Midnight Club 3

[Devil]

OK. Until now I wasn't interested at all. Though I'm a sucker for racing games, I thought the latest NFS was a step backwards and was thinking this was going to be more of the same...now...

IGN: 9.2

I know it's only one review but...killing me!!

Kinda a NFS:U/Burnout hybrid?!

Anyone else?

[AgtFox]

Honestly, if it is anything like Midnight Club 2 it will be awesome.  I will probably rent later this week to see if I need to buy it (this is what I've been doing lately...have to try before buying, don't want to waste $50 except on the "for sures").  The only reason this is not "for sure" is because it involves tricking/modding out your vehicle...not really something I'm very into, I like the whole racing aspect.

[JayG]

For an IGN review 9.2 is pretty awful. The game must be total rubbish.

[WestNile]

Midnight Club II is so damn frustrating, but I can't quit playing it.  It has replaced the Ridge Racer series as my favorite arcade-style racer.

[Devil]

MC 2 drove me nuts as well, which is another reason I wasn't even thinking about this one. Didn't need the frustration.

As for the IGN review - Take it for what you will, but I haven't seen anything else.

CG guys?

[Chrisoc13]

I loved midnight club 2 even though it drove me nuts and was completely frustrating. Probably in.

[Nth Power]

I had this in my hand today, but decided against it since Jade Empire comes out at the same time.  I liked what I played of MC2, but I think I'll wait for a few more reviews.

[AgtFox]

New reviews are up (1Up...EGM's review, you can click on the OPM review as well from there).

EGM - 8.0, 9.0, 9.0
OPM - 4 stars

[WestNile]

They make it sound easier.  Not to sound like a wuss, but one step down in dificulty would make me happy.

Edit: They = EGM

[Devil]

I think the graphics made the last version even harder. The darkness and 'sameness' of most of the landscapes gave me fits figuring out where to go.

I also suck.  

[WinoMcCougarstein]

I thought MC2 was ok.  I really didnt like the courses though,  they all seemed like the same thing.  Plus, racing SUVs and luxury Cadillacs doesnt really appeal to me at all.  And finally, since Take 2 signed an exclusive third party deal with the MLB, I am boycotting all of their games.

By the way, it got an 8.3 from Gamespot.

[Devil]

since Take 2 signed an exclusive third party deal with the MLB, I am boycotting all of their games.

That's funny - Why not boycott MLB for putting themselves out for exclusivity instead of Take 2 for winning it?

I don't get it.

[WinoMcCougarstein]

since Take 2 signed an exclusive third party deal with the MLB, I am boycotting all of their games.

That's funny - Why not boycott MLB for putting themselves out for exclusivity instead of Take 2 for winning it?

I don't get it.

For the same reason people find it necessary to whine and boycott EA.  Basically, it was nothing more than a joke.  And there isnt really that much to "get."

[Devil]

Yep - shouldah had the 'ol  ( :roll: ) after I said I didn't get it.

Still no MC3 impressions from me yet...

[Nth Power]

Well, I played MC3 for an hour or so and I was pretty impressed.  It feels like a mix between NFSU2 and Burnout 3.  The customization and city driving felt like NFSU2.  There's even a GPS race finding system and the customization menus felt just like NFSU2.  
The arcade style racing felt more like Burnout.  I tried to see how messed up I could get my car by plowing into things.  It gets pretty trashed, but once it hits a certain point it magically transforms and looks new again.

While racing you have a rear view mirror that will show your opponents and police headlights.  It's nice to see how close your opponents are behind you without switching the camera (but you can do that too if you want).

Graphics were good looking and I didn't have any framerate problems even with lots of cars onscreen (The San Diego freeway has a whole lot of cars!).

Music was decent enough.  There's rock, techno, drum and bass, and dance hall.  You can choose to play all or just from one category or from whatever you have on the hard drive.

Compared to MC2 it adds quite a bit with the upgrading and licensed vehicles.  I'm looking forward to playing this more after I get some sleep.
So far, me likey!

[coopasonic]

I'm not really an impressions guy... I generally don't explain my feelings about a game in such a way that it is useful to others, but anyhow...

MC3 is like NFS:UG2 only less so... I think the racing is faster, the traffic is WAY heavier and obviously the courses are pretty much unrestricted. The customizing is straight out of underground. The load times are LOOOooong (XBOX version for reference).

I don't really like the nubmer of car choices you have, I've raced all of the challenge racers I can find and one tournament and the only non-starter vehicles I have available to me are the ones I won (IS300 and custom bike). I have 36k and 2 other vehicles I could sell and the only thing I could possibly buy is a 117k H2. I have all the performance parts for the IS300 so nothing to really spend my money on...

[Bullwinkle]

I haven't found the load times to be too long at all (Xbox here, too).

And I find it to be NFSU2 done right.  No pointless driving around for hours.  You do drive to your next race, but it feels streamlined, certainly I'm in a race within seconds as opposed to minutes on NFSU2.

I really like the accessability of this one versus MC2.  I know next to nothing about cars, but don't feel over my head in the garage.  And if you do feel over your head, there's an auto upgrade option.  The racing feels more accessible, too.  In MC2, if you made one little mistake, frequently that would cost you the race.  Not so this time.  At least not so far, though I'm not very far into it.  Actually, it's almost tooo easy at this stage, but I know the challenge will ramp up as I go.

[AgtFox]

Yes, I can only guess the challenge will ramp up much like it did in MC2.

Here's a question for anyone that has played on Live (or PS2 online)...do you only get to race with the cars you own or can you pick any car?  That was one of the problems with MC2 because people that went through career mode would have the super cars versus someone who is still going through the game and the online games weren't that fun unless you went against people who wanted to race the same class.  Thanks much.

[Devil]

It feels like a mix between NFSU2 and Burnout 3.

This gets me all giddy and then Coop comes and ruins it!!  :wink:

I'm going to have to crack it open and find out for myself!

[coopasonic]

It feels like a mix between NFSU2 and Burnout 3.

This gets me all giddy and then Coop comes and ruins it!!  :wink:

I'm going to have to crack it open and find out for myself!

I'm not saying it sucks, but Burnout 3 does arcade racing better and NFSU2 does customization and car availability better.

[Devil]

Not being the best of both worlds, is it at least a good combo of the two?

[Lockdown]

Devil -

We never played Burnout 3 over Live, did we?  We should do that.  I have (and enjoy) that game, although I haven't played it in quite awhile.

- - - -

Back on Topic :  I would like to hear more about the online modes as well.  Can two or three people just get in a private race with some A.I. cars... or is it not that flexible?

Thanks.

LD

[Devil]

Ponch - We gotta play something soon!

I know that in MC2 you could set the number of online, invite-only, players like PGR2.

I'd be shocked if they took it away.

[Bullwinkle]

Burnout 3 is obviously the better game, but that's a hard one to beat.  That said, I think MC3 is a great marriage of it and NFSU.  Of course, I liked the first NFSU, but not the second one much.  I've enjoyed MC3 much more out of the gate than I did NFSU2.  I think I got through 6 races before giving up on NFS, but I'm already over that in MC3.

[Devil]

Bull has convinced me...IN!

I felt the same way about the 2 NFSs

[Nth Power]

Not being the best of both worlds, is it at least a good combo of the two?

I'd agree with coopasonic that it's not quite up to par with each game on it's own, but it 's a great blend of the two.  I actually like it better than NFSU but I tend to gravitate toward the arcade racers rather than the realistic kind since I know diddly squat about cars.

[Devil]

Played through the first set of races tonight and I like it a lot.

It's a nice combo between NFSU and Burnout but with much less annoyance of the last MC game. Good stuff so far!

[Bullwinkle]

Played through the first set of races tonight and I like it a lot.

Whew, the pressure is off me now!

[Devil]

You survived...so far... :wink:

[WestNile]

I was excited about this until I saw everyone saying "mix of NFSU and Burnout 3".  I thought NFSU was sellout crap and Burnout 3 was fun for an hour.

If someone can say "Like Midnight Club II, but better", I will be happy.

[Devil]

Tough to say. I think "MC2 but better" but then again, MC2 pissed me off and I liked Burnout 3.

[coopasonic]

If someone can say "Like Midnight Club II, but better", I will be happy.

I'd still say it's a NFSU2 clone with some fun additions, the "Zone" ability you unlock for tuner cars is pretty cool, kinda like bullet time for cars... at 175 mph in tight traffic it can come in very handy.

The nice thing about MC3 is you can completely ignore the body mod/vinyls/decals aspect of the import tuner scene... where it is required to make your car look like ass to advance in NFSU1/2...

Honestly, it has been so long since I played MC2 I can't even remember if it had car tuning/upgrades, did it?

[WestNile]

It did not.  I didn't have anything licensed (I wish it would have stayed that way, to be honest) to upgrade.  All made-up cars.  They were cool though, unlike SUVs.

[Fuzzballx]

What is with the stinkin SUV trend in these games.  I stopped playing NFSU2 when it was trying to force me into SUV vehicles and sold it to EB.

[coopasonic]

What is with the stinkin SUV trend in these games.  I stopped playing NFSU2 when it was trying to force me into SUV vehicles and sold it to EB.

I finished NFSU2 without ever driving an SUV. After I finished I maxed out an H2 just to see what it was like, kinda fun driving something where you really don't have to worry about traffic, but not really my thing.

[AgtFox]

My Midnight Club 3: DUB Review is now up.  We'll have to maybe work on getting some online games going, but I tend to play late at night and I think I'll be out of town this weekend for the NFL draft.

Anyway, enjoy the review.

[Devil]

I say you go in the mid-second round. Your 40 time slipped at the combine.  :wink:

Nice review too!  

[AgtFox]

I say you go in the mid-second round. Your 40 time slipped at the combine.

I shall change my name to...RON MEXICO

[Lockdown]

Good review, and very informative... thanks.

I rented the game to give it a whirl.  After spending some time evaluating the driving part of it, I quick put in Burnout 3 as a comparison.

In reality, there is no comparison.  Owning Burnout 3 makes the owning of this game unneccesary.

However, I still need to check out Career Mode (if I have the patience), which may make me change my mind.  

LD

[AgtFox]

Well, the online section is far better than Burnout 3, but I agree Burnout 3 is the better overall game (which is why it scores higher since I reviewed both games).  Midnight Club 3 has its advantages over Burnout 3 though, it is just that Burnout 3 has more advantages over MC3.