Midnight Club: Los Angeles has been released last week and it doesn't seem that a lot of people bothered to take a look at it. And it's quite a shame since the game's engine is *really* impressive technically, and the gameplay itself is excellent despite the rather rampant cheating of the opponents. Here is a first video, with more to come.
All comments (23)
This whole concept of "Pimp your ride then drive around a city trying to be cool but looking like a prick in a car that no one in their right mind would want to be seen in, let alone drive (tm)" has been milked to within an inch of a yoghurt pot.
I for one lost interest with Burnout Paradise for arcade racers (after PGR4 everything else has been half-arsed IMO).
It looks nice though. ;o)
A skyline is an amazing piece of machinery, but what they do to the cars, in terms of "trickin out" just ruins their beauty, AND their preformance (500kg subwoofers in the trunk? i think not, i'd rather be able to drive it)
I agree that the cars are great (especially the aforementioned Skyline), it's just what these DNA-redundant morons do to them that's the problem. That's what I meant!
So we are in agreement then! (The Tricking out bit was what I was referring to!)
Blim- I think one of the reasons people haven't bothered to take a look at it is because they didn't release a demo. That was a missed opportunity by Rockstar and every racing game should release with a demo IMO. Especially when reviews have complained about the cheap AI being the one main flaw in the game.
It's nice to drive the souped up cars on 2 wheels and do crazy things but it is all in fun and purely arcade action.
It is much better than NFS Pro Street, it's similar to Burnout but it's the graphics and gameplay of rme that make this stand out. It has cool weather effects as well and I'm really enjoying playing it despite all the big hitters (games) being released around the same time.
It's nice to drive the souped up cars on 2 wheels and do crazy things but it is all in fun and purely arcade action.
It is much better than NFS Pro Street, it's similar to Burnout but it's the graphics and gameplay of rme that make this stand out. It has cool weather effects as well and I'm really enjoying playing it despite all the big hitters (games) being released around the same time.
:o)
Y'see, I LOVE driving games, just a little put off by the context. But you guys seem to be hitting on points that I would consider essential for a good arcade-style game; could be a rental opportunity at least.
There's just something about it that keeps me returning to it for one more quick go then ends up being a five hour session. The city is certainly immersive, there's people walking around and tons of traffic, it feels more alive than anything NFS or Burnout Paradise have managed. The smack talk adds personality to the game (and rarely repeats even in over 25 hours of play!), the police chases add some extra tension and excitement when you least expect it and the customisation options keep you playing so you can pimp out your cars (and, at least, here there is a photo and replay mode so you can check them out!). The handling is also fantastic, very responsive and the sense of speed is insane in the faster cars... it's real edge of your seat stuff racing at 200mph and avoiding all the traffic, it's done here better than any other game I've played this generation. It also doesn't hurt that the game looks and sound fantastic. The framerate is fantastic with no tearing and nary a framerate drop. Only some occasionally ugly texture seaming and rare instances of slow texture loading mars the presentation. Even the map to ingame transitions and the way they seamlessly blend into cutscenes is superbly done. Restarts only take seconds too even if it has to return you to the other side of the map (Criterion's excuse for leaving the Restart option out of Burnout Paradise was that the loading times would be intrusive! LOL ).
MC:LA is my favourite racing game of this year even with the flaws. Highly recommended provided you have the patience to keep retrying races.
Restarts only take seconds too even if it has to return you to the other side of the map (Criterion's excuse for leaving the Restart option out of Burnout Paradise was that the loading times would be intrusive! LOL ).
MC:LA is my favourite racing game of this year even with the flaws. Highly recommended provided you have the patience to keep retrying races.
And I agree, very poor excuse from Criterion regarding restarts. They made a lot of mistakes with Paradise. Hopefully they'll redeem themselves with the next one.
Does it blow the pants off that game, or..?
Overall is there more (or at least as much) space to drive, compared with the tri-city of the previous game?
Did they go crazy with the alternate routes?
Might try this one, it's been a while since I enjoyed a good racing game. NFS can kiss my ugly butt, this looks way more compelling.
Does it blow the pants off that game, or..?