It seems Marc Ecko meant what he said when he issued his challenge to the gaming industry back at DICE 2005. Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure looks to be a breath of fresh air when it finally releases. The game focuses on the lifestyle and philosophies of graffiti artists in New Radius, a fictional city heavily influenced by New York City, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. At the center of the story is Trane, a young tagger trying to make a name for himself. In the course of Trane's journey, he will meet rival crews, corrupt officials, meet real-life graffiti legends, and take on city hall.

Features

• storyline written by Marc Ecko
  
• all-star voice cast
  
• groundbreaking graffiti gameplay system
  
• authentic tags from 50 real-life graffiti artists
  
• eleven distinct city environments, with 20 gameplay levels
  
• Unique "Intuition" system, allowing you to find the best places for your tags.

Gameplay is mixed elements of adventuring, fighting, stealth, and tagging, with the breakdown being mostly exploration with equal parts fighting and tagging, and a little stealth thrown in for flavor. Gameplay will focus on three main elements. "Getting In," "Getting Up," and "Getting Out."

Getting in covers getting you to the area you need to be. It may be something as simple as trying to navigate your way to a certain area, but it could include fighting your way in or sneaking by the authorities. The stealth system works pretty well, but it is nowhere near as intricate as Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid 3. The fighting system includes finishing or humiliation moves, such as the ever popular "bitchslap" to spitting on someone.

Getting up is both figurative and literal. Not all tags are ground level, and the more visability you have, the better. Pristine locations are known as "Heaven Spots" and are not for those afraid of heights. Once the challenge of getting up to the heaven spot has been met, it's time to get your tag up. The controls for tagging are very good, and very immersive. There is no meter to gauge your technique, and you must rely on the tag itself to tell you when it's done. Too fast, and your tag comes out blurry. Too slow, and you will get drips and runs. All in all, a very satisfying experience.

Getting out is basically the getaway. One of the levels featured on gettingup.com shows Trane escaping froma burning building and captures the intensity nicely.

Another selling point for Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure is the voice acting. The game has a veritable plethora of talent:

• Talib Kweli as Trane, the main character
  
• Sean "P.Diddy" Combs as Dip, a rival crew member
  
• Adam West as Police Chief William Hunt
  
• Michael "M.C. Serch" Berrin as Gabe, leader of rival crew the Vandals of New Radius
  
• Rosario Dawson as Tina, Gabe's girlfriend
  
• Brittany Murphy as reporter Karen Light
  
• George Hamilton as Mayor Sung
  
• Giovanni Ribisi as KRY1, a member of Trane's crew
  
• Andy Dick as Aunt Beth of the Vandals
  
• Charlie Murphy as White Mike, another member of Trane's crew.
  
• The RZA as Stake, leader of the Wrong-Way Assassins.

The game will also feature art from 50 real-life taggers made especially for the game. And six legends are in the game to serve as mentors for Trane. Included are such greats as Obey, Cope2, Futura, Seen, Smith, and TKID. Each artist has their own specialty that they will pass along to Trane.

Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure looks to be a very promising title. Atari and The Collective have pushed back the release date on this numerous times to make sure that the game meets the expectations of Ecko, its Executive Creative Developer, but if all goes well, expect to be tagging with the legends on February 15th, 2005.

Stay tuned to Xbox Advanced for more news on this and any other games on your radar.