Aside from the ability to anger cops and the ban-all-video games right wing groups, there’s another thing that Rockstar Games’ Midnight Club: Los Angeles shares with the company’s other hit Grand Theft Auto IV – RAGE (as in, Rockstar Advanced Game Engine).
Running on RAGE, MC: LA is able to deliver a next-gen racing title that’s a visceral racing experience that takes place in an open world rendition of Los Angeles.
As with most racing games, the plot centers around you trying to prove to the underground racing community that you’ve got “it,” while taking on rival racers and their crews in a effort to bolster your rep and ultimately become the street king of the City of Angels.
Along the way, you’ll get being the wheel of rides from the tuner, muscle, exotic and bikes classes, whose ranks respectively include: Mazda’s 2008 RX-8, a Dodge’s 1970 Challenger R/T, Aston Martin’s 2008 DB9 Vanquish and Kawasaki’s 2008 Ninja ZX14. Like its predecessor Midnight Club: Dub Edition, MC:LA’s customization options are almost limitless, allowing a racer to trick out anything from rim sizes and type, to painting individual panels of a car in different colors and upgrade performance and body style. Then, there’s the vinyl editor, which can be used to create or modify any sticker. But MC:LA’s real thrills come from revving past the redline in races, which due to solid controls are .
The types of races you’ll take on include simple time trials, point-to-point races, and highway races. As you burn rubber from the outskirts of Beverly Hills to the glitzy streets of West Hollywood, you’ll encounter every street racers biggest foe, the police. Though the police aren’t overwhelming difficult in MC:LA, but they can prove to be a nuisance, as they’ll try to ram you off the road and total out your ride so they can arrest you. However there are some instances when 5-0 pulls over you that you can make a mad dash back into your car and leave them in dust and earn rep points.
But while you may be able to escape the long arm of the law with ease, you won’t be able to do the same with other racers. MC: LA’s overall difficulty is a few notches higher than previous installments, which may prove frustrating for first time players and casual veterans of the franchise. But like learning to drive a stick-shift, if you practice a little, you’ll be able to master the courses. If that still proves to be too difficult, you can hop online and through multiplayer play against up to 16 other players in a variety of games.
Midnight Club: Los Angeles is available now for PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360.
In related news: Midnight Club: Los Angeles and Jordan Brand have teamed up for a limited edition sneaker. Check it out here.
