Getaway Shootout is a local multiplayer action game with hilariously random gameplay

When it comes to local multiplayer, bonkers is best. While there’s no denying the popularity of realistic football sims like Pro Evo, and equally realistic murder sims like Battlefield, we prefer the insane randomness of casual efforts like Wrassling and Soccer Physics.

In these games, slick visuals and tight controls are abandoned in favour of anarchic, nonsensical fun.

Getaway Shootout – and you can find it on Poki – falls into the same category. At the start of each round an Arnie-style voiceover barks at you to get to whatever vehicle is waiting at the end. And yes, one of these vehicles is a chopper.

Between you and that vehicle is a variety of obstacles. You need to leap over tables, jump from train carriage to train carriage (on the roof, naturally), catch elevators, leap onto rooftops, and generally act like a top action hero.

Along the way you’ll find weapons and power-ups, including rocket launchers, pistols, sub-machine guns, shields, health kits, and more. You use these to attack or defend yourself against the three other players who are racing with you to reach the getaway vehicle.

However, your biggest obstacle is not the other players, who can be either human or AI controlled. Instead, your true enemy is a combination of the game’s controls and its infuriatingly floaty physics.

Everything is done with three buttons: W, E, and R. Holding down on W or E tilts your blocky avatar left or right respectively, and letting go launches him through the air. R uses your special ability, whether that be firing a gun (semi-randomly) or consuming some health.

The result is a chaotic scramble through the stages as you try to avoid tumbling over ledges, falling between train carriages, and getting squashed by elevators, all while being buffeted and shot at by other players.

Even if you get to the vehicle first, it’s a challenge to land yourself inside it. But that’s the appeal of Getaway Shootout: it’s a glorious slice of random casual action, and you can play it now on Poki.

Marc Hewitt