Coolest urban game yet or literally like watching paint dry?

Marc Ecko is a fashion designer who started out twelve years ago with six T-shirts and a can of paint. Thousands of garish creations later, he's at the helm of a global empire. But then so is Richard Branson, and we don't plan on playing a Virgin Trains Simulator anytime soon. It's for that reason that many smirked when Atari announced that it'd be turning Ecko's vision for a game based around US graffiti culture into reality.

You control Trane, a streetwise upstart who's left home to follow his calling in life: 'getting up' in the graffiti world. Progressing through the fictional city of New Radius increases your rep and unlocks new pieces for you to scrawl. Along the way, you meet real-life graffiti legends and pick up songs to play on Getting Up's built-in iPod. Yup, the developers have struck a deal with Apple whereby you access tunes using an on-screen version of their MP3 player. Smart.

The graffiti element is the game's biggest hook. Before starting any mission, you get to set up your 'Black Book' - basically, the set of pieces you'll create on the upcoming level. Early on, you're limited to basic throw-ups and market tags. More vast works like Wheat-pastes and Wildstyles become available later on, but the basic method behind creating your pieces remains simple throughout.

Holding R1 next to a wall gets Trane ready to graf. Tapping the Down and Up controls changes a piece's colour, while Left and Right change its style. If you're penning a tag or placing a sticker, just hit Square and watch its creation. Bigger pieces like murals require more interaction: you hold Square and move the left analogue stick to paint. As you improve, holding the Triangle button enables you to paint or paste faster - but then there's more chance of you creating drips, which decrease your rep. It sounds complex but soon feel natural. The only downer is you can't design your own pieces from scratch.

Yet art skills alone won't get you through the game. You'll need to be handy with your fists, as New Radius is full of rival crews (mmm... urban!) and cops who aren't particularly keen on your kaleidoscopic scrawls. Fighting is dull at first, but as additional combos get unlocked it becomes more enjoyable - particularly once weapons are factored in. Lying around the city are bin lids, baseball bats and lumps of wood. And while the button bashing is heavy on your wrists, there's always a graffiti task around the corner to soothe your weary thumbs.

Marc Ecko's stamp is most evident in the faultless presentation. The in-game menus look like information screens on an American subway system, with each level represented by a stop on the tube map. Because the game is loaded with secrets and unlockables, each area has replay value, and the clean-but-clever design further encourages re-visiting. You start at grandma's before working your way through claustrophobic alleys and rundown buildings, all of which set the scene perfectly.

The underground plays host to one of the most enjoyable missions. You're required to tag both sides of four pillars, then draw three pieces in a pair of narrow tube tunnels. Trane's special 'intuition' means that pressing L2 shows you where to paint to complete your objectives. What makes this task so tough is that subway trains fly past at breakneck speed - or rather, chav-splattering speed. One mistimed tunnel dash and our hooded hero is mince.

Once that's done, it's time to scarper. Press Up next to any pillar or lamppost and Trane will ascend it - at times he feels like Spider-Man's wideboy cousin, clambering up seven-story buildings with ease. Here you need to get onto the roof-supporting beams to escape. This not only showcases Getting Up's diverse level design, but also its sense of varitcal space. You really feel that there's a sizeable fall beneath, and it's even more evident later, as you clamber over metal girders on a part-constructed flyover as traffic speeds by below.

The word 'stealth' continues to fill us with dread. It works in Manhunt and Splinter Cell, but too many developers crowbar it into games that would be better off without it. Like Getting Up. Some levels require you to paint or paper buildings while cops go about their business nearby. These super-human beings, known as CCK, can theoretically be avoided by hitting L1 to pull up your hood and sneak from point to point. Theoretically.

First problem: the cops sniff you out too easily. Second: they're ludicrously tough to overcome. Once one CCK sports you, he'll call in back-up. Within seconds, you're facing a three-man beat-down with little choice other than to hammer Triangle and Square and hope for the best. It's about as hopeless as weedy dribble-mouth Jamie Oliver taking on the super-heavyweight trio of Mike Tyson, The Rock and Vicky Pollard. Even if you defeat one CCK robo-god, another soon appears. Eventually you meet a messy end, so try the level again, and get the same result. These are the only points where frustration invariably gets the better of you.

The stealth element wouldn't be a problem if police attacks weren't no unrelenting. Cope with them, though, and there's plenty of enjoyment to be had spraying your way through the atmospheric environments and turning Trane into a ghetto superstar. Few games dare to be bold or innovative these days, yet Ecko's baby scores big on both fronts. There's certainly nothing wrong with painting-by-numbers when the finished picture is as splendid as this.

Graphics 90%
Chunky, spacious and stylish

Sound 90%
Tunes and chat both on the money!

Gameplay 80%
Only the stealth lets it down

Lifespan 80%
Lots of big levels to get through

Overall 80%
This is a baseball bat in the face of anyone who reckons original games are dead. Buy it and unleash the Rolf Harris in you!