Midnight Club Los Angeles is a fast paced arcade style racing game. The visuals are sharp and vibrant with impressive lighting effects and a slick re-creation of the streets of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
The fourth in a relatively successful series, Midnight Club Los Angeles takes a tried and tested formula and juices it up with some impressive next-gen visuals and new locations.<\/p>\n
Some additions to the series include a working day-night cycle and some nifty weather affects. These welcome updates help mix things up in what can otherwise become a rather repetitive experience. Cars will slide more in wet weather and different times of day will render different levels of traffic.<\/p>\n
The storyline is horribly overused, with the typical “new guy on the streets trying to make a name for himself” mechanism working overtime. The scripted scenes and dialogue are also terribly cheesy, with pseudo hard-core street lingo, ridiculous bling and general hip-hop gang culture being shoved down the player’s throat. This doesn’t really matter though, as people generally don’t buy these games for their creative profundity.<\/p>\n
The most important thing in a racing game is the racing. And in this regard Midnight Club Los Angeles does a fine job. A handy GPS system makes navigating the map effortless. There are a couple of different race types available in the game. They will all require the player to navigate traffic and keep ahead of the cops in pursuit. Some races will guide the player with specific way-points, while others will offer more choice in a sort of long-range point-to-point scheme which requires on-the-move route planning.<\/p>\n
The sense of speed which Midnight Club Los Angeles delivers is impressive. The steering and general feel of the different vehicles varies, but is generally quite typical of an arcade racer. If you are looking for a more dedicated driving simulator then you are better off with the likes of Forza Motorsport 2.Midnight club is a full throttle arcade racer.<\/p>\n
Midnight Club Los Angeles makes use of what is termed a “rubber band” racing mechanism. This means that opponents will slow down and speed up depending on how the player is performing in a particular race. I assume that this system is chosen because it keeps things interesting, and theoretically makes for more exiting, competitive racing. It means that whenever you make significant ground on an opponent, their racing instantly improves so that they catch up to you. Likewise, whenever you crash or lose ground your opponents will automatically slow down. While this does make things more intense, it also means that the race’s outcome will always be determined by its last 2km stretch, leaving the player feeling like everything up until that point was really quite pointless.<\/p>\n
In terms of variety, Midnight Club Los Angeles shines with a healthy amount of real-world cars, including muscle cars, tuners and exotics. All cars handle differently and there is a reasonable level of depth in the customisation department. There are also motorbikes available, but these are limited to just three.<\/p>\n
Midnight Club Los Angeles is ultimately a good arcade racing game. Great visuals and sound effects combined with a solid game engine and an impressive variety of cars and customizability make it an above average arcade racer.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the “rubber band” racing mechanism spoils things a bit, and ultimately makes it feel like the game is toying with you most of the time.<\/p>\n