Rockstar has a booth dedicated to Midnight Club Los Angeles. I have 5 minutes dedicated to Midnight Club Los Angeles. The two collided on Friday, August 29th, during a press period in the exhibition hall at PAX.
The first thing I noticed was the return of ridiculously-arcadey controls and an unsurprising, Midnight Club expected, sense of speed. I was driving a tricked out (or “DUBed” out) Saleen from both the outside and cockpit views. The cockpit view is new to the series – while it isn’t on par with GRiD or Gran Tourismo 5 Prologue, it’s a welcome addition nevertheless. From this view, a rushing up to a speedy impact with a concrete wall caused me to cringe, the impact delivering part fear, part surprise, and slight delight.
The game’s environment is detailed, and the Los Angeles rendition is accurate. As I cruised (well, bombed) down Sunset Blvd, I discovered two things: the lighting and shadows are top-notch, and pedestrians can’t be crushed. It also happens to serve the game developers that the Los Angeles smog conveniently allows an excuse for short draw distances. The detail in the city is a tradeoff for a subpar cockpit view with blurry gauges and limited vision, while the radical sense of speed attempts to compensate for steering controls plagued with crippling oversensitivity. Midnight Club Los Angeles has its problems, but with some work, a good racer could emerge. I’m hoping Rockstar can tune their controls and throw a layer of polish on the new cockpit view come release.
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