I can’t express how excited I was when I heard Midnight Club: LA was announced to be released this year on the Xbox 360 and PS3! I’ve been a long time fan of Midnight Club series but the Dub Edition/Remix was “THE BEST” arcade racing game on home consoles. I loved everything about that game. And on the other hand when I first purchased my Xbox 360 on launch night I picked up Need for Speed: Most Wanted and feel in love with it as well. But one of the memorable thing is when I first got my 360 I had a standard TV(RCA Xbox TV) that I was playing my 360 on until I purchased my HDTV and I must say playing Need for Speed: Most Wanted again in HD was the best. In this article I want to briefly refresh your memory on the Midnight Club: Dub Edition/Remix and the Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Walk with me…

Midnight Club: Dub Edition/Remix

This game was not expected to do well when announced to be released on the Xbox first system and PS2. And lot of people was not sure if RockStar games would have been able to fill those shoes with the Need for Speed franchise being the no.1 arcade racer. When I purchased Midnight Club: Dub Edition/Remix I didn’t have that much excitement due to the fact that this was something new that I was going to try. I fired it up and boy was I blown away! Not only were the graphics in the game phenomenal but the selection of cars and the sweet customization.

I remember hooking up my cars and constantly stopping in the middle of the street and staring at my car on “Air Shocks” as it drops and makes the hissing sound. And to top it off the online mode was also well done. I remember meeting up with online buddies and driving around in our Chrysler 300’s and showing off our paint jobs and customization. We also had a blast doing cool stunts, man I miss those days. Lately I’ve been dying to see the Midnight Club: Dub Edition/Remix on the new backward compatible list but it’s just a dream. Well with that being said if you plan on buying the new Midnight Club: Los Angeles and you still have an old Xbox or PS2 please try to pick this game up and burn some time until the new one is released.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Now moving on to the Need for Speed: Most Wanted, this game has got to be one of the best versions of all Need for Speed titles hands down. When EA brought Black Box developers to make this game it was the best decision EA has ever made. The Black Box team gave us a game that made people not want to accept the next 2 Need for Speed titles that came out after because we got so spoiled with Most Wanted. 

Earlier I mentioned that when I got my 360 on launch night I picked up Most Wanted and when first playing it on a standard TV it was still delicious eye candy. The graphics in this game was so unique that when I got my HDTV 2 weeks later I played this game over again from the beginning. When Most Wanted showed the cut-scenes in cell shaded format I think that was pretty cool and refreshingly new. I enjoyed every moment of it. At times my wife would say “hey I want to see to see you play that car racing game, I like the movie parts” And I would have her sit with me when ever I played and she loved the Most Wanted story line. As far as the car list and customization in Most Wanted it is also good. They gave us enough cars along with unlockables to make us want to get every one of them. From what I also understand is that EA decided to pull the online play from Most Wanted due to the 360 launch; as they wanted to be on time with the release. Now I know that comparing Midnight Club: Dub Edition/Remix and Need for Speed: Most Wanted graphic wise is not really my intentions but what I do want to point out is, these 2 titles are heavy hitters and the new installments will be a great battle of the century *In my opinion*

Midnight Club: Los Angeles

Now I’m sure you all know by now that Midnight Club: Los Angeles will be coming to the Xbox 360, PS3 and PSP which will get the LA Remix version. It was set to be release on October 7^th but got delayed til October 22-23. I personally believe that RockStar marketing team did this purposely to compete with there rival Need for Speed: Undercover. So what do we know so far about Midnight Club: Los Angeles?

1. Car list is estimated to be roughly around 40+ cars that range from Luxury, Tuners, Muscle Cars, Exotics and Motorcycles *Don’t think SUV’s has been confirmed yet*
2. Los Angeles open world set in gameplay for single and online racers that will involve races during the day and night like real life. Not to mention the in dash view.
3. Yes cops will be on that ass.
4. Large range of customizing from exterior to interior! Yes you can customize your interior! SWEET! Also your car can get damaged which will allow you to visit shops for repairs.
5. Now for the last one I don’t want to start any rumors but I think you might be able to get out of your car like GTA and walk around! But don’t quote me. But if you can I’m guessing you can buy clothing for your character. Nice!

As far as what modes are involve with Midnight Club: LA you can pretty much guess that there’s going to be Circuit races, Time runs and hopefully Drag races. So with all that being said I just want to cut to the chase and say can Midnight Club: LA hold their ground and go up against the Need for Speed: Undercover? I think this is gonna be one hell of a ride for us gamers waiting for these 2 heavyweights go at it pound for pound.

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Need for Speed: Undercover

Need for Speed franchise been around forever even when we were playing PC games on Windows 98 and they still putting out NFS installments with new ideas and engines. But no one has ever done a better job than the Black Box developers. When Most Wanted came out I was really blow away and so was many other folks who followed the franchise. For Need for Speed: Undercover EA decided to go back to the formula that best work for them and that was the Most Wanted format. The graphics is superb and so is the gameplay. And not to mention the cut-scene that looks stunning in HD. For the Undercover installment let’s see what EA Black Box is going to give us this time around.

1. All new storyline and gameplay that is set in an open world environment.
2. There will be 60+ available cars for us to play with, and that is 20 more cars than Midnight Club: LA has. Hmmmm.
3. And of course the customizing is in for exterior but none confirm for interior like Midnight Club: LA.
4. The races will all be set on chasing and being chase, so I’m guessing that the typical Circuit races might be out? Not sure on that one yet.
5. As far as the character we probably won’t be seeing his face like we have seen in Most Wanted but that’s alright with me personally.

So we’ve seen a few trailers for Undercover but no gameplay yet. But so far just knowing that this game is spinning off of Most Wanted is self explanatory. I can tell you one thing, if you don’t have a HDTV and a nice surround sound for this Need for Speed Undercover title you will be only cheating yourself. This game is going to be and action pack movie/game that will keep you sucked in for weeks, hopefully months.

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The Final Word

Here is what I’m going to stress that is going to make these 2 titles battle for the #1 spot in Arcade racers. There are going to be 2 unique things about each game that is going to make them get that extra leap to the finish line. Let’s take a look at some info I gather from some sites. And oh yeah, it’s on!

Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Four special moves to make use of. Each auto can be customized to use any move. Zone allows you to slow down time in order to take sharp turns or weave in-and-out of traffic like a champ! Agro will give your car added strength and the ability to damage opponents faster or sometimes knock them completely out of the race. Roar sends a shockwave that clears your path by pushing cars off to the side of the road. EMP is an electromagnetic pulse that shuts down the engines of the cars around you, bringing them to a complete stop.

Need for Speed Undercover
The mode that will be the secret weapon is a straightforward race called Highway Battle. In this battle you go up against one opponent in a race towards a pre-designated finish line. During the race you can take quite a bit of damage that can cause your car to creep to the finish. EA Black Box wants to recreate the high intensity moments you see in the big action movies through something the team calls the Heroic Driving Engine. In Hot Pursuit 2 and Underground there were about 4 different components in the driving engine now there are over 430 different components to play around with in each car to make them feel unique.

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