Midnight Club's LA to get South Central News

Midnight Club LA is my favourite racing game of this year so I'd happily pay for extra maps for it (unlike the disappointing Burnout Paradise say). It's a very underappreciated game I feel and one that deserved to do so much better.

Only the overhard A.I. on yellow/red race events lets it down but since the game isn't linear and doesn't force you to do specific missions in order to progress it can easily be worked around. It's just so much fun to play though... a quick ten minute go invariably turns into a two to three hour session for me. Wonderful game, highly recommended to anyone who likes Need for Speed or Burnout.

Coolio. I'm pleased they are giving us some DLC.

I heard that they are releasing a patch that, among other things, tweaks the AI to make it a bit more forgiving.

It's a shame that Midnight Club hasn't had the same marketing push as NFS. Themeatically it's similar but gameplay-wise it craps all over EA's latest effort.

That would be very, very welcome, SteveB, because as it stands the unforgiving A.I. is my only real criticism of this wonderful game. I'm still struggling to do many of the early missions for example because despite owning a fast car, the difficulty also ramps up to compensate. Fortunately I was able to progress because of the sandbox nature of the game and I've found myself completing objectives and unlocking more missions in the process. It has real one more go appeal and the presentation and music are top-notch. It even has a restart race option (which takes all of 3-5 seconds even when going from one end of the map to the other), replays and a photo mode, all things lacking from Criterion's overrated game for example.

The game can be frustrating at times but that is more than compensated by the sheer thrill of the racing itself. No other arcade racing game comes close IMO and certainly not Burnout Paradise! :P

Good news. This is/was one of my favourite releases of 2008 and why it got the mediocre reviews it did I'll never know. Its nice to see it getting some further attention by the devs.

This game has slipped under the radar for a lot of people and its a real shame. MCLA is probably one of the best racers released this year. Apart from anything else it has huge replay value. DLC is just the icing on the cake.

Agreed it is a great game, that i almost missed out on.

Thanks to the stupid and overpacked release schedule though I got it for €25.

From the planetxbox360:

In fact, the patch is designed to make the game easier for novice players who have complained about the tough level of early races. Opponent cars will now screw up a little more often in green and yellow races, allowing players to progress more easily. Red races will remain dificult as ever.

Will this have much impact ? The harsh difficulty of this has put me off buying this up until now.

sounds good. like this game though it doesnt seem to go anywhere...

all the races you do stay on the map and every time i switch it on, this booker guy or whatever hes called keeps telling me to do muscle car races... even though i already done a few - the game doesnt seem to move forward. plus i HATE muscle cars!!! annoying! anyway the sth central DLC sounds great.

the tweaks however, making easy races even easier, is fucking stupid. its the yellow and red races we have a problem with, fools!

nice ice cube reference.

...no smog and momma cooked the breakfast with no hog, i gotta say today was a good day.

straight outta south central

You answered my first question before I even asked it, Darren! The only other one I have is whether the multiplayer japes in MC are as good as those in Burnout, as that is primarily what I will buy it for. Cheers!

This game got my vote for GOTY. It's friggin awesome! I really don't think it's that hard once u get used to it. The only difficulty problem is when your trying to go down a tight, specific route and a limo pulls out in front! All I want is the new cars, hopefully there'll be a list soon, I'm an exotic whore!

Ice Cube:
# "How to survive in South Central,

a place where bussin' a gat is fundamental yo..." #

@ Darren

Hello...

This one also has a rotating minimap - I was able to actually navigate to the finish line without slamming into the corner of a junction.

/stares at Burnout Paradise after 10 months

http://www.jamphat.com/rap/

:D

@Normski

Too true man! MC:LA is so much better than the new NFS it's laughable! But it doesn't get the right marketing, which then means that it doesn't get the appreciation it deserves.