Midtown Madness 3 review (Xbox)

Midtown Madness 3's online mode has been designed with ease of use in mind. You can join a server midgame, and when cruising or between games, it's easy to quickly drop out and select another car, and you don't have to unlock cars in single-player to enjoy racing the higher-end models online. These things make the game more accessible than its nearest competition, Midnight Club II. The game definitely could have used some online statistic tracking to create a more meaningful sense of competition, but the game works very well online over standard consumer-grade broadband, and, more importantly, Midtown Madness 3 is just plain fun to play against other human competitors.

Graphically, Midtown Madness does a decent job of presenting city streets and auto racing. The game moves at a smooth frame rate and has a good amount of detail. However, the game really doesn't give you a very good sense of speed, and 100mph usually feels more like 45-60mph. The environments are large, and many monuments and other recognizable locations are included, but the average buildings and storefronts that fill the streets don't look so great. Overall, the game comes together to look good, but not particularly great. The game also has support for 480p.

The game's sound is your standard collection of racing noises and tire screeching, and all of that is done well. The voices used throughout the game, however, are quite terrible, and the music isn't much better. The game has custom-soundtrack support, and it's highly recommended that you use it.

Make no mistake, Midtown Madness 3 is an online game. The single-player modes are simply run-of-the-mill checkpoint races that don't really add anything meaningful to the overall package. The online play really saves it, though, as the nice collection of modes and the ease with which you can jump into games or change cars as needed definitely put the focus on fun. Players looking for a terrific online racing game won't be disappointed.