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4.5 stars
"A good street racer but with its flaws"
Pros: Easily accessable
Cons: A bit meh in some bits
Summary: Midnight Club was one of the first street-racing games. The first was given a poor response in the UK (although received critical acclaim in the US) but the second improved on everything. The game's main selling point was the racing system - checkpoints sprawled all over a city, and it's your decision as to how you get to them - the game was very non-linear. Midnight Club 3 continues this system and with it brings fully licensed damageable cars and after-market tuning parts - and an endorsement from U.S lifestyle magazine DUB.
Rockstar haven't let down here. The sense of speed is incredible - enough to rival Need for Speed or Juiced. The cars' likenesses are good - details are so good that you can make out insignias and the tiniest badges - and the three cities you are given to drive in (San Diego, Atlanta, Detroit) look good at night. Alas, there is no daylight sky here - it seems to be a taboo in street racing games. The pedestrians (no violence) are well detailed if poorly animated. The damage system - although well represented - seems to happen in a certain order as your damage meter climbs up to the top. An incredible effort from the San Diego team.
With so many street racing games on the shelves, the gameplay can feel a little overused. Rockstar have pulled out the stops to ensure that Midnight Club 3 is different. Aside from one of the biggest, most detailed customisation systems ever seen in a videogame - you can customise badges, number plates, even the tire width and profile - the racing is well handled too. The handling is extremely forgiving, almost like Rockstar want to make you feel like you are handling an over-tuned, 24-inch Cadillac SUV with incredible professionalism. The developers want this game to be fast and fun, not detailed and intricate like Gran Turismo 4. The inclusion of extra features such as Roar (make your engine rev so noisily all other vehicles get out the way very fast) or Zone (everything slows down so you can take a corner with incredible precision) makes for extra variety.
Engine noises are spot on - a big beefy SUV sounds like a big beefy SUV, not an Aprilla sports bike, and the music is varied over many genres (Hip-Hop, Dance, Techno, Rock etc.) from artists such as Ash, Idlewild, Beenie Man, Jimmy Eat World, and Sean Paul. The music always seems spot on, like when you are driving fast down a long straight to a fast dance track. The voice acting is good and believable, including your comrades who give you a helping hand in getting cars, tuning and finding races. Some songs do grate though.
The lifespan of MC3 is almost endless. You'll never get bored of buying new cars to experiment with and modify, as there are thousands of modification combinations. The inclusion of a Race Editor mode allows you to make your own tracks in the city, and the Online mode lets you take these tracks online to show off. Online shouldn't be attempted until you have a top-spec car however, as it can be a tad unfair if you are in a Golf and your opponent a McLaren. MC3 offers almost infinite replay value, although the Career mode should be finished in a couple of weeks.
Midnight Club 3 betters everything done by its predecessors and more. The inclusion of licensed vehicles and everything from bling Mercedes drop-tops to massive SUVs allows you to create for yourself one of those big cars you see on Cribs. This game is at the other end of the scale from NFS and Juiced - which tend to revolve around less exotic cars and more the cars you would see your local chav chugging around in. MC3 is in a league of its own, and there's no higher complement than that.
Graphics - 4/5
Gameplay - 4.5/5
Sound - 4.5/5
Lifespan - 4.5/5
Overall - 4.5/5
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