Being hopelessly addicted to the first Midnight Club on the PS2, I went into this Xbox version a bit

skeptical; I wondered what could possibly be done to improve the original game. It already had massive

living cities to explore and play in, and it had plenty of substance and originality as well. The

original Midnight Club was one of the first real success stories in the Street Racing genre, and I'm

very happy to say that Midnight Club 2 (hereafter known as MC2) upholds its predecessor's legacy

and takes it further to all new levels. So throw down that controller and read on, speed freaks!

Since we all know that our first impressions of a game are what we see, MC2 may appear misleading.

At first glance we don't notice anything special; nothing that we can overly praise, nor hold over the

heads of our PS2-playing brethren. But thinking like this would be unfair, because for every bad

thing you could say about the graphics, there are enough good aspects and compensations as well. While

the graphics do lack the polish we've come to expect of other Xbox games, MC2's graphics set an incredible

tone for the game. Reflective surfaces are abundant; streetlights shimmer off the sleek exterior of

your car and rain leaves the streets with a brilliant shine. Each of these three distinctly visual

effects really complement the city that you race in. Tokyo is futuristic and bright, Paris sets a softer

tone with winding streets and Los Angeles has a "gritty" urban feel.

It's obvious that Rockstar didn't overload the cars with any more polygons than was needed. Cars look

very cool, sleek and fast, but this is no 'V8 Supercars' or 'Racing Evoluzione'. The car bodies themselves

look cool and mix well with the street-racing theme. At the same time, the cars that feature decals and

designs are really brought down in visual splendor due to some low resolution texture work. Surprisingly,

buildings are the opposite, though. Skyscrapers tower above the cities reaching to what looks almost like

the clouds and store windows gleam with vibrant lights and textures and during the races in the early morning,

the lens-flare effect is fantastic.

With three fully exploitable cities, 28+ cars, a race editor, system link support, several game modes

and Xbox Live support, this definitely makes the game worth your money whether you're going solo or are

in it for the multi-play. MC2 features a full Career mode that lets you work your way up the ranks from

a nobody to almost god-status in the street-racing world. At the start of each level you're tossed into

one of the game's three sprawling cityscapes (when I say "sprawling" I mean MASSIVE) to make your own way

through the game and at your own pace. The load times aren't half-bad either. You start at a pre-determined

point and are given free range to take on the races as you see fit. Thankfully, it takes away a lot of

the pressure in progressing through the challenges compared to other racing games.

Your map highlights people who are willing to race and are marked with red arrows to help you find them.

Flash your high-beams and they'll start talking all kinds of "smack" before its time to race! Races take

the form of checkpoint races, standard lap-based races or merely a mad-dash to the finish. A new and pleasant

twist are the free-range checkpoint races where you're given a certain number of checkpoints to hit, then

you have to be the first one back. It makes for some really intense racing, trying to find out the best route

to take through those large maps!

No-one should think the game is easy sailing, though, as MC2 is one tough cookie. You'll definitely find

yourself loading and reloading each race up to a dozen times in some cases. Most of the time, trying to win

the race is just a trial and error test until you can find that perfect path to the finish. I was never thrown into a

fit of rage over the AI's all-too-perfect driving, but I did have some choice words for the folks at Rockstar games!

Since the game controls seem a mix between a light 'sim' and an all-out 'arcade' racer, the over-sensitive

handling on certain cars doesn't help matters. Some cars whip around corners while others seem to have

much larger turning circles. Once you're in-tune with your vehicle's handling and the map layouts, winning

races becomes a bit easier whilst still remaining a real challenge. MC2's sensation of speed is astounding

and can really get your adrenaline pumping when you're pushing 200 mph weaving through crowded city streets.

Most racing games strive for speed like this, but few actually do it right.

Also new to MC2, is the availability of bikes, where whole new gameplay possibilities open up. It's easy

to think that bikes may be at a disadvantage with speed, etc, as they have no access to Nitro boosts, but

its not the case. Bikes (and cars also) can utilise a key game feature called "Weight Transfer" (or "WT").

Not only can adjusting your WT throw you up on two wheels while in a car and rocketing you through narrow

traffic, but it can also balance your ride mid-air and turn a potential wipe-out into a smooth landing. However,

whilst rolling around town on a bike, every chance of winning a race is dependent upon correct application of

WT. Press in your WT trigger, and you've got the ability to fly back on one wheel, boosting you way ahead of

your competition. To achieve an "Endo" (reverse wheelie), hunch down for added speed and lean into corners

for a sharper, cleaner turn. Learning and mastering the WT feature is the key to victory, especially on a bike

but also in regular car racing.

If you're craving multi-player racing thrills, then you've bought the best version of this game, as MC2 supports

Xbox Live! for internet racing action against your mates. Unlike the PS2 version, Xbox's MC2 features full online

Xbox Live! functionality with the ability to take your custom tracks online. This ensures you won't get bored racing

the same old tracks time and time again. The online competition is brutal to say the least. I'd suggest not even

attempting a race online until you have at least earned the "Knight" car in Career mode. With online modes like

Battle, Capture the Flag and Detonate, you've got a great alternative to normal racing modes. To enable you to

design 'custom tracks' there is a race editor, however it only lets you alter the checkpoints on existing maps, not

actually design completely new maps.

If there's one aspect of MC2 that clearly disappoints, it's in the sound. The game does throw down some really

great beats here and there, but this is only going to interest you if you're into Trance (Dance Techno or Rave)

or Rap. This would be totally forgivable if it weren't for the ommission of a custom soundtrack option.

Come on guys, would it really take that much more work to include this one little feature?

The cars themselves sound phenomenal though. While the sound of your 'beginner' car starting up is almost laughably

gutless, the faster cars you win are enough to get a car-nut's blood boiling. Tyre squeals sound great, as do crashes

and other in-game sounds, even the screams of terrified pedestrians diving for cover, or as is often the case, the sound

of them bouncing off your car's bonnet.