Midnight Club 2: Exhilarating street racing ... totally legal
Written: Sep 22 '03 (Updated Jan 06 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: Great graphics and soundtrack, good overall controls, feels absolutely right ... FUN, FUN, FUN!!!
Cons: somewhat quirky gamepad support, can be mind-numbing tough, not too many extras
The Bottom Line: Exciting street racing with (extremely) tough opponents. No true racing simulation by any means but a lot of fun to (massively) ignore rules.
Fast and Furious you are? Ahhh, must play this game. Will do good for you ... ;-)
Despite Midnight Club 2 having no direct links to the movie, it's similarities are much greater than the differences to Fast And Furious. The console version has been released before the PC but in June 2003 the Windows world has been lucky to receive this game ...
Midnight Club 2 is not ...
... a racing / driving simulation. Everybody who would not settle for anything less than EA F1 or similar hardcore sims will look at the driving physics of MC2 and shake their head. Cars making 90 degree turns almost on a dime at more than 100 mph is something real world has yet to invent.
... GTA3 clone. There is no story that weaves thru the game if ignoring the trash talk between races. This is about street racing, nothing else. (Fun pure!) Similarities in populated cities might reach back to GTAIII due to the same publisher. It indeed feels a little like triving in Vice City. (at least visually since controls in GTA are much worse)
... something parents have to be worried about, at least in the tripple X department. ;-)
Dude, start your engine!
Street racing is about performance. Not much different are the hardware requirements for this game ...
Important: Midnight Club II uses and requires Microsoft DX9 and that seems to dictate the compatible versions of Windows, which are 98, 98 SE, Millennium, 2000 Prof. (Workstation)and Windows XP (Home and Professional). Excluded are Windows 95 and NT (any version).
The minimum hardware requirements are somewhat average for the latest released games and do not reflect the need if one tries to run it in high resolution and all effects enabled. An 800 MHz PIII, 800 MHz AMD Athlon, 1.2GHz Celeron / Duron processor will do to at least run this game. The noted 128 MB of RAM are surprisingly low just like the 4 speed CD and 'only' 1.4GB of free hard disk space. Demand goes up in the video department with a minimum 32 MB video card with DirectX 9.0 compatible drivers ("GeForce2"/"Radeon 8500" or better). The requirement appears to be similar to Enter The Matrix and Tron2.0 due to the use of T&L hardware which has been introduced in these early models. (For more details on that please refer to the 2 reviews mentioned above.) MC2 will refuse to start with anything less.
However, in order to have MC2 perform one will need at least a Intel P4 or Athlon XP processor and more than 256 MB of RAM, a 16 speed CD and 1.6 GB of free hard disk space. Video requirements go up a notch to 64(+) MB video card like the "GeForce 3" / "Radeon 9000" or better. Similar requirements already surfaced in previously mentioned titles and are almost standard for the latest 3D games.
A gamepad is supported by the PC version, but I ran into compatibility issues with the Gravis Eliminator Aftershock while the (older) Eliminator Gamepad Pro worked just fine. The issue was a steadily scrolling menu which made it hard to navigate. Too bad, since the 'Aftershock' had all the controls to deal with the motorcycle since 3 analog axis are required to efficiently control these 2-wheeled power packs. The Pro worked but was handicapped due to only 2 axis' being available.
My system (2.4G P4, 1G DDR333 RAM, Radeon 9700 Pro) runs MC2 with excellent speed in 1280x1040 (32bits). However, forcing hardware 4xAA will make it a bit sluggish.
High performance cars in a high performance game?
Since performance is the basic idea of street racing, how does the game perform in bringing the same excitement safely to your desktop? Well it does and here is why ...
Graphics: This is the best graphics in a racing game I have seen so far. This may not mean a lot, but the use of DX9 features is apparent in the particle effects and lighting. The rendering manages to make the insane speed very believable and leaves you nothing short of an adrenalin rush when using the Nitrogen boost. Though I have no idea what 160MPH in a city look like, it looks every little bit like it. (140MPH on the Autobahn doesn't count ;-)
Physics: Nothing to brag about regarding realism but that's also an advantage since this engine is geared towards fun. Sliding at extreme speeds around tight corners and withstanding a front collision at top speed are what make this game entertaining. (Damage model is based on # of impacts before the vehicle explodes and respawns.)
Variety: There is basically 3 different modes - career, battle and arcade. Each geared to the preference of the gamers. In career mode one starts with a crappy car and has to unlock new ones by winning them from your opponents. The same unlocked cars are available in arcade and battle mode . The only difference is that in arcade one can jump around between tracks at will and in battle mode ... well you sure have an idea what's that all about.
Tracks: Each of the 3 cities holds several tracks that have different goals in order to win. Some you need to clear check points in a specific order and others you just have to complete them before anybody else. Either way, the onscreen map helps to find each point in this city street maze and is very similar to GTA3. Though using the same basic 3 cities, each track is somewhat unique and not too repetitive. Between each race, one will cruise around in order to find new racers, which leaves the choice if one might prove too tough yet (with the available equipment).
Opponent's AI: The computer drivers are not necessarily smarter but for sure have extreme driving skills. Some are to beat only with a perfect race and even then a few twists like shortcuts in order to get ahead. Other AI's of the pedestrians and uninvolved drivers react to your driving but especially big vehicles seem not very interested in avoiding you.
Equipment: The cars have all decoy names and apparently none of the manufacturers have been licensed. However, most cars are obvious in their pedigree. As for my part I was happy to finally win my car and take it around the block a few times. Nevermind, it's actually called an Interna here and top speed doesn't match my specs either. Overall, most races depend on the right vehicle in order to stand a chance.
Sound: The soundtrack is 'inspiring' or motivating to actually immerse into the street racing genre. Associated trash talk is nicely integrated and equipment related sounds are very authentic. Pedestrians (whether being run over or just taking cover) even comment on your 'insane' driving. All the sound is of excellent quality.
Controls: Following PC guidelines the game does support a combination of keyboard and mouse to steer the car and access special functions. However due to the relative nature of the mouse it takes significant effort to get around. The gamepad is much more suitable and fortunately supported (with compatibility issues as described in the hardware section).
Remember, there is no rules!
At least none to adhere to in this virtual world. Running over pedestrians will not have any negative impact on your game. It seems like it's sort of expected to have a few casualties since without mercilessly going at it, you won't stand a chance to win a race.
In light of that, the absence of real physics works in the games favor since it allows to pull amazing stunts and also let's you escape from reality and just have fun. (The essence of a computer game.)
Either way, the game is fun but can proove way to hard to enjoy since one has to win in order to proceed. And wins are not easy to come by. The term cheat code is almost misplaced with this game since for some players it will be the only way to ever see all levels. Here you go, knock yourself out ...
most important ...
howhardcanitbe0 - 9 (Difficulty, 0 = easiest)
howfastcanitbe0 - 9 (Speed adjust, 0 = slowest)
just for kicks (untested) ...
tumbler, aquaspark, happyhour, starlite, starpower, leatherandlace, operationdoom, upupdowndown, theparrot, griswold, quickFix, octane, yerbamate, rimbuk
Finish Line: Go for it!!!
While I am personally kind of worried by the actual street racing, especially since my car attracts racers for 'some reason', this game is a lot of fun. Live it all out without the typical side effects like jail or injury!!! Arcade style physics and unrealistic scenarios aside, it's your chance to blast thru populated streets with more than 130MPH and not risk a ticket. The faint of heart might cringe everytime a pedestrian gets in the way and run over, and that's the point to remember that it's just a game. Keep that in mind when actually driving a real vehicle! ;-)
The only turn-off is the extreme difficulty the game is normally set to. Winning a race will be hard earned most of the time and sometimes can only be achieved by risking everything and being reckless beyond sanity. Questionable morale or not, it can be downright frustrating to take the same race 10 - 20 times and still not stand a chance. (This is one of the two reasons for subtracting 1 star. The other would be the controls.) Difficulty can be cheated though, for details see above. It also helps to pick the right vehicle and use a game pad. (Basic ingredience to get anywhere close to tough opponents like the motorcycles!!!)
So should you get this game? Absolutely!!! But check system requirements first and do yourself a favor and get a gamepad with it ... or else feel like a sheep amongst wolves (or in car terms like a Ford Pinto amongst Ferraris).
Is it the best street racing game on the PC? Most likely, and it needs to be seen what EASports' Need For Speed: Underground can do about that at the end of 2003.
... happy racing ...
PS: Check out the website for a basic feeling of the game
http://www.rockstargames.com/midnightclub2/
streets of Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo breathtaking new vehicles physics and driving mechanics, Platforms: Windows 98 Windows XP Windows 2000, ESRB ...More at Amazon Marketplace
. About Us Terms Conditions Welcome you are bidding on a BRAND NEW SEALED PC game ~MIDNIGHT CLUB II. Packaging: JEWEL CASE Members of the world's most...More at eBay
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