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Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition - Hands On Preview
Jon Wilcox
01/10/2004
TVG gets the windows tinted & the suspension dropped...
Street Racing ā“ A way of life for tens of thousands across America and an inspirational lifestyle for many more across both the States and the UK. Itās a world of uniquely modified cars where anything goes and where taste can, and often does, fly out of the window. A world that Boy Racers who spend their time driving around in their Vauxhall Novas (tinted windows, dropped suspension, bad techno, penchant for Burberry caps) can only dream about.
In this heady world fuelled Nitro, one magazine has become dominant ā“ DUB. The magazine has a large following in the US and has been experiencing an increase in popularity in Britain; and with people like David Beckham gracing the cover with their own customised speed demon, the magazine can only increase its foothold on the shelves of newsagents up and down the length of the country. Itās for this reason that Rockstar have teamed up with DUB to create Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition.
The game features over 60 licensed cars, and hundreds of licensed components ready for you to create the ultimate street-racing car. The garage section of the game, where you modify your car, is akin to the āCreate-a-Simā section in The Sims. You can create the most plug-ugly car ever, or create the ultimate road hog that will send you through the streets as tremendous speeds.
Everything that you can think of will be up for you to customise including exhausts, spoilers, paint jobs, and a long list of other components. Rockstar have worked with DUB very closely, which ensures that every modification that you can make within the game is identical to those seen in real-life. When we got our hands on this portion of the game, we admit to producing what has to be one of the ugliest cars ever created. If youāve ever seen the episode of The Simpsons where Homer designs a new car, then thatās what the TVG Roadhog looked like but with flame transfers and a duo-tone paint job.
Car modifications are divided between style and performance, with players not only having complete control over the look of your motor but also apply various components to enhance the overall performance. Sadly the current build failed to have this aspect implemented, although we expect to check this out in action soon, so remember to check back.
True enough our efforts may not have been the best in car design and quite frankly enough to make your eyes bleed; however it just emphasises that with the game online enabled for both the PS2 and Xbox, you can show off your own unique styles of race car to everybody else. The sheer number of components on offer and variations available should ensure that the chances of seeing another player with a similar car are slim to say the least ā“ truly Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition should redevelop the series online presence after its successful debut in Midnight Club 2.
The game will take place across three cities around the US: Detroit, San Diego, and Atlanta. As Rockstar explained when TVG recently visited them, the three cities have all been chosen because of their links to cars, and speed racing. At the recent hands-on demonstration, Rockstar showed us more of Detroit and some of the cars that will be available in the finished game; not only that, but we were also able to test ride some of the new choppers that have received a complete overhaul since Midnight Club 2.
The inclusion of the Choppers in Midnight Club 2 was seen as a great addition to the series, but there were criticisms that they were far too difficult to control and therefore virtually pointless. As weāve already said, the Choppers have undergone a complete restructuring so now they are much easier to manage and therefore, they are actually very fun to ride ā“ especially when you burn a couple of Nitros down the streets. Like several other titles, the developers have made sure that travelling at ultra fast speeds in Midnight Club 3: DUB is nothing short of exhilarating. Tricks such as changing the perspective, adding āvisualā wind effects and even adding trails to street lamps are utilised to help produce the feeling of travelling so quickly that youāll pass out with the G-forcesā¦
There have been comparison made between Midnight Club 3: DUB and the recently released Burnout series, but to be honest, apart from the fact that they are both arcade racers rather than driving simulatorās, they havenāt got anything in common except for the fact that they both express high speed travel extremely well.
If anything, the closest title to Midnight Club 3: DUB in terms of similar gameplay is EAās Need for Speed Undergroundā¦but we wonāt talk about that. In fact, Burnout3 has become something of a favourite at TVG Towers, something that the guys at Rockstar picked up upon straightaway when we used up our two Nitro boosts right at the start of the races ā“ this is quite definitely a different type of racing game.
Travelling at such high speeds, as you do in Midnight Club 3: DUB, is an amazing experience and the fact that all the while you have to try and find the quickest way to the end of the course and dodge the traffic and judge the odd jump or two adds to an intense drive. This is game where you really have to play quite a bit so you can try out new routes to find the fastest times. Smashing through shopping malls to shave off a few seconds is all part of the game, and even though you may end up going in totally the wrong direction, itās just part of the learning process. The sheer speed combined with the open-city track designs ensures that Midnight Club 3: DUB is shaping up to be one of the most intense racers in existence - literally take a blink and youāll languish!!!
The game does have a rotating arrow on the HUD that points in the direction of the next checkpoint markers, but it doesnāt take into account the buildings or obstacles that you may encounter ā“ the arrow takes an āas the crow fliesā approach and takes some getting used to, especially when youāre travelling at Nitro boosted speeds.
The developers have been able to take the open-ended city stricture from MC2 and re-vamp it, filling it out with a multitude of paths and populating it with traffic to such an extent that it should dispel any similar criticisms that were made of itās predecessor. The whole city looks great and alive, and we canāt over-emphasise how slick a total package Midnight Club 3: DUB actually is. It combines amazing visuals, including the effects detailed above, with cool tracks, and a wonderful control system that brings everything together. The difference in handling between the cars makes it a challenge and certainly demonstrates the level of detail being crammed into the game, whilst such important arcade racing aspects such as drifting/powersliding are handled with a high level of style and execution.
The control layout is similar to that featured in any other racer, however there is one button on the controller that everyone will be using for different reasons, depending on the vehicle you are driving. On the PS2, using the L1 button whilst riding a Chopper allowed you to take sharper corners by leaning, and to increase the wow factor, the camera dramatically zooms in to a low over-the-shoulder view - a truly awesome perspective that immerses you in the turn. However utilising the same technique whilst inside four wheels allows you to either flip onto two wheels for some daredevil tricks, or gain aftertouch like control over your car whilst in the air.
