Midnight Club: Street Racing

"Forgiving physics and AI make this a great buy for casual gamers"

Anyone familiar to racers has traveled the 45-degree and impassable u turns. You have also raced against racers who flawlessly turn corners and avoid obstacles as if they grew up in a racecar. You may have also thrown your controller at the TV in frustration of unforgiving physics.

Enter Midnight Club. You may be familiar with the developer, Angel Studios, who have developed many PC racers including Midtown Madness. And you most definitely heard of the publisher, Rockstar, of GTA3 fame. In Angel Studios latest feat they have graced us with 2 huge cities, London and New York, to race, outrun the cops, and earn bragging rights over your friends. Let me just say that these cities are huge with loads of environment interaction. You can run over pedestrians, knock down streetlights, and drive through windows. But you should really try running over pedestrians. Hearing them yell ''SOMEONE GET ME AN AMBULANCE!'' never gets old.

There are two primary play options, arcade and career. In arcade you get to choose from cruise, head to head, capture the flag, and waypoint. Waypoint races are the most common as the majority of the career races are waypoints as well. In these races you race the city streets activating all the waypoints displayed on the map. The added twist is that you are not confined to a particular order. That’s right you choose the best possible route; no track whatsoever. Head to Head is pretty much a waypoint race with only 2 racers and capture the flag is a two player counter op game that will probably take up the most of your time while playing this game.

Career mode is just a combination of the waypoint and head to head races. But first you must cruise around the city in order to find some action. Follow one of the racers for a while and they will lead you to a racing spot. In head to head you can win the pink slips of the cars you race unlocking more vehicles. These vehicles are essential to beating some of the better racers.

Aside from the multiplayer the game's strongest point is the relaxed physics and opponent AI. In Midnight Club those sharp turns are much easier then in games like Gran Turismo 3 and your opponents actually get in crashes as well creating a more realistic racing environment.

My biggest gripe about this game is the car selection. I’m not even sure if the cars featured in this game actually exist. Don’t expect to be driving Honda's and Mustangs in this game.

Would Grand Admiral buy or rent this game? Definitely buy if you’re a casual gamer who has little experience with racers. People looking for a realistic racing sim should stick with Gran Turismo 3.

Grade:8(B-)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/29/02, Updated 07/29/02