Rockstar Games are well known for their smash hit Grand Theft Auto games in which players can steal cars and drive around virtual cities doing pretty much anything as they see fit. Whilst in these games the driving element is good, it’s not on par with a thoroughbred racing title. Well Rockstar ventured into the world of racing with Midnight Club 2 which featured some neat arcade racing action for offline and online play. Well since then racing games have kind of evolved and with recent movies being the inspiration and of course the ever growing popularity of the street racing scene means that us gamers get to reap the benefits from the comfort of our armchairs and sofas. Enter Midnight Club 3:DUB the latest racer to appear on all systems and one that is filled with high octane city based driving.

Gameplay:

Well the game offers a choice of Career modes and standard arcade racing modes amongst other options such as Xbox Live play. The Career mode is the real “meat and veg” of the game and follows the exploits of your character as you make a name for yourself and gain much kudos from the street racing scene.
Starting off the game with limited cash players have to choose from a small selection of vehicles to start off their career. Whilst there aren’t too many cars to choose from initially, more become unlocked as you progress through this mode. Once a vehicle has been selected then players can opt to spend any left over cash on upgrading the car or head out onto the mean streets to get involved with the “nitty gritty” of street racing.

Looking at the upgrades (I’m sure at the game’s start you wont be able to afford many) you can opt to change the look of your car and also what lies beneath the bonnet. However once again you are restricted to what you can upgrade here as some higher level upgrades are required to be unlocked first. So, you can tune the engine for increased horse power or perhaps add a ROM chip for improved performance; add some new tyres or suspension the choice is yours. For those of you who are more impatient then there is a handy option to auto tune your car which basically does the work for you with a simply click of a button (provided you have enough cash).

What is more; players can opt to turn a simple car into a beast of a car by applying cosmetic changes to their chosen vehicles appearance. Add a new front or rear bumper, side skirts or even a huge rear spoiler to make your car the ultimate pimp-mobile. To top it off players can then add Vinyl’s and decals to their car for that finishing touch. Whilst there are not so many to choose from at the game’s start, as with most things in this game will have to be unlocked via extensive play. The system used here is very easy and extremely uncomplicated so that most gamers will find it a breeze to trick their car with minimum amount of fuss. Players can return to the garage at anytime to further improve their car or buy new ones should you so choose.

So you have purchased a vehicle, maybe added your own personal touch well now its time to hit the streets and do some serious racing. When you hit the streets in Midnight Club 3 you basically have one of 3 cities to cruise around at your own leisure, more cities become unlocked as you progress through the game. Each city is filled with regular traffic and pedestrians and is practically a living breathing city for you to tear around and cause carnage. Cruising might be fun but it doesn’t earn you any cash or respect; so with a quick look at your map you will see various points of interest where you can participate in a number of events. These events range from checkpoint races to challenges with other drivers and then some more restricted events which require certain vehicles such as motorcycles.

Racing itself is fast and very furious as you hurtle at breakneck speed through traffic whilst avoiding obstacles and sometimes even the police who will try and stop you. The sense of speed and handling here is very much arcade and is extremely fast indeed. What is more players can earn special moves depending on the vehicle that is being driven, things like slipstream boosting to nitrous oxide boosts and then more obscure things like shockwave moves that clear traffic out the way or bullet time where everything slows down enabling you to be more precise with your driving. These moves are very much arcade influenced and to be honest I found that I rarely used them other than the more conventional slipstream boosts.

Progress is fairly slow to begin with as there seems to be a huge number of events to take part in. However once you start winning a few races and earning some cash to spend on your car do things start to hot up. For starters more things in the garage become unlocked and eventually other racers will start taking notice and will perhaps want to challenge you again. Also by winning events you get given more vehicles to mess around with and eventually will unlock another city to test your mettle.

Graphics:

The graphics in Midnight Club 3 are adequate and for such large areas and do a good job of mimicking a city. There are plenty of areas to drive around which is full of life and colour. However on close inspection things become less detailed and perhaps aren’t up to scratch on Xbox considering the PS2 version looks very similar. The car models are adequate but are perhaps not as detailed as they could be; that said the customise options are varied and plentiful which is a good thing. As mentioned earlier the sense of speed is actually very good and will make you feel in “the zone” at times when trying to avoid other cars and the like whilst competing for that first place finish.

In the career mode you are presented with cut scenes as you progress through the game, which are well scripted in a “street” kind of way as your “homey” gives you the run down on what’s cooking out on the streets. These scenes are welcome and add some personality to the game.

Sound:

Sound is actually not bad, what with some good yet clichéd performances from the voice actors to some thumping tunes to race with. In particular I enjoyed the drum and bass music on offer which I’m sure not everyone will like but I felt it captured that street feel very well. Some of the other music on offer felt a little lame, namely the techno which rarely sounded like techno at all in my opinion. What is good, is the fact that players can import their own music in the game which is a great feature especially if you’re not happy with the selection already on offer. Other sound effects are what you would expect from an arcade racer and do the job good enough.

Longevity:

Midnight Club 3 is a fairly long game and with the many races and game types to participate in career and arcade mode means you’ll be busy for quite some time with either single player, split screen, system link or Xbox Live play. What is more players can also make their own custom courses on any of the 3 cities and then use them over Xbox Live giving a near infinite amount of races. With the many vehicles on offer and the customisation options available means that Midnight Club 3 has loads more variety than either of its two predecessors.

Overall:

Midnight Club 3 DUB is a welcome arcade street racing title with enough bits and pieces to mess around with to keep the pimp in us all quite happy. Whilst some of the moves are a little over the top and the race handling very arcade means that those of you looking for a more serious racer should perhaps look elsewhere. I found the game to be enjoyable and more importantly fun to mess around with despite being a little repetitive. If you are into your street racing and can perhaps overlook some not so pleasing graphics for an Xbox title then you will do well to invest in this game; otherwise give it a rent and see if its your thing or not. Midnight Club 3 DUB is a great addition and big improvement to the series.