Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition (Features)

Chris Stead, GamePro Australia

22/03/2005 16:43:06

Make no mistake about it; the Midnight Club series has cred. At the forefront of the car-modding/open city revolution it has continuously delivered innovative, entertaining and gorgeous racing, a trend that is set to continue in the upcoming third instalment. Australian GamePro was lucky enough to sit down and play and early build of the code - our reaction? Well, without even the slightest hint of exaggeration, you could see our smiles from space.

Midnight Club 3 could very well be the sexiest game of all time. It's gorgeous, boy is it gorgeous, melting off the screen and into your brain with such style it's a genuine gaming high. Bass pounds from the speakers - head pumping hip-hop beats - mixed in with the telltale grunt of powerful V8s, the 'swish' of turbo and the ear-piecing sounds of metal grinding against metal. And then you hit the nitro - holy shit! This game is fast. We mean roadrunner fast and its set to leave its would-be competitors in a dust cloud of supreme graphics, glorious physics and exhilarating entertainment.

Thankfully, MC3:DE is set to be as accessible as it is authentic. By partnering with DUB Magazine (see boxout), Rockstar San Diego has ensured that each of the games aftermarket parts look, cost and, in regards to the performance mods, perform just like they do in real life. The garage is packed with officially licensed aftermarket brands, plus everything can be custom coloured using the more-or-less unlimited colour pallet. This includes choosing the colour of your nitro-flame, the tint of your windows or even your high-beams. Not only does this allow you to exactly recreate your favourite celebrity rides, but it also ensures that when gaming online, you car will be a unique representation of your personality.

And you'll be able to get right into the meat of it from the very start. It caters for everyone, from the casual gamer who must look to find their 'X' button, right through to the seasoned campaigner out to bury all under their supremacy. You start the game with $22,000, enough cash to immediately begin tinkering with one of the six initial rides and after only one race, you're cruising around an open city seeking out the many available challenges and earning your living. The benefit of this is online gaming (which goes up to eight players), where start-up gamers can join in straight away with a unique vehicle. There is still plenty to unlock, but you will not have to play forever to reap the best rewards. You can even test-drive cars out of your price range well before you can afford them, giving you a taste of what you can achieve and a thirst to accomplish it.

This is all a component of the Career Mode, MC3:DE's beating heart and the forerunner to the Arcade and Online modes. The game will be accompanied by a cut-scene heavy story (of which no details have yet been released), but there will also be a lot of impetuous on self-motivation and the gameplay itself - you're not going to feel tied down. Once in the city, you're free to do as you please, searching out the many short-cuts and huge jumps, or locating events that you can enter.

The city map, which can be brought up to overlay the screen via the D-pad, will reveal the location of these events, of which there are four main types; Racers, City Races, Club Races, Tournament. Racers are like-minded AI speed freaks looking to win some mullah and can be found just cruising around the city. When you see one of these individuals you can flash your lights at them to indicate your interest and start a race. These races will send you flying through the open city, dodging environmental hazards, traffic, trams and anything else that gets in your way. The City Races are a mixed bad of all out racing (see boxout) and the Club Races are independent affairs where you must meet the club's requirements before being aloud to enter. There are also Tournament events, which are combinations of all three.

During the races, the AI clearly revelled in the series' famous rail-branching, happily taking its own route, avoiding collisions, finding shortcuts and aggressively bumping you out of the way. It also responded well to the dynamic difficulty, slowing down if you crash and speeding up if you're winning to make sure you're are always in the thick of the action. This may make the game more accessible to the casual gamer, but it could prove a sore point for veterans looking for a steeper challenge. Hopefully this element will be better refined in the final version.

As for the car physics and controls, well they are looking just dandy indeed. Driving is a joy, with the controls responding seamlessly to your every whim and feeling ultra-realistic in your hands. Everything was in its right place, with a simple tap of the handbrake mid-turn throwing you into an easily controllable drift. Obviously, this is a derivative of the physics engine which is just insane. Each of the 60+ licensed vehicles handle differently, respond well in the air and are affected by weather changes or nitrous bursts. Again, there is definitely a leaning here towards the casual gamer rather than the hardcore Sim-nut, but it fits well with MC3's style and ensures close, competitive racing in the online environment.

As for the environment, even in this early stage it is the best looking title in its genre. From the well crafted menu interface through to the chart-topping soundtrack the presentation has that cool, hip style that emanates through all of RockStar's titles. There are three huge cities on offer, each of which plays its own distinct role in car culture - San Diego (the home of illegal street racing), Atlanta (renowned for its bling and dubbed up rides) and Detroit (the home of automobiles). While we didn't see enough to discuss the variations between the three, they where immediately recognisable (in much the same way San Fierro caricatures San Francisco in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) riddled with distinct neighbourhoods and emanating their own attitude and style.

MC3:DE definitely has the car-culture atmosphere down pat. Events occur at dawn, dusk or the middle of the night, with the mix of bright lights and suppressive dark casting an eerie, surreal and mischievous vibe to the fast-paced action. The sense of speed is unparalleled, surpassing even Burnout 3, with pedestrians, objects and cars blurring believably as they whip past you. And then there's the nitro - whoa! - the combination of sound and visuals throwing you back into the seat.

Yet it's the small things which complete MC3:DE - even at this early stage it's a sure sign of quality. Were talking about the way water flicks up behind your car in the rain, snow piles up on the side of the road, your hair and clothes flick in the wind, sparks bounce off the duco when you scrape walls, lights reflect off of everything, letters fly out of mailboxes when you run them down, steam rising from hot cars and roads, plus, environmental hazards collapse or explode when clipped by a passing car. It's truly breathtaking stuff. Even being able to replay the races from multiply angles, or watch cop cars leave the traffic and follow the races take the game that extra yard.

This couldn't be made more apparent by the inclusion of a Create a Race mode. We were not given an opportunity to see how this component of the game works, but gamers will be able to design their own course and set the parameters in which it can be raced. That course can then be played online, taking the genre to an all new level of super-coolness.

Yep, MC3:DE has 'it'. Despite the genre rapidly becoming a crowded place, none of MC3:DE's competitors feel as authentic. It's a gritty game that gets right down and into the action without ever compromising its style or grace. It offers the ultimate in modding, the ultimate in driving and the ultimate in online gaming - make no mistake alright, this game is gold.