Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition

Written by Matt Swider  on July 21, 2005

Review: House real-BIG, Cars real-BIG, Belly real-BIG, Load times real-BIG

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Rockstar Games didn't dumb down Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition in any significant way when porting the game from the home console to the portable platform. It still includes over 60 licensed cars, the custom parts recommended by DUB Magazine, slick graphics, a full soundtrack, and the same three large-city locations as the PS2 and Xbox versions. Thus, the game can be considered a near-perfect port because it contains no cuts. Of course, this doesn't mean that Midnight Club 3 on PSP is perfect. Fitting all of the aforementioned features into a tiny package is a huge feat, but it also creates huge headaches in the form of long load times and a slow frame rate. For the most part, it's a fun arcade racer and it certainly looks nice, just like its console counterparts. But, whether or you're patient enough to wait for the ride to start up is the difference between feeling like you bought a lemon or a Lamborghini.

Midnight Club 3 contains career, arcade, multiplayer and quickplay modes. Quickplay immediately inserts players into a random race, whereas arcade allows players to choose the course, car and race type beforehand. The race types, which consist of circuit race, capture the flag, frenzy, paint, autocross races, track race, ordered race and cruise, give the game a good deal of variety. This is especially helpful in extending its replay value upon the competition of the career mode. Speaking of the career mode, it begins in cruise, making it possible to explore the streets, collect hidden tokens and challenge opponents. With the simple flash of your high beams in front of a rival or a race indicator, you're your way to a checkpoint raceЕthat is, after a load time that's anything but brief. So take a breather, take a break or grab a Snickers, because the game's not going anywhere for a while.

Okay, so it may take a whopping seventy seconds to load up a course, but once that chunk of time passes, players are treated to huge environments that emulate San Diego, Atlanta and Detroit. The wide-open map makes it possible to reach your destination in a variety of ways and includes lots of landscape to explore. Each city showcases highways with heavy traffic, back alleyways as shortcuts and routes through buildings with breakable glass. A number of unique landmarks also appear in the form of sports stadiums, subway stations, parking complexes and malls. Although pedestrians were lost in the porting process, other interactive elements supply plenty of carnage on the streets. Knocked-down street lights litter the roadways, sparks light up the screen whenever vehicles bump heads, gas station pumps explode upon impact and on-coming traffic headlights scare the heck out of you as you attempt to swerve. These frantic instances make the game exciting and almost make up for its slight loss of speed from the home console.

Midnight Club 3 is a sight to see, but its sense of speed is something of a different story. Car can climb up to 220 mph; however, it feels like the speedometer reading isn't quite accurate. While the frame rate can be faulted, it's not the sole problem. The fact that the PSP version is missing the motion blur effect causes the game to lose some of the intensity seen in the console editions. Also noticeably absent is the damage that cars endure. I wouldn't call it limited; I'd call it non-existent. Granted, no one wants a racer in which their car blows up upon the slightest impact (I'm looking at you, San Francisco Rush), but when slamming head-on into a bus or the side of a building, I want at least a crinkle to register on my hood. Fortunately, the reduced sense of speed and lack of damage don't ruin the frantic fun this game provides.

Although the garage seems limited as well, it's just right for an arcade racer. Car customization is simple, but satisfying in that it provides surface deep upgrades for performance and purely cosmetic purposes. Since the game sticks to the basics, any one who has been turned off by the complexity of simulation customization may find Midnight Club 3 a little easier to slide into. Hardcore car enthusiasts won't be left out of the mix, as the lineup of licensed is anything but basic. Early on, you'll own popular rides like the desirable Mitsubishi Eclipse and tank-like Chrysler 300C. Even though this is the first time that the series sports licensed cars and motorcycles for some authenticity, the gameplay remains loose and doesn't stray from its light-hearted arcade roots.

The music isn't light-hearted, however, you'll likely find something to enjoy within the extensive soundtrack. Genres include hip-hop, rock, techno, drum Сn bass, and dance hall. Songs from Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails, and Jimmy Eat World were among my favorites, but the one that really set the tone for me was УEverything BigФ from the MC3 commercials. The range of music should suit anyone's tastes and the fact that a specific genre can be selected should please those irritated by different styles of music other than their own. It's just unfortunate that there's no way to turn specific songs on and off for customization a la Tony Hawk. The left D-Pad button allows players to scroll, but sort of like letters in cell phone text messaging, scrolling past the song you're looking for means you'll have to go through the list all over again.

Multiplayer acts much like the single-player arcade mode, only six people are able to join in on the racing action. Sadly, online play isn't supported. So, players will have to resort to close range wireless with a group of PSP-owning friends that also have a copy of Midnight Club 3. It might be hard to find five others with the game, but it should make for frantic racing funЕonce everyone's game loads up.