The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

Winning the Race

Rockstar Games is incredibly well known for the Grand Theft Auto series, but not as many people know about their Midnight Club series. The series has been around for years now, and Rockstar San Diego has released their first MC game on next generation consoles, Midnight Club: Los Angeles. Though it has its flaws, Midnight Club: LA zooms its way to being a competitor with other racing games out there.

Set in the heart of Los Angeles, you play as a nameless racing fiend from the East Coast. You are thrust into the world of somewhat underground street racing. The story is a barely there sort of thing, but it keeps you in the loop of different races going on around the city.

One of the best things about the game is its representation of Los Angeles. It is not perfect due to geographical issues, but it is pretty spot on. You get to race past famous landmarks such as the Santa Monica Pier, Pink’s Hot Dogs in Hollywood, the Staples Center (home of the Lakers and the lesser-tier Clippers) and other places.

All the racing handles pretty well and your customizing options are vast. The race layouts are fair and never extremely difficult but if you want something of your own creation, go into the race editor.

Sociality is a big element in the game, so you’ll be able to save other peoples’ races and rate their cars.

The car selection is big time as well. You get to choose from a variety of muscle cars, tuners, luxuries and motorcycles. There is plenty to cover all of the bases. Rockstar has even thrown in some concept cars, such as the Chevrolet Camaro Concept (as seen in the latest Transformers movie).
The developers could have thrown in a few more bikes, though.

Of course, not all things are bright and sunny in LA. Even in its easiest difficulty (it varies from race-to-race), Midnight Club: LA is incredibly difficult. The computer racers are deadly accurate and rarely run into any issues when it comes to cross traffic.

Even when spinning out they manage to come out clean. Your car, however, deals with hell. Visibility is also an issue as you will have a hard time trying to figure out what is coming up. But by the time you see it you have already crashed into it.

If you get bored of racing by yourself, you can take Midnight Club online. There are a decent amount of options and you should be in for a pretty good time.

On the whole, with impressive graphics and a great adaptation of LA, Midnight Club: Los Angeles is worth the money if you are looking for a good racing game.

But if you are new to the game and want something more fare, just rent it. Midnight Club: LA is available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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