Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar, PS3 & Xbox 360 (28/10/08)

The Rockstar Games' Midnight Club franchise injects the heady attitude and edgy risk of street racing into the traditional driving game genre. For this latest incarnation in the series, Rockstar's San Diego development team has surpassed itself in creating a living, breathing version of Los Angeles which is a joy to race around at ridiculous speeds. As a beautiful, exhilarating experience, the game excels, however, the title is marred somewhat by a quite ferocious level of difficulty which can make it a frustrating experience.

The first thing which hits you upon playing Midnight Club: Los Angeles is the beautifully drawn and animated version of the US city itself. Right from the sun soaked beaches of Santa Monica to the luxury boutiques of Beverley Hills and the bustling business district Downtown, the city seems to live and breathe as a genuine metropolis where a dynamic day and night schedule injects further realism, alongside weather conditions ranging from torrential downpours to delightful smoggy sunsets which bounce off the warm tarmac.

A soundtrack of hip hop and pulsating techno fits intuitively with the undeniable sense of speed in Midnight Club: Los Angeles. Career mode involves working your way up from the base level of LA's illicit street racing scene with the action focusing on the free roaming, map based game-play reminiscent of Rockstar's other core franchise, Grand Theft Auto. Players use this map to navigate a cruise around the city in order to seek out rival cars to race which are colour coded in terms of difficulty (green for easy races and red for really, really hard). More races are added as the game progresses, including tournaments, series races against rival hangouts, alongside a range of side missions.

The controls feel intuitive here with right trigger used for acceleration, left trigger for brake/reverse and the left stick steering the vehicle. The X button delivers an injection of nitrous and also activates slipstreaming, which involves tracking behind an opponent's vehicle for a free speed boost. Winning races earns rep points to increase player's standing in the racing community as well as money to be spent on upgrading, trading and purchasing cars in the game's garages. Extra spice is further added to the cruise in the form of the Los Angeles Police Force, which occasionally locks onto the fact that a street race is being waged. This triggers hugely enjoyable police chase where players must give LA's finest the slip.

However, the game suffers from the fact that it is simply far too hard. Computer controlled opponents are beatable in easy challenges, but tougher races often require a Herculean effort to secure a win. This is because even the most minor of errors is heavily punished. As races are played on street circuits with heavy traffic, numerous obstacles and weather hazards, even the most skilled drivers are going to make the odd error. Essentially, Midnight Club: Los Angeles offers a beautiful and utterly exhilarating experience, which could have been one of the best driving titles produced this year. However, due to the unbalanced difficulty level it proves to be a good game which will ultimately offer greater appeal to hardcore and online racers.

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