GC'07: Midnight Club: Los Angeles Preview

Having already powered its way onto Xbox 360 once already with the sublime Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis, Rockstar San Diego is now just months away from delivering the next instalment of its bread and butter Midnight Club franchise (on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3). Last seen on the previous crop of consoles as the DUB Edition (not counting the spin off Remix Edition that included the fourth city of Tokyo), Midnight Club has already sped through cities including Detroit, Paris, and San Diego - now the studio has its sights on returning to the City of Angels herself (last visited in Midnight Club II). TVG took a short tour of the latest representation of LA during Game Convention 2007 in Leipzig.

Described by Rockstar as one of the most ambitious titles they've attempted to date, Midnight Club: Los Angeles' metropolis is larger than the three cities of DUB Edition put together. Freed from loading times as players race from Hollywood to Downtown and west to Sunset Boulevard and Wiltshire, this playground of street-racing is sure to excite not only fans of the series but attract newcomers with its sheer breadth and evolution over previous instalments. At its core, Midnight Club: Los Angeles continues to build upon the foundations laid down by the likes of DUB Edition, with masses of street-racing and huge swathes of customisation built into every facet of the cars and bikes squeezed onto the disc. Cruising around the mean streets of Los Angeles lies at the heart of the game, with 'Hookman' races (flashing headlights to throw down a challenge to potential opponents) and other race types available to players across the city. Players won't be held back by poor performances this time around though; unlike past Midnight Club instalments, Los Angeles will see the introduction of Reputation Points, which can be exchanged to unlock certain cars and parts. Cold hard cash will still be the driving force behind pimping your ride, but the addition of Reputation Points will at least mean that the breadth of parts and cars can be achieved over time.

Like both Table Tennis and Grand Theft Auto IV, Midnight Club is being built with Rockstar's proprietary RAGE Engine, once more giving a clear demonstration of just how scalable and flexible it actually is. One of the most powerful elements demonstrating San Diego's intent on creating the next landmark instalment of the franchise rests with the camera system. Dynamically shifting angles and zooming into and out of the car as player's scream through the streets and past recognisable landmarks like the Staples Center (home to the LA Lakers) and Capital Records, creating a high octane, visceral, and gutsy experience. The sensation of speed has never been lacking in the series, something that has always been helped by the light trails pouring off sodium and neon lighting in the night-time settings. The fact that Rockstar is compounding this with such a smooth flowing dynamic camera merely strengthens this already powerful feature of the game. Besides a camera system that already astounds, Rockstar also unveiled that Midnight Club: Los Angeles will include a cockpit view for the very first time, something that will undoubtedly increase the level of immersive street-racing for players.

As for the special abilities featured in DUB (Roar, Zone and Agro), Rockstar are currently keeping quiet. It certainly seems that the team in California is dedicated to delivering Midnight Club: Los Angeles as a game firmly set in a near-real world, so perhaps they won't make an appearance. The sense of speed offered by the Nitrous should at least satisfy fans of the series if the abilities don't come back however.

Despite continuing the 'Midnight Club' brand, Midnight Club: Los Angeles will be the first instalment in the series to feature a full twenty-four hour day/night cycle, dictated by an in-game clock. Three races were demonstrated in the hushed Midnight Club room, taking in three distinct times between dawn and dusk - the hues of the sky and the distinctly subtle changes especially impressive along with a blinding use of HDR and bloom lighting. More than just a superficial change of lighting though, the new cycle also means that traffic levels will rise and fall across the city depending on the time of day. Whether there'll be any change in weather conditions is unclear, though given LA's distinct lack of variety beyond sunshine or overcast conditions in the real world, don't expect snow drifts to make an appearance in the final release...

Three cars were raced through the mean streets, surely just an excruciatingly small percentage of the final game's vehicle list. From the Mitsubishi 3000 GT to the '69 Mustang Boss (an example of one of the game's muscle cars) and the 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo Roadster, Midnight Club: Los Angeles looks set to include a full spread of street-racing vehicles, though a demonstration of how the bikes will perform was held back. Being several months away from release, some elements continue to be Work in Progress, including damage modelling and a lack of pedestrians. Scratches to the paint work were the extent of the car damage, though hopefully San Diego will deliver something more devastating come the day of release next year.

Whilst a tour of the body shops wasn't on the cards during the GC'07 demo, Rockstar did at least show how players will be able to rapidly repair their vehicles without having to return to the garages that dot the city (though driving to the Midnight Club version of Paint 'n' Spray is still an option). Choosing a quick repair may solve one problem, but it'll also mean that replacement parts won't get fitted with various decals and paint jobs instantly - they'll be primed however, making the vehicles look like the sort of rude boy cars that drive around urban areas in the real world.