Rockstar Games is looking to overtake the competition with the most recent entry to its racing game series. Midnight Club is back and gearing up for a LA showdown.
Hear that? That is the sound of Rockstar Games revving its engines and stepping inside one of the most popular Clubs in videogames. Unlike most clubs, this one has wheels, an engine and a whole lot of torque to go with the flash and music. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines - and welcome to Midnight Club: Los Angeles.
Driving ambitions
The street racing series has gained a lot of fans over its eight-year circuit of the games scene, increasing its need for speed, intensity and fast cars with each iteration, while also plumping for glamorous locations. The setting this time (in case you didn't notice from the game's title) is the high life and lights of America's Los Angeles - a place previously visited by Midnight Club... and this time there's more. So much more.
Great pains have been made to map the City of Angels, allowing for one of the most accurate recreations of LA's mean streets, with some slight deviations to allow for more fluid and entertaining races. Add that to a day-to-night cycle, weather effects, traffic levels that vary depending on the time of day you race at and the ability to free-roam around the city itself, and you've already got the ingredients for an environmentally rich racing title.
Midnight Club would be nothing without its cars, however, and there's a feast of automobiles to drive your vehicular desires...
"Nice car..." [cue sensual music]
There are over 40 different vehicles - both cars and bikes - to race in Midnight Club: LA, with the likes of the Chevrolet Camaro Concept, Mazda RX-8 Shinka , Dodge Charger SRT-8, 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS SS, Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, Audi R8, 1979 Pontiac Firebird, Ford Mustang Boss 302, Lamborghini Miura, Mitsubishi 3000GT and Lamborghini Murcielago as a mere selection of what you'll be able to use across the classes of Tuner, Luxury, Exotic and Muscle.
Each of these beasts can have their performance and appearance customised in nearly every way, giving it a nice personal touch if you want it - although keep in mind that damage can be inflicted on your pride and joy if you're a tad too rough in your driving, which is more than possible when you consider the game's police presence. The dreaded fuzz will give chase if you come across them, resulting in a fine if you're unlucky enough to be pulled over.
A variety of modes are available, with a single player storyline letting you assume the role of a driver trying to gain a rep on the streets through a number of events that can range from one-off drives to specific missions where money and respect are the rewards as well as other racers' cars if you end up in a high stakes wager. There is also the option to compete online by creating customised races or taking part in any of the pre-set styles, such as checkpoint, circuit and landmark races or a range of capture the flag variants, which feature team and solo play.
"At Midnight, All the Agents..."
So far, Midnight Club: Los Angeles plays how it looks - beautifully. The glistening visuals of its bright and impressively drawn cityscape match the fast paced gameplay which manages to capture a great sense of speed and excitement that the series is known for. Throw in some special moves which allow you to use powers such as the ability to slow down time or even shut down rivals with an electromagnetic pulse and you have a racer to watch.
Midnight is coming, and faster than it's ever been before - better sound the horn...
