Midnight Club II

UPC: 710425292217

Platform: Xbox

Publisher: Rockstar Games

Developer: Rockstar San Diego

Category: Racing

Style(s): Mission-Based Racing

Synopsis: Developer Rockstar San Diego returns to the gritty urban streets for their sequel to the PlayStation 2 launch title Midnight Club: Street Racing. Players once again assume the role of an underground street racer as they embark on a potentially profitable career spanning the world, with events held in Paris, Los Angeles, and Tokyo. Rather than confine racers to a specific route on a closed-off track, Midnight Club II offers open-ended courses within each city that feature shortcuts, tunnels, bridges, jumps, overpasses, and more as players do whatever they can to stay ahead of the competition. Each city is also filled with animated pedestrians and traffic, essentially serving as moving obstacles that can interfere with a player's high-stakes race. New high-performance vehicles are available to drive, unlock, and store in the player's garage, including the debut of motorcycles. Motorcycles are fast but also more difficult to control, requiring new skills to master as players weave across traffic and zip through narrow alleys. Over 28 hot rods, muscle cars, and rally cars round out the vehicle lineup, and players can perform stunts such as wheelies, tipping cars on two wheels, 360? spins, burnouts, and more to help navigate the course or to impress the competition. Since the basic premise of the game is illegal, players should expect the police to engage in high-speed pursuits and attempt to stop them from completing the race. As in games like Need for Speed, law enforcement can call for roadblocks and rely on helicopter patrols to put an end to the competition. Also adding to the challenge is variable weather, including rain, fog, and lightning storms that can hurt visibility. In addition to high-definition television support, Midnight Club II allows Xbox owners to compete against up to three other players simultaneously via split screen, or up to seven other racers via Xbox Live or with the Xbox System Link Cable. While online, players can trash talk their opponents using the Xbox Communicator headset. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Package Contents: 44-page Instruction Manual

Controls: Joystick/Gamepad

The full-color manual looks great, but the content is lacking. Players receive a map of each city along with very brief descriptions of the controls and modes of play. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

The environments are dark but extremely detailed, with excellent lighting effects used to bring the cities to life. No slowdown is present, which is impressive considering the amount of pedestrians, traffic, and activity going on during the races. The Xbox version one-ups the PS2 game by featuring HDTV support for 16x9 televisions. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

The first of a torrent of racing titles inspired by The Fast and the Furious (including a game based directly on the hit film), Midnight Club II expands on the PlayStation 2 launch title with three all-new cities, more visual detail, and the addition of motorcycles for added fun. While the game borrows many ideas from previous racing games -- including Tokyo Xtreme Racer, Burnout, Crazy Taxi, and even Grand Theft Auto III -- those who were disappointed by wannabes like 2002's Test Drive will be quite pleased with the results from Rockstar San Diego, formerly Angel Studios. Players are initially given one car and must race against a rival to win another vehicle. What follows is a series of progressively challenging races against specific characters until the player has mastered each city's underground circuit. Unlike most racing titles, players first select their opponent by driving up and flashing their high beams. This initiates a chase where the opponent leads players to the race itself -- fall too far behind and it's back to square one. These introductory sequences are some of the most exciting races in the game because the computer driver behaves in a realistic manner -- actually feigning left and right before swerving at the last possible moment to trick you into hitting a building or oncoming vehicle. The types of races vary depending on the character. There is a traditional race, where players zip from point A to point B, passing checkpoints in sequence, and following a map or an arrow indicating where the next checkpoint is located. Another format has players hitting checkpoints in any order before finding the exit, while another challenges them to get to one destination and back within a time limit. Computer opponents are ruthless in many of these modes, which is great if you want competitive action but cheap if you value fair play. It is not uncommon for rivals to slam into your vehicle for no apparent reason other than to take you out -- which is hard to believe when everyone is trying to reach the finish line as quickly as possible. The AI also takes a page from the Mario Kart series, where it is preferable to drop back and bide your time until the finish line is in reach, then use a turbo boost to catapult ahead of rivals at the last possible second. By jumping out too quickly, players will have to drive the rest of the way flawlessly or they will find the entire pack zooming past them in a second (interestingly enough, computer racers travel in packs, so players can't build a considerable lead no matter how fast they're moving). On the plus side, computer racers will make mistakes, hitting objects while trying to cut corners or to reach certain shortcuts. Computer racers also vary their performance based on your racing -- start out slow and they will lag behind, giving you a chance to catch up. You can even redo a race and finish in the same spot despite improving your overall time; the rest of the pack will adjust accordingly. While this is enough to frustrate certain players (you sometimes win by a fraction of a second), you can also use the AI to your advantage. The confusing scramble to hit multiple checkpoints in any order is made easier knowing you can follow a computer character's car throughout the entire race and then gas it up for the final stretch. Unfortunately, certain events during races seem scripted, such as the tractor trailer that conveniently passes in front of an off-ramp during the middle of a heated race, diminishing the thrill of racing in supposedly random environments. Players can simply pass underneath the trailer rather than avoid it, but this scene happens each and every time you enter Maria's race while in Los Angeles. While the traffic may not always be random, the cities look nothing short of fantastic. The lighting effects are first rate, even better than the PlayStation 2 version, with streetlights, headlights, and buildings all bathing the night in a warm glow. Players pass pedestrians strolling across sidewalks who shout at them to watch where they are going, and hitting mailboxes, parking meters, or street lights sends mail, coins, or electrical sparks raining down to the pavement. The cities are enormous, broken down into five or six interconnected areas to keep most individual races under three minutes. In Los Angeles, for example, players will streak through scaled down versions of Hollywood, Downtown, Watts, Santa Monica, and the Industrial District. There are shops, the LAX airport, garages, gas stations, and a freeway system. There's no slowdown either, which is crucial in a game that promises to deliver white-knuckle thrills. Midnight Club II succeeds in this department, especially when weaving through oncoming traffic on a motorcycle or using powerful nitros. There are some complaints, however. Hitting traffic causes the cars in front of your vehicle to swing to the left or right, effectively blocking your path, rather than crumpling or smashing. The collision physics are loose, so don't expect devastating crashes or pileups to happen because you swerve into a bus -- it will slow you down briefly and then you'll just continue on your merry way. The concept of Midnight Club -- racing at night -- also means players have to experience these wonderful cities under the cover of darkness throughout the entire game. There are also fog and rain to deal with, often obstructing the view to a few feet in front of the vehicle. Players can replay each city in Cruise Mode, which gives them unlimited time to explore cities without worrying about the races, yet there are no bonuses or incentives given to drive through the cities other than to familiarize players with their layouts. What's the point? Why not reward players for jumping off certain ramps or buildings? Why not hide keys or similar items around the cities to unlock bonus cars? Why can't players have the police chase them as they sometimes do during races? You probably know where this is going. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City offered all this and much, much more, albeit in only one locale. There's no cash, points, or stats tracked for winning races, nor is there a mode where you can challenge random opponents on the street. Without a monetary incentive, there's no option to customize existing cars or to purchase new ones. And the lack of additional objectives means the single-player races found in both the Career and Arcade modes can become tiresome. While Midnight Club II supports multiplayer competition, solo gamers looking for a deep racing game should probably look elsewhere. Xbox Live players will be able to create their own races and checkpoints within a selected city before competition, or they can engage in the addictive Battle Mode. Both games found in Battle Mode are capture-the-flag variants played with power-ups littered across the city. Players can use shields, turn invisible, instantly swap positions, and stymie an opponent vehicle's steering, view, or acceleration. The games are simple -- race to the flag or detonator and then bring it back to a specific location -- but they are quite fun with the right group of people. Unfortunately, a missed multiplayer opportunity was a game where players could be the police and engage in high-speed pursuits of their friends. Midnight Club II is the right game at the wrong time. It has been released at a point when the bar for arcade-style racing games has been raised, thanks to titles like Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Midnight Club II offers three sprawling cities, an often thrilling sense of speed, and a number of exciting possibilities that simply aren't explored. It's like being given the keys to Disney World and finding out the majority of attractions are not operational; you're left in a magical place with little to do other than to go on the same few rides that happen to be working. The online component is addictive and is almost reason enough to purchase Midnight Club II, but solo players will be yearning for things to do in the cities outside of competing in more checkpoint races. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Despite a solid online component with voice support, the existing modes of play aren't deep enough to draw players back on a consistent basis. Both Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City offer more bang for the buck. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

While none of the songs are familiar, there are more than 30 tracks of house and trance music included in the game. The one drawback to the sound is the annoying comments by the characters, who insult you throughout the race. In-game Dolby Digital offers enveloping sound with strong rear speaker activity. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

For sheer thrills, Midnight Club II delivers, although some will be frustrated by the computer AI. A few additional modes of play would have helped make the game more enjoyable. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

the game requires Joystick/Gamepad.