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Midtown Madness: Chicago Edition Review
Noel Brady
00/12/0000
Midtown Madness: Chicago Edition
There have been very few city-based racing games that have managed to successfully model civilian traffic to the extent seen in Midtown Madness. It's surprising, because the effect that this has on the game is superb. Imagine, if you can, Carmageddon without the violence; you have one complete arena where you have total freedom to go and do whatever you want, all within the confines of a living, breathing city complete with traffic lights, junctions and pedestrian crossings.
The arena in question is a section of Chicago-- although it's fairly big, it's the only one you'll be able to play. There are plenty of shortcuts, underground car parks, freeways and places of interest to be found, all of which are authentically modelled around the actual city. The game is split into several modes: a free exploration mode with no time limits where you can explore the map, occasionally having to avoid the police; a checkpoint blitz mode; a checkpoint attack mode; and a standard circuit race option.
The blitz mode is very good-- you have a set time limit to reach several points in the city, but avoiding the traffic makes it so much more fun. You have limited health corresponding to the status of your vehicle, so too many crashes will end your race prematurely. All of the civilian drivers acts very naturally, slowing at traffic lights etc., but it does feel as if they are often driving without noticing you at all. That is, unless you crash head-first into them. There's also a strong civilian presence in the game, but if you attempt to turn them into a red paste, they'll jump athletically out of the way or throw themselves against the nearby walls to avoid you.
The prize for success comes from unlocking a number of new vehicles such as huge lorries and school buses, and it will take you a long time to get them all. As soon as you've finished all of the races in amateur mode, you can do them again with professional difficulty, which will take even the most skilled of drivers months to do. Each race has a multitude of things that can go wrong. It's not just the worry of spinning off, you need to take care not to crash too often, and the moving traffic makes each race very intense.
The specs for Midtown Madness are misguiding. Even with the recommended specifications it is far from optimal, but it runs surprisingly smooth without a graphics accelerator. You do get a serious lack of detail though, and the screen is exceptionally blocky. If you don't have an accelerator, make sure you have a nippy processor if you want to run the game with the majority of graphics options on.
Midtown Madness is a highly recommended game. It is as addictive and as much fun as Carmageddon, and it will keep you playing for ages. The only fault is the steep specs required for a smooth game, but if you've got a decent PC you should definitely consider buying this one. That is, of course, if you can't wait a few months for GT Interactive's great looking Driver, which could quite easily outclass this in every department. It will have it's work cut out for it though.
