Midnight Club: Los Angeles

"I hope you have extra controllers..."

...You're going to need them once you play this game, because you'll be smashing your current ones into oblivion due to this game's insane difficulty level. But we'll get more into that later...

Graphics: 9/10

This is one point of the game that is undeniably amazing. Everything is extremely detailed, from the cars to the map to the buildings...it's all beautiful. Speeding down the freeway dodging cars can sometimes be a hassle simply because you lose your focus from admiring the detail of your surroundings. All the buildings look unique, and landmarks are equally impressive. This is definitely one of the most immersive gaming environments I've ever seen, and the city is large enough to really make you feel like you're driving from one end of Los Angeles to the other. On top of that, DLC that has been announced will add even more to the currently available map, and if it looks half as good as the main city does, it'll be a very welcome addition to an already beautiful city.

Sound: 8/10

I'm not that picky when it comes to sound, but as far as I can tell, everything sounds spot-on. The car engines sound great, running into things will give you a satisfying crunch, and the voice acting is very believable. The music in the game wasn't quite my taste outside of a song or 2, but there's always the 360 dashboard music player to fix that. Overall, the sound is solid and adds to the immersion factor already provided by the graphics, for a very good and impressive combination.

Gameplay: 8/10

Everything is very easy to navigate and the controls are about standard for most racing games. They're all simple enough for someone to pick up and play, but with practice you can learn to master them, which really helps when you're racing. The cars all handle differently, but none of them are overly difficult to get used to once you've used them briefly. The story isn't exactly deep, but it works for the game overall. Its an open-ended world, so you can go wherever you want whenever you want to, which is always nice, however driving from one side of the city to the other can be a chore if you're looking for a certain race, and your target is moving as you're trying to find them. Altogether, the gameplay is good for the most part. It may be a hassle driving long distances instead of being able to jump right into a race from the menu, but at the same time it adds to the feeling that you're actually there, so it's sort of a double edged sword for some people.

Difficulty: 1/10

I guess you could also call that a 10/10 if you wanted to (with 10 being the hardest). This is where the game falls flat on its face. This game is difficult to the point where it's not even enjoyable to play. It's so difficult I had to make difficulty a full category in the review!

Now, I'm not someone who plays racing games 24/7, but I own a number of racing games, including previous MC titles that I've beaten, so I'm not a stranger to racing. Never in my life have I become so fed up with a video game. This game was punishingly difficult from the first few races, and it doesn't get any better as the game progresses, either. Rubberband AI will fly by you without warning, plowing through traffic like it's not even there. You, however, will undoubtedly crash into something (be it a wall, a parked car, or oncoming traffic), and WILL 100% certainly end up facing the wrong way, guaranteed. By the time you turn yourself around, everyone will have passed you, and their lead will be insurmountable.

Rockstar obviously knew this was a problem, so instead of making you start over and get nothing, you earn money and reputation points simply for finishing the race. It's no fun, however, to grind away at the same races you can win over and over to gain rep and unlock new items. If you don't want to take my word for it, read any major gaming site/magazine review about it, they'll tell you the same thing. Apparently, it became so much of a problem that Rockstar had to release a patch to make the first 1/3 of the game easier. Having already been toward the end of the game (by mindlessly grinding through easy races for rep, mind you), I can't tell you if the update had any kind of effect, but it's a sign that this game was just too hard from the beginning.

Overall: 7/10

I wanted to score this game higher, I really did. It would have easily been an 8, or probably even a 9, had I been able to actually enjoy the game itself. I love the MC series, and I also have NFSU, and I will say that this game as a whole, completely destroys NFSU. However, super frustrating races and unfair rubberband AI smother the great game that this could have been, and leave you with something that's more rage inducing than it is fun. The only reason I'm still playing is to be able to unlock more cars to customize and have fun with, as I have no interest in the story anymore because of the level of difficulty.

I strongly advise you rent this first to see if you can handle the relentless difficulty. You may be happy you did, trust me.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/05/09

Game Release: Midnight Club: Los Angeles (US, 10/20/08)