'Marc Ecko's Getting Up' is the first game which brings Hip Hop culture to the adventure genre. This game also includes a great deal of stealth as you attempt to put together the largest and most creative graffiti throwups without being noticed in a city under strict regulations.

Voiced by Talib Kweli, you play as Trane, a rebel in New Radius - where nobody is entitled to freedom. He needs to escape and he wants to do it in the only way he knows is possible, to GET UP and GET OUT. You control this character in his attempts to go against the system. Unfortunately for him, he is only a 'toy' writer and so if he wants to make an impact he must first compete against existing artists on the scene including Gabe #33 and is crew, VaNR (Vandals of New Radius). After taking out young rivals you can move on to bigger and better things, reaching city-wide attention with the rebellious vandalisation aimed towards the people in power of the city (as he feels that they exploit the people) so the goal is to bring a revolution.

The game is easy to play, eventhough it may seem difficult to write the graffiti. In the opening level all controls are explained. The fighting controls are also very simplistic as one button allows you to unleash hits and combos without difficulty, the game also allows you to usse various objects within the scene such as baseball bats, sticks and your own painting equipment. The game does however get annoying as you try to find tunnels to get to the next part of the level as they are very obscure with the scene usually comprised of an exaggerated ghettos with all buildings looking worn down, objects scattered about and general mess throughout.

The game does feature some of the most established graff artists and legends of today including, T-Kid 180, Obey and Cope2 who you meet over the course of the game to give you tips and alternate ways of expressing your message, like wheat pastes, this provides you with a vast array of forms you can throw up 'TRANE' on a wall.

This game, which focuses on Hip Hop culture, is given a strong potential for a good soundtrack, but it disappoints as no songs stand out despite being amongst artists which you would expect good things from such as, Pharoahe Monch, Talib Kweli and Notorious B.I.G.

Overall this is a good game with a strong storyline and a lot of variety in the gamplay. It can keep you hooked and involved in the action, as you find yourslef holding your breath whilst hiding from the CCK (the gun-weilding vandalism prevention system). However once complete, apart form going back and finishing the story mode again, there is nothing but a poor fighting mode which is 2-Player only and you can fight in a way which was okay for the main story, but too plain for a separate mode as the only variety comes with using weapons. Finally, this game got me into graffit - I don't know whether that's good or bad.

I posted this first on Ciao as me - XICripZ