Midtown Madness 2 Preview
The sequel to Microsoft's urban racing game features two new cities and a wide variety of updated cars.
Microsoft's original Midtown Madness took racers off the beaten track and onto the streets of Chicago. With a selection of vehicles ranging from the powerful Ford Mustang to the municipal behemoth of the city bus, players tore up the windy city to the sweet sounds of blaring horns, shouting citizens, and not-so-infrequent collisions. Its sequel Midtown Madness 2 delivers double the driving turf, subjecting two cities, San Francisco and London, to the thrashing of urban racing.
Decades ago, the Steve McQueen movie Bullitt gave moviegoers the spectacle of a high-speed chase through the hilly streets of San Francisco. The speeding cars got some serious air and seemed to spend more time over San Francisco than in it, in the process creating a metal-wrecking, glass-shattering fantasy for fans across the world. While Bullitt is ancient history, it left auto enthusiasts with a single driving ambition: to jump the hills of San Francisco. Never mind that landings could get messy, drivers wanted to fly. Midtown Madness 2 aspires to scratch the Bullitt itch without hiking insurance rates. San Francisco is all there, with landmarks like Chinatown and the impossibly steep and twisted Lombard Street. The hills are there, the speed is there, and the physics engine propels simulated vehicles in the same Hollywood fashion as Bullitt and The Rock.
Likewise, London offers old-world charm, and lots of it. As befits a city of its age and historical significance, the map of London's city streets looks like the web of a deranged spider operating on its 12th cup of coffee. London speeds by in a breathtaking blur of red phone booths and funky cars. The weave of streets means that you can reach any one destination by many routes and that racing cars can crisscross each other, which can result in potentially devastating collisions.
Each city is rendered in great detail, with accurate topography re-creating San Francisco's back-breaking hills and London's winding streets under various weather and lighting conditions. Drivers aren't constrained by a track, and they can take their vehicles just about anywhere the asphalt lies. And the streets aren't the limit of exploration: Back alleys, parking structures, jump ramps, expressways, and even London's underground train tunnels open up for the alert driver.
Midtown Madness 2 features nine new vehicles in addition to the cars from the original. The selection ranges from the sporty Aston-Martin Vantage DB-7 (in an assortment of colors) and the Audi TT to England's famous red double-decker bus and the slightly less famous but enticing light attack vehicle. Not all vehicles are immediately available, but they must be unlocked as rewards for completing certain scenarios. Each vehicle is rated for acceleration, horsepower, mass, and durability, and these statistics visibly affect performance. For example, a light Panoz Roadster is great for zipping along, but it is just another insect to the windshield of an oncoming city bus. Vehicles take a beating on the road, and the car bodies show the debilitating effects of tearing up parking meters, smashing traffic lights, and careening into and through traffic. Fragments fly as the mistreated machines shed bumpers and fenders.
Midtown Madness 2 Quick Links
Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | Downloads | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum | Check Prices
- GameSpot Score8.1great
Content you might like…
-
New Shots: Midtown Madness 2
These ten screens from Microsoft's city racing game show off a number of the sequel's new cars and locations.
- Jul 19, 2000
Users who looked at this article also looked at these content items.
Images
- Microsoft Game Studios
- Rockstar San Diego
- Mission-based Driving
- Release: Sep 21, 2000
- ESRB: Everyone
Games you may like…
-
Midtown Madness
(PC) -
Midtown Madness 3
(XBOX) -
Midtown Madness 3
(MOBILE) -
Driver
(PC) -
The Italian Job
(PC)
Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.
See More Similar Games
1 Comments