Mark Ecko's Getting Up

In April 2007, Transport for London destroyed a Banksy mural because the organisation felt that it created an 'atmosphere of neglect.' The mural, depicting a scene from Pulp Fiction, was popular, iconic, and completely gratis, but off it came nonetheless because The Man thought the locals couldn't be trusted to look at it without littering, losing their jobs, and committing arson as a consequence. We hate The Man.

You too? Want to get back at him? Mark Ecko's Getting Up may be your chance.

Based on the exploits of the humanist entrepreneur of the title, Getting Up is a graffiti-themed platformer that places you in a dystopic near-future and arms you with a can of spray paint, the agility of a gibbon, and a searing talent for civil disobedience.

The object of the game is to collect hundreds of aerosol cans as you make your way through a series of girder-filled platform levels. At the end of each level the screen freezes and every spray can you collect from then on flies up and contributes to a gigantic tag, the completion of which signals the end of the level and an accompanying boost in your 'Rep.'

Each level is situated at a point on an overhead map, and once you've finished one you can return to it to pick up those elusive tins you missed last time around. To complete the game, you need to return to each at least three times in order to progress in reputation from 'Toy', through 'Standard', all the way up to 'King.' This means that although there are eight locations, there are 24 levels to complete.

Some of these are infuriatingly difficult largely because, despite his undisputed athletic prowess, controlling your avatar is like taking a walrus for a walk. It takes a patient effort to get him moving, and once he's in motion you need to plan the end of his run 20 game-yards before he actually has to stop. Getting Up's world never stops feeling like an ice rink, and you'll plummet to several galling deaths before you master it.

The level design isn't anything special, and the graphics are on the wrong side of average. However, for a platform game Getting Up salvages points from the unlikeliest quarter: the plot.

While in most games increasing difficulty is a self-evident consequence of progress, Getting Up explains the appearance of more and more draconian opposition through the medium of news broadcasts at the beginning of each level.

To begin with, straight-laced anchor Karen Light neutrally explains that graffiti is occurring, and that authorities are concerned. Later, she describes the mounting civic alarm as expensive security doors are introduced. When camera-mounted gun turrets are installed to deter would-be graffiti vandals, she reveals that several innocent bystanders have been killed.

Later, after the authorities become so incensed by the elusive vandal that they commandeer every helicopter in the city to aid their cause (by introducing spotlights into the levels), Karen Light declares that several local businesses, including her own station, are planning to sue. The tide of public sympathy has turned.

Karen Light's narrative is occasionally strained, not least whenever she pops up mid-level to announce that, for example, 'experts believe' the player should hold down '8' to jump, but on the whole the narrative is subtle and sophisticated. Rather than being a blunt statement of graffiti's cause, Getting Up is a serious argument for freedom of speech.

Ultimately, though, it's a game, and much as we commend the politics, we can only recommend it – or not – on the basis of gameplay. Which, unfortunately, is where Getting Up lets Mark Ecko down. While this is by no means a terrible game, sluggish controls and lacklustre presentation keep it from really competing for your £5.

After all, it's all very well sticking it to The Man, but you have to be having fun while you do it.