Gangster London Fighting

Funny story this: we were feeling a bit peckish the other night so we nipped out of our swanky London pad and crossed the street to the supermarket when an unmarked van reared out of nowhere.
Half a dozen gun-toting cockney geezers leapt out and started taking pot shots in our general direction,
so obviously we did the only thing we could and dragged the nearest passer-by out of his car before careering off down the road at full pelt.
Actually, that's all a great big lie - we bought some fish fingers and went straight home.
Still, if we were in Gangster London Fighting, things might have been a bit different.
See, Gangs of London comes fresh from Sony's London studio - the birthplace of The Getaway: Black Monday on PS2.
Taking place in the same universe,it sports the same fully-realised sprawling city map as well as the familiar mix of in-car and on-foot action.
From the outset things looks peachy, with the game featuring the same high quality presentation and attention to detail found in its PS2 brethren.
Each of the five selectable gangs has its own largely unique story arc tying together the game's 60-plus missions.
Each gang's tale unfolds through gritty static comic-style panels which,
while lacking the cinematic punch of The Getaway titles, are pleasing enough and complimented by full voice acting.
Although the option to select between Cockney, Triad, Yardie, Russian and Pakistani gangs at the start of the game is nice,
in practice there's not a startling difference between each, with many missions cropping up again and again, albeit with minor cosmetic differences.
Despite its abundance of atmosphere and tongue-in-cheek mockney charm, however,
it's disappointing to note that Sony seemingly hasn't learned from criticisms leveraged at The Getaway series in the past.
Once the first cut-scene has reached its conclusion,
it's instantly apparent that many of the flaws found in Gangster London Fighting predecessors have made an unwelcome return - a fact made even more puzzling as the PSP version has been developed by a brand new team.