climbing up buildings অথবা across pipes, it just refuses to listen to আপনি and you’re left to your own. It makes actually getting a perfect on doing graffitis difficult. আপনি have a usual score of doing the graffiti quickly without getting caught, without adding too many spots onto the graffiti and not dripping paint. But because there are times where the camera angle is aimed at different directions, it’s almost impossible to see what you’re doing, so আপনি could end up getting drips without warning.
But the platforming and graffiti lures আপনি in. At first, it’s pretty off, but not bad. But once আপনি gotta start adding spotlights and enemies, along with traps, it becomes a massive pain. These controls do not allow আপনি for fast movement and precise jumping, so once আপনি start adding enemies to the mix, it’s all over. Try getting a perfect on your graffiti while a spotlight is moving toward আপনি and shooting at you. How can this city be calling Trane a terrorist for his graffiti, yet no one bats an eye at the constant gunfire in the streets. And this isn’t a one time thing. Almost every big building after this with spotlights will have them shooting at you, and they don’t just stop. They keep firing at আপনি until আপনি leave the building completely অথবা আপনি die. And then there’s the insat-kill situations. One room has a bottomless pit that kills আপনি and আপনি gotta get onto moving platforms. If আপনি topple over, Trane will catch the pipe, but a moving device will come and knock him off instantly, just giving আপনি hope only to take it away. অথবা how আপনি have to jump onto a pipe to avoid a moving train. And the possibility of আপনি missing completely and falling to your death is still there, so আপনি know… that’s fun. And add that with levels that go on for way too long. আপনি will be tasked with tagging signs on a building, then beating up some vandals, then going down to another courtyard to beat up আরো and tagging their graffiti, then going to a small park and then climbing up buildings to graffiti them. And that’s just before the checkpoint! After that, tag three আরো signs দ্বারা climbing across buildings, really high, all while sneaking around cops that are far too tough for আপনি now, then climb up a completely different building to talk to an NPC, all so আপনি can tag a building while a spotlight is moving around it. These levels go on for so long and you’re just left exhausted দ্বারা the end of it. Doesn’t help that some levels can be done in a few seconds. Levels like tagging the train, অথবা fighting in a graffiti battle across a highway. Those short levels are fun. These long ones… no.
But hey, the game isn’t all about graffiti and bad platforming. No, it’s also about combat. And just like the platforming, it lures আপনি in. At first, it’s got so much that you’d think, “Yeah, this isn’t so bad”. And then it all falls apart. I can pinpoint the exact moment it stopped being fun too. It was around the fight with the character Dip who had his বেল্ট buckle as a weapon and he would knock আপনি down and then proceed to start beating আপনি on the floor with no chance of আপনি getting up until আপনি finally got up. আপনি just gotta hope আপনি survive before আপনি die. And it’s a shame, because there’s a lot to the fighting. Combos, stuns, guard breakers, blocks, grabs, able to grab weapons, using the environment to kill your enemies (Trane would never kill). But once the CCK comes in… fuck it. Just fuck it. It’s not even remotely fun anymore. They just swarm you, they can block your attacks, and then immediately follow up with a knock down. And if you’re on the floor, good luck. It can either be one hit on you, অথবা they all hit আপনি with nightsticks, do a Bruce Lee stomp, do a grapple সরানো and then decide to lift আপনি up, before knocking আপনি down again. And that’s assuming they don’t stun lock আপনি and then arrest you, which is an immediate game over. And that’s just the first CCK soldiers. Then আপনি get the ones that can shoot আপনি with guns, which is just a massive pain in the ass. Kill them first, otherwise আপনি will die. Thankfully, at the point they get introduced, the game starts handing out checkpoints like it’s হ্যালোইন candy. They knew it was a pain in the ass, but the game was gonna ship that month, so they could only program in checkpoints… At least, that’s my headcanon. Also, there seems to be a problem where if আপনি do a combo and knock them into a wall, since they weren’t knocked down, they’ll just get back on their feet immediately and start kicking your গাধা immediately. And remember, unless it’s bosses, it’s never one on one. Shit, one of them is a two on one, with আপনি having the partner, and it’s still a massive pain in the ass. The fight with the fat cop lady can stun lock আপনি with আগুন that still hurts আপনি until আপনি die, and that’s assuming আপনি can survive the pain in the গাধা of the first fight to get there. The fight with (SPOILERS) Gabe is a pain because আপনি have to throw him near the edge to continue the fight… and then do it again because Trane just pulls him up. And then there’s the fight with the police chief voiced দ্বারা Adam West. Yes, Adam West is a voice in this game, and look, I প্রণয় Adam West as much as anyone else, but his voice does not fit that of a serious police chief. I just hear the campy joking voice of Adam West. And despite wanting to hear his voice the most, he was in… like three cutscenes before he’s out of the game forever. Can I… Can I enjoy one thing in this game? Just one.
Oh yeah, and glitches. Glitches a plenty in this game. And no, it’s never just a few bad textures, because of course not. Stuff like Trane falling within cutscenes, enemies able to fucking kill আপনি in cutscenes (Can’t tell আপনি how many times I had that happen to me), the level becomes harder because আপনি can’t use your compass অথবা obective finder to find the objective, an enemy gets stuck in the ground making it impossible to hit him (But don’t worry, he can still kick your ass), and my personal favorite, just moving along a tram got me stuck within the দেওয়াল and I wasn’t able to escape. I had to sit there for ten মিনিট because I refused to restart the entire level since I already got the checkpoint and had to wait for the CCK with বন্দুক and spotlights to slowly kill me. I believe it was the সেকেন্ড to last chapter of the game where I just decided “Fuck it” and put in an infinite health cheat code. And boy am I glad I did it right then and there, because the hardest enemies in the game were abundant. Gun wielding CCK, spotlights aplenty, and new Agent enemies that can dodge your attacks and had a fuck ton of health. I did not care anymore about the game. I just wanted it to end. The constant stream of annoyances, glitches, and how the game felt like it was trying to leave আপনি at a disadvantage every step of the way, not for the sake of a challenge but for the sake of just getting in your way, I decided that the game wasn’t going to play fair, so neither was I. So, I don’t care if I had to cheat. This game sucks and so do I. And I haven’t even told আপনি about the story. It’s average. The cinematography is great, the visuals are spectacular. I প্রণয় the urban setting a lot, the graffiti is really stylish, and the music, despite me not being a big rap and hip hop enthusiast, is bumping and definitely something I can get behind. The game even has a few real graffiti artists doing voices. আপনি can tell it’s them because they sound super awkward when they voice themselves, like real যশস্বী that have never voice acted in their lives. There’s a stilted charm to it. It’s a shame. I প্রণয় everything about this game except the gameplay. If this game was আরো of a comic book or, I dunno, the fashion that Marc Ecko is known for, I think it would be আরো admired. But the thing is I hate this game. This is probably the worst game on PS2 Cents. Yes, আরো so than The Bouncer. The Bouncer was frustrating and terrible, but at least it was an ঘন্টা long and done. Marc Ecko’s Getting Up is a slow burn. It puts roadblock after roadblock in front of আপনি preventing আপনি from getting to the fun part of the game, and it all ends with a boss fight between some যেভাবে খুশী woman added in at the last মিনিট and an ending with no credits. Because all আপনি had to know was Marc Ecko made this game and it had the RZA in it. Programmers? Who’s that? Testers? … Ha ha ha, who am I kidding? No one tested this game.
Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. Yeah, despite having Getting Up in the title, I have to say, I’m pretty soft. This game was way too stressful. Man, I just wanted a fun game, get away from the stress of reality, like all the shit on the news, bills to pay, rent to pay, child support to pay, and I just wanted a fun graffiti game. But no, Marc Ecko’s Getting Up is just a slow burn of constant stress, glitches, unfair gameplay, and is only a fun game to look at. I’ve heard that Marc Ecko is making a brand new game, Marc Ecko’s Unlimited… yeah, no thanks. I’ll stick to Jet Set Radio. So yeah, award time. It’s Bottom of the Bin, no contest. Am I just a nerd who got wedgies in school like Marc Ecko says? Yes, absolutely, but that changes nothing. Fuck this game.
Despite the title, this is not a game about a man trying to “get it up” in the bedroom, but is actually about a young graffiti artist named Trane as he goes on a rebellious journey across the city ruled দ্বারা the corrupt politician Mayor Sung and his attack unit known as the CCK দ্বারা লেখা graffiti of anti-political propaganda, and also getting into fights that may অথবা may not end with thugs getting set on আগুন and being thrown off edges to their deaths. But it was all in self-defense, আপনি know. Along the way, you’ll meet other characters who will say things to each other that I am just far too white to understand. Despite that, I can appreciate a good style when I see one, and this game does have it. I প্রণয় these big urban settings with the hard graffiti all over the place which can contrast hard with the pure white buildings that the CCK occupy. And climbing up these buildings and subways to do stuff like this is pretty intense. Made আরো crazy when আপনি do research and find that real graffiti artists do this kind of stuff. Stuff that my vertigo ridden গাধা could never attempt. I can barely look down the stairs in my own house without feeling the urge to vomit. It’s pretty fun… in concept. While it is satisfying at times to climb up buildings, a problem I’ve noticed is a combination of the controls and the camera. The controls sometimes feel delayed. Trane just won’t go down to the পরবর্তি pipe at times, so আপনি gotta hit down অথবা বৃত্ত a few times before he finally does it. Adding the stubborn camera that is fine on foot but once you’re climbing up buildings অথবা across pipes, it just refuses to listen to আপনি and you’re left to your own. It makes actually getting a perfect on doing graffitis difficult. আপনি have a usual score of doing the graffiti quickly without getting caught, without adding too many spots onto the graffiti and not dripping paint. But because there are times where the camera angle is aimed at different directions, it’s almost impossible to see what you’re doing, so আপনি could end up getting drips without warning.
But the platforming and graffiti lures আপনি in. At first, it’s pretty off, but not bad. But once আপনি gotta start adding spotlights and enemies, along with traps, it becomes a massive pain. These controls do not allow আপনি for fast movement and precise jumping, so once আপনি start adding enemies to the mix, it’s all over. Try getting a perfect on your graffiti while a spotlight is moving toward আপনি and shooting at you. How can this city be calling Trane a terrorist for his graffiti, yet no one bats an eye at the constant gunfire in the streets. And this isn’t a one time thing. Almost every big building after this with spotlights will have them shooting at you, and they don’t just stop. They keep firing at আপনি until আপনি leave the building completely অথবা আপনি die. And then there’s the insat-kill situations. One room has a bottomless pit that kills আপনি and আপনি gotta get onto moving platforms. If আপনি topple over, Trane will catch the pipe, but a moving device will come and knock him off instantly, just giving আপনি hope only to take it away. অথবা how আপনি have to jump onto a pipe to avoid a moving train. And the possibility of আপনি missing completely and falling to your death is still there, so আপনি know… that’s fun. And add that with levels that go on for way too long. আপনি will be tasked with tagging signs on a building, then beating up some vandals, then going down to another courtyard to beat up আরো and tagging their graffiti, then going to a small park and then climbing up buildings to graffiti them. And that’s just before the checkpoint! After that, tag three আরো signs দ্বারা climbing across buildings, really high, all while sneaking around cops that are far too tough for আপনি now, then climb up a completely different building to talk to an NPC, all so আপনি can tag a building while a spotlight is moving around it. These levels go on for so long and you’re just left exhausted দ্বারা the end of it. Doesn’t help that some levels can be done in a few seconds. Levels like tagging the train, অথবা fighting in a graffiti battle across a highway. Those short levels are fun. These long ones… no.
But hey, the game isn’t all about graffiti and bad platforming. No, it’s also about combat. And just like the platforming, it lures আপনি in. At first, it’s got so much that you’d think, “Yeah, this isn’t so bad”. And then it all falls apart. I can pinpoint the exact moment it stopped being fun too. It was around the fight with the character Dip who had his বেল্ট buckle as a weapon and he would knock আপনি down and then proceed to start beating আপনি on the floor with no chance of আপনি getting up until আপনি finally got up. আপনি just gotta hope আপনি survive before আপনি die. And it’s a shame, because there’s a lot to the fighting. Combos, stuns, guard breakers, blocks, grabs, able to grab weapons, using the environment to kill your enemies (Trane would never kill). But once the CCK comes in… fuck it. Just fuck it. It’s not even remotely fun anymore. They just swarm you, they can block your attacks, and then immediately follow up with a knock down. And if you’re on the floor, good luck. It can either be one hit on you, অথবা they all hit আপনি with nightsticks, do a Bruce Lee stomp, do a grapple সরানো and then decide to lift আপনি up, before knocking আপনি down again. And that’s assuming they don’t stun lock আপনি and then arrest you, which is an immediate game over. And that’s just the first CCK soldiers. Then আপনি get the ones that can shoot আপনি with guns, which is just a massive pain in the ass. Kill them first, otherwise আপনি will die. Thankfully, at the point they get introduced, the game starts handing out checkpoints like it’s হ্যালোইন candy. They knew it was a pain in the ass, but the game was gonna ship that month, so they could only program in checkpoints… At least, that’s my headcanon. Also, there seems to be a problem where if আপনি do a combo and knock them into a wall, since they weren’t knocked down, they’ll just get back on their feet immediately and start kicking your গাধা immediately. And remember, unless it’s bosses, it’s never one on one. Shit, one of them is a two on one, with আপনি having the partner, and it’s still a massive pain in the ass. The fight with the fat cop lady can stun lock আপনি with আগুন that still hurts আপনি until আপনি die, and that’s assuming আপনি can survive the pain in the গাধা of the first fight to get there. The fight with (SPOILERS) Gabe is a pain because আপনি have to throw him near the edge to continue the fight… and then do it again because Trane just pulls him up. And then there’s the fight with the police chief voiced দ্বারা Adam West. Yes, Adam West is a voice in this game, and look, I প্রণয় Adam West as much as anyone else, but his voice does not fit that of a serious police chief. I just hear the campy joking voice of Adam West. And despite wanting to hear his voice the most, he was in… like three cutscenes before he’s out of the game forever. Can I… Can I enjoy one thing in this game? Just one.
Oh yeah, and glitches. Glitches a plenty in this game. And no, it’s never just a few bad textures, because of course not. Stuff like Trane falling within cutscenes, enemies able to fucking kill আপনি in cutscenes (Can’t tell আপনি how many times I had that happen to me), the level becomes harder because আপনি can’t use your compass অথবা obective finder to find the objective, an enemy gets stuck in the ground making it impossible to hit him (But don’t worry, he can still kick your ass), and my personal favorite, just moving along a tram got me stuck within the দেওয়াল and I wasn’t able to escape. I had to sit there for ten মিনিট because I refused to restart the entire level since I already got the checkpoint and had to wait for the CCK with বন্দুক and spotlights to slowly kill me. I believe it was the সেকেন্ড to last chapter of the game where I just decided “Fuck it” and put in an infinite health cheat code. And boy am I glad I did it right then and there, because the hardest enemies in the game were abundant. Gun wielding CCK, spotlights aplenty, and new Agent enemies that can dodge your attacks and had a fuck ton of health. I did not care anymore about the game. I just wanted it to end. The constant stream of annoyances, glitches, and how the game felt like it was trying to leave আপনি at a disadvantage every step of the way, not for the sake of a challenge but for the sake of just getting in your way, I decided that the game wasn’t going to play fair, so neither was I. So, I don’t care if I had to cheat. This game sucks and so do I. And I haven’t even told আপনি about the story. It’s average. The cinematography is great, the visuals are spectacular. I প্রণয় the urban setting a lot, the graffiti is really stylish, and the music, despite me not being a big rap and hip hop enthusiast, is bumping and definitely something I can get behind. The game even has a few real graffiti artists doing voices. আপনি can tell it’s them because they sound super awkward when they voice themselves, like real যশস্বী that have never voice acted in their lives. There’s a stilted charm to it. It’s a shame. I প্রণয় everything about this game except the gameplay. If this game was আরো of a comic book or, I dunno, the fashion that Marc Ecko is known for, I think it would be আরো admired. But the thing is I hate this game. This is probably the worst game on PS2 Cents. Yes, আরো so than The Bouncer. The Bouncer was frustrating and terrible, but at least it was an ঘন্টা long and done. Marc Ecko’s Getting Up is a slow burn. It puts roadblock after roadblock in front of আপনি preventing আপনি from getting to the fun part of the game, and it all ends with a boss fight between some যেভাবে খুশী woman added in at the last মিনিট and an ending with no credits. Because all আপনি had to know was Marc Ecko made this game and it had the RZA in it. Programmers? Who’s that? Testers? … Ha ha ha, who am I kidding? No one tested this game.
Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. Yeah, despite having Getting Up in the title, I have to say, I’m pretty soft. This game was way too stressful. Man, I just wanted a fun game, get away from the stress of reality, like all the shit on the news, bills to pay, rent to pay, child support to pay, and I just wanted a fun graffiti game. But no, Marc Ecko’s Getting Up is just a slow burn of constant stress, glitches, unfair gameplay, and is only a fun game to look at. I’ve heard that Marc Ecko is making a brand new game, Marc Ecko’s Unlimited… yeah, no thanks. I’ll stick to Jet Set Radio. So yeah, award time. It’s Bottom of the Bin, no contest. Am I just a nerd who got wedgies in school like Marc Ecko says? Yes, absolutely, but that changes nothing. Fuck this game.
Cody Leach
