Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Midnight Club II

Written by Chris Reiter on January 14, 2003

First Impressions: The only bouncers in this kind of Уnight clubФ want to lock you up and throw away the key.

Amongst a select few of worthy purchases, there was but really one racing title that pushed the limits at the PlayStation 2's start. That game, Midnight Club: Street Racing, took an innovative and unique racing formula never used before, and with it, the game became an instant success with the ability to prove your skill to shady characters of the night, and to then challenge them and their groupies in a showdown to the finish through two very large racing arenas. This March racing fanatics can storm the midnight roadways again, with more vehicles, more competition, and more cities in which to compete.

Unlike most racing games, the original Midnight Club faced players with a little bit of a storyline. About a nobody wanting to be a somebody by earning the respect of a secret society of hardcore race jockeys, you played the part of that nobody. Like before and once again, you're just someone looking for a little respect from the sleazebags of the night. Expanding the storyline into three different cities this time: being Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo (as opposed to New York and London from the first), you'll face your greatest adversaries of the wheel, or you'll face no one.

Taking into consideration that Midnight Club: Street Racing was one of the very first racing releases on the PlayStation 2, Midnight Club II the sequel will also be one of the very first racing titles to have access to online connectivity. At present, online details are scarce, but I wouldn't be surprised if the sequel would allow to go head to head in such multiplayer games from the first as Capture the Flag (a drive through in the city to see which player can nab each and every positioned marker first) or even a fleshed out version of the two player race to the finish line anted up a bit with more players now included. But, for whatever online holds for Midnight Club II, here's to hoping it'll be a blast to play.

Formerly known as Angel Studios, Rockstar San Diego also took into consideration other things that could improve the game immensely. Like for starters, the way in which players could easily follow the lead driver has been done away with. In Midnight Club, the way to race went in this order: you'd drive around the city's streets tailing a computer driver until he or she noticed your skill. Once you've managed to impress them enough, they'd challenge you to a real race with a few other computer controlled drivers. With them being the lead driver, it was up to you to pursue them in what would ultimately be the best way to the finish line. That's done with now, as technology has further been enhanced as to give the computer the ability to think and fend for itself, by heading in different directions each time you race it. Never will it follow the same linear path again -- now it's up to you to think smart and drive smart, or else you'll get screwed over every time.

Aside from muscle cars, rally cars, and hot rods, the sequel will also offer players the chance to get to be both a police officer and cruise the streets in the addition of the franchise's first motorcycle. Where Midnight Club featured computer cops on your behind many a time, the sequel will allow players to exact the same sort of routine in the second. And with the inclusion of motorcycles will bring a familiarity to those who have endured through the recent Rockstar Grand Theft Auto 3 successor, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. In total, Midnight Club II should feature a stockpile of 28 vehicles in which to choose from, and wreak havoc on unsuspecting people and cars through three very large cities.

Having been in development for a couple of years now, Midnight Club II is looking to further improve in its visual integrity. Within that wait period, the game's risen to new heights now sporting better car models -- vehicles that will look closer to the real thing; better looking weather affects -- whether it be rain or fog, or even a lighting shower, you'll need to steer through randomly generated climates of stormy visions; and even better vehicle damage -- being able to smash into anything and cause massive amounts of damage in the first release, the second now features a more natural physics pattern that'll let players toy around with the game's voluminous amount of vehicle scale. Not to mention, there'll be a lot more jumps to fly off for destructive elegance.