L.A. Rush Story Mode Spotlight

Midway is poised to reinvent the well-known Rush racing series with an open-ended, street racing take on the franchise, L.A. Rush. As the name implies, L.A. Rush takes place on the huge asphalt playground that is the City of Angels. In between sessions of squealing tires and dodging the fuzz, you'll build an impressive collection of both brand-new and classic rides, all in the context of L.A. Rush's lengthy story mode, which is the centerpiece of the game. In this preview, we want to give you a sneak peek at just what you can expect from the game's story mode and why you'll find yourself tearing around the whole of Los Angeles at such breakneck speed.

Your palatial Hollywood estate, where even the maids are models.

The mode opens up--where else?--in Beverly Hills, at the palatial mansion of the game's hero, a streetwise racer named Trikz. Just about every fantasy you've ever had about a real Hollywood party is here (in rated-PG form, mind you): gorgeous settings, huge swimming pools, scantily clad females, and, of course, a huge collection of vintage and shiny new whips. Trikz isn't just a dabbler, after all; he's a serious racer and has the collection to back it up, from the latest hot rod down to the first sky-blue Nissan 240 SX he ever owned.

In between fielding questions from magazine journalists and entertaining the fellas from West Coast Customs (including Mad Mike, Big Dane, and others), Trikz and his sidekick, Ty, are talking about their future street racing plans when they are interrupted by Lidell, a rival car fiend who happens to be your archrival and the main benefactor of a series of less-than-legal street races throughout Los Angeles. Trikz's goal, and thus your goal, is to win the top prize in the street racing series. There's just one tiny catch. Just a few weeks after the Hollywood bash that opens the story, Trikz and Ty return home to find the mansion completely empty--no furniture, no cars, no women--heck, even the pool's been emptied. It could only be the work of Lidell, who's looking to stack the odds in his favor.

As you finally begin the interactive part of L.A. Rush, all you're left with is your hollowed-out estate and your original blue 240 SX. From here, it's up to you to take on the entire city of Los Angeles in your quest to claim back your collection of cars and the title of head honcho of speed.

Heading out the front entrance of your Beverly Hills estate grounds, you're met with the game's updated heads-up display for the first time. If your first thought is "Grand Theft Auto" when viewing the game's radar, which lives in the lower left-hand portion of the screen, you're not far off. There are definite shades of GTA in there--you can clearly make out roads, side streets, and highway systems; big icons show you various missions you can undertake for cash or new cars; even the plentiful cops are denoted on the radar as tiny blue dots. With a press of the button you can access a much more comprehensive map of your surroundings, one that covers the whole of the game's drivable area. Notable locations of interest include LAX Airport, Compton, Long Beach, Mullholland Drive, and Santa Monica, in addition to your home base of Beverly Hills.

Nothing like starting off small. Your first car is a dinky 240 SX.

With all of this real estate to drive, you might think it's pretty easy to get lost. Thankfully, it's not all sidestreets and alleyways that you'll tackle in the game. Familiar highways like the 101 and the 405 are all denoted on the map as well, and, even though you can expect some typical LA-type traffic to occlude your way, there's still no quicker way to get from one side of the map to the other, especially when your car can generally slice through traffic going in the same direction like a knife through butter. There's also a handy GPS feature in the main map that's a big help. By placing a marker on any spot on the chart, you'll get detailed directions on the in-game radar showing you the quickest route to that destination.