Midnight Club II (Xbox)

• Street racing game.
• Race through Paris, Los Angeles, and Tokyo.
• Open-ended routes, with loads of shortcuts.
• Live environments with pedestrians, vehicles backing out of driveways, and other obstacles.
• Xbox Live enabled.

.co.uk Review ------------- Midnight Club II builds on the illegal street racing fun found in the original PS2 launch title Midnight Club and brings it to the Xbox. Like the original, it pits you against other drivers in non-linear street races in which you can earn new gear, new cars, and even new controls--you're a novice at the start, but by the end you're a pro who can land on all four wheels after a jump, expertly control a power slide turn and much more. New in Midnight Club II are the presence of the and the ability to drive a motorcycle. Much of the game consists of cruising around three large and well rendered cities: Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles, following a red dot on a . The dot is a rival racer; once you track and chase them down you flash your high beams and then you can race them. It's a clever way of giving you a warm up, keeping you immersed in the game and best of all, teaching you the layout of each city. Racing is fun, fast and furious. This isn't a simulation, it's an arcade-style racer--but the physics system is internally consistent so it feels more realistic than it actually is. Rockstar has put a premium on keeping you in control, keeping the thrill-factor high, and giving you a heart-stopping sense of speed. The graphics are fantastic and the cities are incredibly detailed. As a counter-point the voice acting is just plain awful. Midnight Club II offers a wide range of game modes, ensuring it will be playable for a long time to come: career, mission and a mode that lets you just jump into a race. Multi-player is possible in hot seat mode. All of this makes Midnight Club II a great addition to any video game racing fan's library. --Bob Andrews Manufacturer's Description -------------------------- Midnight Club II is all about unlimited freedom and fun in three separate living cities -- LA, Paris and Tokyo. Open city racing brings a whole new level of intensity compared with the staged, controlled environment of a track-based racer. You are part of an illegal underground racing circuit and are chased down by the cops at all times. They'll set up road blocks and chase you with helicopters. Do anything and everything to avoid capture and win the race.