Midtown Madness 2 improves on the original in both form and function.
When I first played the original early last year, I was pretty impressed with the physics, the graphics, and the wide selection of cars. Other games had come out around that time that offered gimmicks to mask their weaknesses in the areas of physics or realism. Midtown Madness didn't do that. Instead, the game relied on its ability to realistically deliver a driving experience. For a purist like myself, that's pretty impressive. The game lacked a bit in overall enjoyment (basically, it got dull after a while) but it scored well in key areas and still remains one of my favorite driving games. For the sequel to impress me, it would have to take that realistic experience, and make it more enjoyable. It does.
In an effort to add a fun factor to this game, the folks at Angel Studios and Microsoft Games added some radical new vehicle choices, some comedic commentary, and added a few new twists to the game. Fans of the original will instantly recognize the graphics interface, which has been tweaked a bit, and the controls as well. From there, things change a bit, though not so much that the game loses its original flavor.
Midtown Madness initially offers two locales to race in: London and San Francisco. I think Frisco is an excellent area to race in, mainly because it guarantees plenty of airtime, and thus adds another dimension to racing. If you liked the San Francisco Rush arcade games, then you will certainly enjoy that locale in this game. London offers a completely different experience, with extremely narrow streets, plenty of winding turns, and, of course, the driving on the left hand side of the street thing.
What really makes these two cities work is the near-perfect depiction of even minor details. I've been to San Fran and London, and recognized buildings and other subtleties. One point of interest is the ability to drive through London's famed Underground, their subway system. Just watch out for the rail cars, they hurt. Two cities to race in isn't really a lot, but at least the two cities that Microsoft picked are enjoyable enough to make up for that. Plus, there was only one city to explore in the original.
Where the game really shines is in its car selection. There are plenty of cars to choose from. You have two Mustangs (old and new) three types of Mini cars (European, think Mr. Bean) a Ford pickup, a London Taxi, a city bus, a British Double-Decker bus, the Audi TT, three Volkswagen Beetles, a super fast Roadster and formula car (from a Ford owned company called Panoz), a military assault vehicle, Cadillac Eldorado, an Aston Martin, and a Mack truck. That's a pretty wide selection. What makes the selection so good is the wide variety of different driving experiences available. You have a good mix of speed, handling, and pure vehicular mass. Each vehicle handles completely differently, so you can find a car that suits your driving style without a problem. I personally enjoyed driving through the streets of London in my city bus, basically wrecking whatever got in my way.
Midtown Madness 2 offers four different styles of racing: a free-for-all cruise around the town, a blitz, where you have to reach the checkpoints under a certain amount of time by yourself, a checkpoint race, where you race against 7 other drivers to clear all the checkpoints (in any order) and cross the finish line, and a circuit race, a standard among most driving games. Of all the races, I enjoyed the checkpoint the most, I guess because it is reminiscent of the classic arcade racers. The cruise is also kinda cool, because it allows you to just race around the city by yourself, outrunning the cops and basically laying waste to the scenery. And this works well, because the effects of such damage are almost true to life. Trees, at least smaller ones, get blasted into leaves and firewood, mailboxes shoot mail all over the street, and so on. Unfortunately, like last year's version, you can't hit pedestrians in Midtown Madness 2. Pity.
The graphics are nicely updated from the last version, and depending on what type of system you are running, they can range from above average to excellent. On a P-III 500 with a Voodoo3 3500, I was able to scale the resolution up to 1600x1200, without a ridiculous amount of slowdown. I wouldn't recommend playing at this resolution, but something like 1280x1024 with the right card is just about perfect. Though the Voodoo is limited to 16-bit textures, everything looked crisp, and I would rate the game visuals up there with just about any other driving game out there. On a system capable of 32-bit rendering, things got even nicer. The sky and building textures are excellent as is the car detail. Actually, the cars look almost like they are taken from real life, with subtle features of each car displayed perfectly.
One thing that is vastly improved over last year's version is the sound. There is full support for both EAX and A3D cards, and the 3D sound brings you into the game. Engine sounds vary according to what car you are driving, as are tire screeches and collisions. Ambient sounds are also nicely delivered, adding nicely to the overall experience.
What really sets this game apart from other racing titles is the multiplayer. The original Midtown Madness was a blast to play online, and the sequel looks like it will continue that tradition. Multiplayer works real well with these games because the best thing about arcade racers is the ability to demolish your friends. This is delivered perfectly in this game, and I look forward to hours of driving my buddies off the road. First, of course, I need to find some buddies.
Control on this game is dead perfect. You have a choice between a joystick, a wheel, the mouse, and the keyboard. Unless you want to atone for some serious sins in your life, I don't recommend the keyboard. Surprisingly, the mouse works okay. Actually, I have a trackball (Logitech Trackman Marble, if ya need to know) and I spent more time playing with the trackball than I did the gamepad. The wheel, of course, is the best way to go. Setup was a snap (I WAS using a Microsoft wheel, however) and the response was just about right. In order to add some spunk to the game, Microsoft threw in a new control twist. It's called the powerslide. Basically, it's the incorporation of a handbrake, very similar to the one used in Driver. If you need to make a sharp turn at high speed, you hit the powerslide button/key, and you whip around the turn with aplomb. It's nothing earth shattering, but it is a nice touch. Overall, the game gets an 'A' for control.
Where the game sort of falters is in the damage model. Each car is rated on its mass and durability, so, obviously, you can take more damage with a Mack truck than you can with a Volkswagen Beetle. This is good, but there is still some lack of realism in the model itself. You see, I hit a brick wall in a Ford Mustang at 155MPH, and though the car did sustain a significant amount of damage, I was still able to continue. For the sake of comparison, I tried to get my friend to lend me his Mustang so I could try this out in real life, but alas, he refused, calling me things like sicko, and moron. Some people just don't get it. Anyway, I think it is safe to assume that the real life car would not have been able to do much racing after a crash like that. Don't get me wrong, I know that if any game offered real world damage models, they would be frustrating and dull (life real life itself) but I think there should be some sense of realism thrown in. For a game that is pretty realistic in every other category, Midtown Madness 2 just misses the mark on its damage model.
Midtown Madness was no great leap in video game technology. It was actually better than that. Instead of boldly trying to break completely new ground in the genre, Microsoft and Angel Studios decided to take our current technology and get the most use out of it. What that translates to is a highly playable, nice looking and realistic game experience. The sequel follows the same philosophy, while turning up the fun factor to boot. With the addition of some new cars, new cities, and some minor gameplay tweaks, Midtown Madness 2 should definitely keep fans of the original happy, and bring some new fans into the fold as well.
The original Midtown Madness brought the Madness series from Monster Trucks and motorcycles, to real cars on city streets. What makes this series so good is the near perfect depiction of the cities you race in, combined with top-notch vehicle physics. Midtown Madness 2 improves on the original in both form and function, adding better graphics, crisp sound, a slew of new cars, and timely gameplay tweaks. Driving fans should pick this up without question.