Customer Reviews

Midnight Club: Los Angeles

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

GAMEPLAY:

I have only invested a small amount of time in the game so far, I have no more then one car; (1998 Nissan 240SX), but in this short time invested, I can tell you that the handling far exceeded my expectations. The cars have a serious weight to them, and its an excellent balance between an arcade and simulation feel. There are some interesting features within the game as well that really stand out. For starters, you have the ability to purchase "special abilities," these are things like "electro magnetic pulse, or EMP," that allow you to temporarily take down the oppositions cars. Its really quite a neat idea I believe, and even thou I'm far from attaining those abilities, I think it will add a certain element of strategy to the game that we've yet to see in a racing game.

Is the game difficult you ask? I've been reading a lot about people complaining that they find this game a lil difficult... Well I gotta say, it certainly isn't easy by an means. But it sure as heck ain't terribly hard or impossible like some people would have you believe either. Yes you have to know how to drive, if you can't drive in the real world, don't expect to ace this game, its a challenge, you must make sure you pay attention to where your traveling, and also watch for traffic, it's quite the intense experience I must say.

GRAPHICS:

Excellent in this department. I was surprised to find out that the developers used the "RAGE" engine that GTAIV is based off of. It runs very smoothly so far, and everything looks excellent. There's also a great sense of speed in this game, which is a must for any racing game, but especially a street racing game. Each of the games 45 or so cars and bikes are excellently detailed, and they all include INTERIOR VIEWS!!! Heck yes, I expect nothing less anymore, and I really hope the next installment of FORZA Motorsport will include dashboards for EVERY car as well. The interior view is great and it's the view I use the most. I must also point out that its a nicer seating position in the car then the latest installment of Project Gotham Racing. PGR3 had a great seating position in the car where you could clearly see the gauges, as well as where you were heading. But PGR4's quite frankly sucked, at least in my opinion.

The city of Angels looks absolutely incredible in this game, and its; almost like being there. There's a great amount of detail included in the city, and it's just a joy to look at while driving around or racing by at 180MPH! Another interesting feature is the awesome way you transition between the full city map and the game. It's very much like Test Drive Unlimited, and those that have played TDU will know exactly what I mean. Its extreamly smooth in it's transitions between the map of the city and the game, and you get wisked from a real time birds-eye view of LA right back into your car at the touch of a button, magnificent!

CUSTOMIZATION:

I gave this area of the game its own heading, because there is simply so much of it that you can do and its generally a huge aspect of the game. Everything and anything on your car can be customized, from the body panels, to the doors, to the headlights and taillights, interior features etc, and of course performance mods. Here is a quick list of what can be done:

EXTERIOR:

- Body panels, front and rear, as well as side skirts
- Wide body kits
- Headlights
- Taillights
- Exhaust tip
- Rims
- Tires (branding and tread pattern, or tire model)
- Neon
- Ride Height
- Paint (Pearl, Metallic, Sparkle, Gloss, Matte)
- Roof and hood
- Carbon fibre panels
- VINYLS

INTERIOR:

- Colour scheme
- Seats
- Neons
- Gauges
- Steering wheel
- Floor mats

PERFORMANCE: all categories have three stages, and you may choose the brands of the parts you install..

- Intake
- Exhaust
- Suspension
- Boosted / NA (Turbocharge or Supercharge)
- Engine Internals strengthened
- Roll bars
- Brakes
- Tires
- Nitrous

(there are more, I can't remember them all at the moment)

Another nice touch is that if you aren't terribly in to tuning cars, then you may choose to have the game "auto tune" your car for you. It will select the best parts for you automatically if you choose, to take the guess work out of it for you.

CONTROL:

No problem here, like I mentioned in the gameplay section, the cars handle very nicely. You are afforded a modest amount of drift control around corners via the e-brake, or just turning in hard and asjusting the accelerator appropriately. I have remapped the right joystick to allow me freedom of head movement in the cabin, so I can look left, right, up, or down. Thats something else that deserves a mention, we've come to the point in console gaming it seems, after so many years that developers are starting to allow us to customize the control scheme are selves, which is EXCELLENT!

AUDIO:

Another well done department here. The tires sound just right biting the pavement, and the engines pur at idle or scream under hard acceleration. My 240SX sounds bang on to my buddies real 240, and screams and pops like the real deal at all the right times. The music is a nice selection of songs, but I prefer to have the in game race music off so i can hear my car. Sound effects are well don, I can hear the gear changes when I'm in the interior view, little details like that really bring the game alive.

MULTIPLAYER:

I really have no input here, as I have yet to try it, but it seems like it might be awesome, you should be able to go online with some buddies and just drive around LA or race, which ever you choose. You can also race for PINKS!

REPLAY VALUE:

I'd say its probably fairly high, as you ca go back and re-run each race for another attempt at besting your score, and earn more money. Although there may be slightly less incentive to re try the whole career again once completed, which is usually a tend with racing games anyway, so no loss there.

BOTTOM LINE:

U CAN EDIT EVERY THING THAT YOU DID IN THE LAST ONE IS THIS ONE PLUS MORE.

BUY THIS GAME IF YOU HAVE AN INTEREST IN RACING AT ALL! Its really well done in my opinion, with subtle touched like interiors in every car, and damage, as well as the amazing selection of car customization options, and just generally good amount of racing, its worth every penny of the asking price.

Well I don't know if anyone's interested, but it would have saved me some time and money knowing which version was better on either the PS3 or the XBOX 360.
HANDS DOWN...XBOX 360...it almost looks like the difference between an original PS"2" game and an XBOX 360 game. I had both systems set to the same HD settings on the console and my television(HDTV 57") channels were identically set as well. The PS3 version just simply looked blurry and bland in color. The XBOX 360 version had much more detail and was crisp. I drove to the exact spot on both systems and my kids and I sat and watched the people walk by and noticed all the texture on the cars and pedestrians. The difference was noticable instantly. I wouldn't have believed it was such a huge difference if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.
However, I would have taken someone elses word for it. I hope this helps

This game is pretty awesome. Took a while to get used to the handling of the cars, but once I got that down- I completely dominate.

Never was a fan of the other MC games. My buddy actually put me on this one. I give it a 5 of 5 for graphics. And 5 of 5 for playability.

ok, the first midnight clubs were cool, but this one brings it to a whole new level. the graphics first off are the best, maybe a little better than gta iv, and i am ashamed of saying that. around the city of L.A. you will see real stores and logos, such as best buy, game stop, pizza hut etc. the cars are awesome, if you just start out playing it will take a little getting used to, because you dont know the controls. this is the best midnight club game

This is my first time playing a game from the Midnight Club series. It is a fun game that has a lot of similarites in play to the GTA series. My opinion is that if you love GTA and you are looking for a racing game, this is the one for you. I hate how some racing games make it such a pain in the rear to handle the car. You spend more time learning to deal with that than having fun racing. This game does a good job of not doing that. The cars are user friendly but still take skill to weave in and out of traffic and evade the police.
My only con to this game is that I wish there were more variety of vehicles to buy. Other than that it is a fun game.

Simply the best racing game ever i mean if you like speed,
You can even two tone the seats to much to name I would buy this game twice! "Metro and Rain gives it two thumbs up".

I ordered this game for my husband and he was amazed by the graphics and how real this game appears. He and all of the kids are enjoying it every day

Read the other reviews for the technical stuff. My review is short and sweet. The music selection is well thought out in this game. They've given the gamer a variety of music genres to choose from. Plus, it's Grade A, top-rate music! I loaded my playlist with a bunch of songs that have me winning race after race! I mean, it helps to have a good sound track while you're out there putting the pedal to the metal...

If you're looking for a racing simulator do not buy this game. But if you're looking for a fun arcade style racer that is ridiculously deep and has tons of replay value then this is your game. Midnight Club LA is awesome. It's easy to learn and fun to play from the get go. What makes it so much fun? The game captures the sensation of speed better than any game I've ever played and it has second to none, spot-on driving physics. Tuners handle turns and drift stupendously, rear-wheel drive muscle cars handle as they should, and the exotics scream down the streets and freeways while turning on dimes. You don't have the frustration of losing control of your car too easily like in racing simulators, what you have is a pure, speed focused, nimble driving system that lets you hug corners, weave in and out of city traffic like it's nobody's business, and reek havoc on the streets of LA. The game itself is deep. Long, varied career mode that forces you to master every car class, and the multiplayer only adds to the long list of things to do with this game. To give you an idea of how much there is to do in this open environment driving masterpiece, after 50 hours of playing, I'm only about 45% through the game. Midnight Club LA is a no-brainer. Pick it up today.

This game is not what expected.. it way better.. I love it and i play almost everday... the only thing i dont like is that there are no trucks... in midnight club 3 there were trucks... but other than that it perfect and you can customize sportbikes too....!!!