Midnight Club: Street Racing

"Decent"

The illegal sport still done in the suburbs of London and New York is probably the last thing you would think of making a game about, but Rockstar and Angel have decided to make one and its not half bad.
In case you were wondering what Street Racing is, well it is a race around a certain course in a section of a city like London where they must reach win. Simple, NO. Since the sport is highly illegal and prohibited by English law you can bet that there are going to be Police officers scattered about and numerous casualties. Fortunately this sport has not been a problem in the late nineties.
On the game now, I will start where I always start. The graphics. The graphics are good but nothing special, really it is an updated version of Driver and the backgrounds are matched by the quality of Driver 2’ so not brilliant then. The cars however are a different thing altogether. The car physics and chassis are true to real life Volkswagens and other numerous cars even though they have not been given the official licences for using real car names. The best things about the cars however are the snazzy shining effects that are so over the top that they look absolutely stunning. The car graphics do have problems however, when you pass under alight there is no reflection on the cars bonnet that kind of makes the whole thing fairly pointless since Rockstar said they were striving for realistic cars and environments. However, saying all this, it does not really need Next-Gen. graphics because the best thing about this game is fun factor itself.
As aforementioned the fun factor is huge. The environments are huge scaling huge parts of London down to the finest detail, and this sort of freedom rivals that of GTA and the Driver series but the fact that most of the environment is destructible takes this game above the Driver level. In fact one of the best things about the game is knocking over lampposts and destroying the gates of Buckingham Palace and ramming the door. Hilarious. The multiplayer is another factor and is more entertaining than the solo affair. There are all the options you would expect in all the first person shooters like capture the flag, and they are combined with the great racing modes and if you want you can just cruise around in two player and try to topple a double-decker bus together. I have done it once in the Super Taxi, rock hard mind.
The sound of the game is good, not great. The cars themselves sound all right, but they are not all different and some cars sound just like their lesser predecessors even though there meant to have 300hp more. Bizarre. The voices are very repetitive as well every time pedestrians are knocked down, they will say one of two things, “Save My Boy” or “Get Me To A Hospital” which the first time you hear is hilarious but can **** you off quite a bit later on. Also the British lass who you race consistently calls you a ****** when you edge ahead of her. Pointless.
The gameplay is a let down spot for the game though. When your going slow the controls are responsive and very sensitive but travel at high speeds and the car will not stay straight which makes dodging in and out of traffic quite fiddley. The speed meter is accurate though; you do feel as if you’re going 70mph or 132mph so that’s not all bad, all you need now is a fan to simulate the wind in your hair.
The solo affair will probably take you a few days to complete, I completed the game in 2 days, but I like to think of myself as an accomplished gamer as I have being playing games since I was 5 and have 12 years of gaming experience. Not bad eh? Anyway, the game. As I was saying, a few days and it will be completed. But the multiplayer will keep you going for ages and add a few weeks onto the lifespan. Not to mention the amount of cars that are hidden throughout the game. There are about 20 hidden cars including the fabled double-decker that is fun for driving over other cars with.
So, overall Rockstar games have made a second decent racer, (Rockstar also made Smugglers Run) this being the better game, and its not half bad but like Smugglers Run it can be completed pretty quick and no big four player action. Oh well can’ have it all.

score 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/10/03