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Racing games seem to be the current fad in the gaming industry.
There is one that stands out though, courtesy of Rockstar. Midnight Club II builds on Rockstar’s hip-mainstream status while providing an excellent racing game. Midnight Club II has graced now graced the Xbox so PS2 owners can stop the bragging. PC owners stay tight since the game will be on the PC soon enough. Rockstar San Diego (Formerly known as Angel Studios) has improved the original to make this the premier racing game yet.
For those who missed the fan-favorite Midnight Club, here is a refresher course. Midnight Club II is similar to a game version of the "Fast and the Furious" without all the unnecessary drama. You, as a member of an elite group of illegal street racers, race every night throughout the streets of Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles. You start of as a little blip on the radar, but as you win races and earn cars, you become a huge dot. In keeping with the illegal racing tone of the game, each race is made up checkpoints and the finish line. You need to hit all the checkpoints, but whatever route you use to get there is up to you since there is no set track. It’s important to note that while some races follow a semi-linear path with the checkpoints, others have them all over the place. You’ll need to decide where to go first and so on.
The more races you win the better rides you’ll be able to win. You’ll earn faster cars and even motorcycles. Better yet, you can take your new ride to race whenever you please. The more vehicles you get the better since you’ll become familiar with the cities and know which vehicle will do well for each one. Sometimes it’s best to sacrifice a bit of speed for better handling if you know you’ll be turning a lot.
With online and multiplayer being such an important part of the game, I honestly wasn’t expecting too much of the AI. Fortunately, the AI is very good and you’ll need to be on top of your game to beat them, after all a lot is on the line. There will be a few times where you’ll see the same race over and over because you simply beat the computer. It never feels cheap though and you realize what you can do in order to beat it next time. You’ll have to look at the map, and try and find shortcuts to earn that new car. Adding some thinking into the game are cops. There are plenty of cops around the cities that will stop you if they can. And it’s pretty simple, you get caught, you lose the race.
Midnight Club II takes is environment very much at heart and the whole game revolves around doing whatever you can to make sure you beat the other guy. The cars don’t have a very simulation feel, and it definitely leans on arcade but they all respond very well. Since speed plays such a major role and you are racing on streets rather than a track, you’ll appreciate the game’s tight controls so much. You can be running at insanely high speeds and make a sharp turn with relative ease. A unique turbo system lets you trail for a little then leave the other guy in the well... dust. Your turbo meter fills if you trail someone for a little while. Motorcycles also handle very well and you’ll get the hang of them with no problem.
All of this action is used in the game’s various gameplay modes. The main mode is Career mode. You start off with a car and new character and race around the streets of Los Angeles. You find someone who is willing to race, flash your lights and then you are taken to the race location. Once you beat some people and get known, you’ll be able to move on to Tokyo and Paris. The cars and tracks you unlock will then be used in Arcade mode. Here you and a friend can play a in a checkpoint-race similar to the Career mode, or if that isn’t your thing, you can just cruise around. Adding to the game’s length is a cool race editor. You can set various checkpoints in the city of your choice and make that up to fifteen unique races.
Online gameplay is the big winner here. Even on the Xbox with its infamous Xbox Live system, racing games aren’t getting that much attention. Before this, Moto GP (Xbox not the similarly named Namco PS2 games) and Offroad Fury 2 were the games to get for online racing. Midnight Club II takes off in a grand way. You can drive in various races that support eight players. Because of the scale of the game, dial up users cannot participate. For those with broadband connections you can enjoy the game and there is a lot to enjoy with things like Capture the Flag adding to the standard race.
The graphics in Midnight Club II are very good and everything fits into the illegal tone. Much like Project Gotham Racing, the cities here are photo-realistic. If you’ve been to one of these cities, you’ll feel very familiar. I haven’t been to Tokyo or Paris but I can speak for Los Angeles. The city look great and everything is where it should be. Some of the buildings are renamed for licensing issues but you should recognize them. Paris and Tokyo look very good as well and each of the cities have huge maps. You can spend a good deal of time running around them, exploring every street. The framerate keeps up with the game’s quickness as well. The lighting and reflection effects from the first one have returned, as well. Although they are too much sometimes, they still look great.
The audio does its job fairly well. Each of the three cities has its own beat to it. Paris and Tokyo have some sort of techno thing going on while Los Angeles has a hip-hop feel. Depending on your like of those genres, will depend your like of the soundtrack. The car engines sound awesome, the tires sharply turning, everything sounds as it should. Your rivals and those in the streets even have some one liners throughout the races. If you have a good sound system, you’ll get the full experience as Midnight Club II supports
Overall, Rockstar San Diego has shown us what a racing game should be like. It should be fast, it should handle well, and it should have great graphics and sound. More importantly, it should have massive replay value. If you enjoyed the first game, you’ll love this one. Even if you didn’t like the first one, Xbox owners looking for something worthy of their Xbox Live time will love this. We finally have another worthy online game and a good racing game to boot.
Midnight Club II arrives on the Xbox a bit after its PS2 arrival. The graphics are improved slightly, not too much for you to notice, though. Voice in Xbox Live really adds to the online experience. It is very cool to trash talk to someone as you smoke them and take their ride. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Jun 26, 2003
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