Midnight Club: Los Angeles (often shortened to Midnight Club: L.A. or MCLA) is the fourth video game in the Midnight Club series of racing video games, not including Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix. It was officially announced for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on May 16, 2008 by Rockstar Games. The game was developed by Rockstar San Diego. The game features 43 cars and 3 motorcycles.[2] The open world map of Los Angeles is confirmed to be the size of all three cities from the previous installment combined.[3][4] It has also been confirmed by several sources that each car has a polygon count of roughly 100,000.[5] After several delays, Midnight Club: Los Angeles was released on October 21, 2008 in North America and on October 24, 2008 in the PAL region.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Gameplay
3 Online features
4 Social Club
5 Reception
6 Updates, expansion, and downloadable content
7 Los Angeles landmarks
8 Complete Edition
9 Midnight Club: L.A. Remix
10 References
11 External links
[edit] Plot
The main character of Midnight Club: Los AngelesA man from the East Coast moves to Los Angeles. The character, known only as "Player", takes a major role in the game. In the intro of the game, he is on the phone with the, unknown at the time, Los Angeles City Champ, Booke, telling him to meet at a fast-food restaurant named Carney's Express Limited. He hooks the protagonist character up with three cars, one to pick, in the beginning of the game: a 1998 Nissan 240SX, 1983 Volkswagen Golf GTI, or 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco.
Once you have built up enough of a reputation, you gain the ability to become Champ of the City and of each car type. The first one that is offered is becoming City Champ. At a point in the game, Karol calls telling you about Booke being back as City Champ. When you go talk to Booke, he tells you to race regional opponents to see if you can race against him. After you beat them, Booke calls saying he is impressed, and to meet him at the Standard Hotel for a race which ends up being the City Champ race vs. Booke and one of the final races on Career mode. When you win, not only do you become City Champ, but other championship races open. Once you win against the lesser opponents, the Champs of all five vehicle classes in the game challenge you. The characters are Oswaldo, Julian, Lester, Pete, Marcel.
After you become City Champ, Karol calls and has a proposition. He asks you to get $1 million dollars to help co-own his two garages with him for his business. In return, he lets you have anything in the garages for free. This proposition also affects Doc's South Central garage although the game does not mention it.
After the character has completed 100% in LA in the PSP version, an unknown man somehow has reached his cell number, and calls saying that he wants to meet him at the Los Angeles International Airport on "his flight to Tokyo" then the character says "You talking about the Mid Night Club?" After the call, the Tokyo career and map can be accessed in Midnight Club: L.A Remix.
[edit] Gameplay
The main character in a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder.The game is set in the city of Los Angeles, again providing the option to completely free-roam (in an open world environment larger than all the three cities combined from the previous game, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition). New additions are a 24 hour day-to-night cycle, weather effects and traffic with licensed vehicles, adding a realistic aspect to the game. After races, if any damage is inflicted upon the vehicle, the player doesn't necessarily have to drive back to the garage for a full repair, but instead can choose the Quick Fix option through which old, junkyard-esque parts will be added to the car. To get the nice look back, the player must actually drive back to repair their vehicle at a garage or at a gas station, so totaling the car is only possible within a single race or event. With the RAGE system being used for this game, traffic levels fluctuate throughout the day, with heavy traffic in the morning and afternoon, and little traffic at night. Motorcycles are again part of the game, including the Ducati 999R and the hyper sport bike, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14. Convertible cars, customizable interiors, in-game photo mode, and customizable exotics are all new additions.
The game is said to be the longest of the 4, with more than 10 different types of races including series races, tournaments, pink slip races, and even freeway races, there is always plenty to do. You even have options. For each race you must drive to the start line or racer which adds to why the game takes so long to beat. The races also have different difficulties. Easy, medium, hard, and hardest. The difficulties are color-coded with green being easy, yellow being medium, orange being hard, and red being hardest. Each difficulty race has greater rewards than the latter.
The Special Abilities options have also been brought into the game (a returning feature from the previous installment), which include EMP, when activated will disable the electronics of every vehicle around the player; Agro, when activated will make the player's vehicle indestructible giving him the ability to plow through traffic without slowing the car down; Roar, when activated will send out a sound wave moving traffic out of the player's way for a clear and straight path through the streets; Zone, when activated will slow down time allowing the player to get between that tough gap in the traffic or letting you get around that sharp corner without losing too much speed. The previous installment had limited which type of car could get that special ability, but all cars in this game can now have any one of the special abilities, that the player chooses. The abilities can also be changed at any time the player feels.
Police return but are no longer scripted to a specific race; they will chase the player no matter where the player is and the longer the player runs from them, the higher the fine will be if the character is arrested.[6] Developers placed great emphasis on the elimination of load screens, stating that the player can literally jump from career mode to an online race in under ten seconds. The new dynamic weather system has been reported to alter the gameplay experience, making the vehicle more prone to sliding in the rain.
[edit] Online features
Online play supports 16 players at once and a number of new modes will be introduced including, Keep Away where the player must hold the flag as long as he can and Stockpile in which there are numerous flags to be captured. New online power-ups mentioned include Mirror (will reflect any power-up fired at the player back to the person who fired it), Agro (will act the same as the offline special ability, increasing the players vehicle weight and enabling them to crash through other vehicles without taking damage or slowing down), and Random (gives the player a random power-up). A new aspect entitled "Rate My Ride" is also to be introduced, where the players can go online to view vehicles that other players have created.[7]
PlayStation Network trophies are also included, with a total of 46 trophies to be won.[8]
[edit] Social Club
Main article: Rockstar Games Social Club
Midnight Club: Los Angeles is a part of Rockstar's Social Club and includes features that track the stats of the player's driving and potentially award them with various in-game content such as hydraulics, TIS rims, and the Audi R8.[9] In order to obtain these rewards, players must fulfill certain requirements to achieve their C-License, their B-License, and A-License. Once each license is acquired, a new reward is obtained. Players can also view their in-game Rate A Ride vehicle's rating, rate other player's vehicles, view their statistics and compare them with other players, view online leaderboards, and upload and share in-game photos. The Social Club also hosts Online Tournaments that award prizes to winning entrants.
[edit] Reception
[hide] Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 83/100 [10]
Metacritic 82/100 [11]
Review scores
Publication Score
1UP.com A-
Famitsu 33/40
Game Informer 9/10
GamePro 4/5
GameSpot 7.5/10
GameSpy 4.5/5
GameTrailers 8.7/10
IGN 8.5/10
Official PlayStation Magazine (UK) 9/10
PSM 9/10
PSM3 9.3/10
Midnight Club: Los Angeles received generally favorable reviews from critics. Most reviews praise the game's detailed depiction of Los Angeles, great amount of depth and multiplayer options, consistent frame-rate, stylish presentation, and varied soundtrack. The areas that were criticized included the clichéd characters, slow texture loading when players start up the game and unbalanced difficulty.[12]
Game Informer magazine editor Matt Helgeson gave it a 9/10, praising the game by saying "Midnight Club: Los Angeles is just what the doctor ordered: a fun, fast racing experience with enough content to keep you playing for months." They also praised the virtual recreation of the map of Los Angeles by saying, "The cityscape is amazing. The level of detail and the sheer amount of roadway to tear up seems limitless..." Editor Andrew Reiner in his Second Opinion also gave it a 9/10 saying, "In Midnight Club: Los Angeles, developer Rockstar San Diego transforms the bumper-to-bumper crawl of Los Angeles' street life into a roaring blur of rubber and metal, making this unlikely venue for one of video games' most enjoyable circuits."[13]
IGN gave it 8.5/10 and an Editor's Choice Award by saying, "Midnight Club: Los Angeles is a great racing experience with a few mars on its paint job. The cars handle fantastically, the city is nearly perfect, the GPS stuff is awesome and customizing your ride is great." They also address the difficulty by saying, "...but don't expect an easy time on the streets."[14]
GameSpy gave the game a 4.5/5 and an Editor's Choice Award, praising the game by saying, "The original open-world street racer leaves the competition in the dust." They also said, "And speed is the name of the game. MCLA's sense of velocity is breathtaking. The graphics are practically photorealistic..." They also addressed the difficulty by saying, "Single-player learning curve can be a bit steep." In conclusion they said, "...there's much more than enough game here to justify the price tag. If you invest the time in tricking out your ride and mastering the more challenging difficulty levels, you'll be rewarded with an adrenaline rush that you won't find anywhere else."[15]
[edit] Updates, expansion, and downloadable content
Since its release the game has had multiple updates and downloadable content releases.
The first update released on December 9, 2008 included improved AI balance to better adjust to players skill level, the cops are improved, and the Xbox 360 got additional leaderboard support for tournaments on Rockstar Social Club. Also part of the update was an additional online game mode called "Modes", where the user could choose to go to a lobby to play various race and flag modes instead of just one specific mode, aside from cruise mode.[16]
The most recent update is entitled the South Central Upgrade And Content Pack, and it includes a whole new area of the map, South Central LA, about a third of the size of the current map, for free. Players are also able to purchase the pack which includes new character competitions, races, music and cars available in a single complete package. New vehicles include various cars and, for the first time in the game, SUVs. The content was originally scheduled to release on March 12, but delayed to March 19 with no comment from Rockstar.[17] Problems occurred on March 19, when trying to release it on Xbox Live and delayed for a second time. It was also stated that additional car packs will be released in the future, but on March 27 Rockstar accidentally put the vehicle packs on Xbox Live. They were removed from the marketplace later that day and anybody who was downloading it at that time was asked to stop. On January 14, 2009, the content pack was accidentally released on the Xbox Live Marketplace during its testing and approval phase by Microsoft. It was then removed and anyone who was able to obtain it was asked to delete it because it may cause unforeseen problems with achievements and save data, according to a Xbox Live Marketplace staff member. On March 23, there was an event posting on Xbox Live Events for Midnight Club: Los Angeles South Central scheduled for March 29, but later that day it was removed from the events section. Rockstar then put a new post up on the Midnight Club: Los Angeles website on March 30 saying that the event was to be on April 4. On March 27, both the South Central Expansion and Premium Pack were released on the Xbox Live Marketplace for download. On 23 April the second vehicle pack was released on Xbox Live and PSN which included 4 new vehicles 2008 Cadillac XLR V, 2008 Lancer Evolution X and an extra motorcycle (the new fastest one on the game), the 2008 Ducati 1098 R. An area of particular interest is a phone message the player receives if all cars, including the DLC cars, have been acquired. The message says "more high performance cars coming soon". This message can be displayed when a player continually enters and exits any garage. On October 22, Rockstar released a free "police car pack" on the PlayStation Network. This gives the players the ability to race using 5 different types of police vehicles and gives players the ability to avoid the police while cruising or racing.[18] On October 10, the police car pack was released on the Xbox 360 marketplace. However, the police will pursue the player if they are caught street racing.Strangely though,if the player turns on the siren while street racing,the police won't pursue the player.
[edit] Los Angeles landmarks
The game is a compacted, but not necessarily street-accurate depiction of Los Angeles, but it features a lot of Los Angeles landmarks which include:
Capitol Records Tower
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Griffith Observatory
Hollywood Sign
Getty Center
Los Angeles City Hall
Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Santa Monica Third Street Promenade
Santa Monica Place
Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica City Hall
Chateau Marmont Hotel
La Brea Tar Pits
Watts Towers
Carney's restaurant
Pink's Hot Dogs restaurant
Standard Hotel
Fox Village Theater
U.S. Bank Tower
Aon Center
Gas Company Tower
Millennium Biltmore Hotel
AT&T Center
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Westin Bonaventure Hotel
Crossroads of the World
Los Angeles California Temple
Staples Center (titled "Sports Center" in the game)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Pershing Square
Rodeo Drive
Beverly Wilshire Hotel
Los Angeles River Basin
Los Angeles Convention Center
Fox Plaza (aka Die Hard building)
The Roxy nightclub
Viper Room nightclub
The Beverly Hills Hotel
Beverly Hills Civic Center
Paramount Studios
UCLA campus
University of Southern California campus
Exposition Park
The Forum
Baldwin Hills Oil Field
Los Angeles International Airport (from a distance)
Whisky a Go Go nightclub
MacArthur Park
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza
Ventura Boulevard
Los Angeles Public Library
Aerospace Museum of California
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art
Pantages Theater
Roosevelt Hotel
Union Station
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (titled "South Central Coliseum" in the game)
[edit] Complete Edition
The Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition cover art in EuropeOn October 12, 2009, Rockstar Games released the Midnight Club: Los Angeles - Complete Edition as a PlayStation 3 Greatest Hit / Platinum and a Xbox 360 Platinum Hit.[19] This version of the game includes the main game and all of the previously available downloadable content on the disc.
Included in the Complete Edition:
Core game
South Central
Map Expansion
Premium Upgrade
Vehicle Pack #1
Vehicle Pack #2
Police Car Pack
More Licensed Music
New Vinyl Packages
[edit] Midnight Club: L.A. Remix
Logo for the PSP versionMidnight Club: L.A. Remix is a portable version of Midnight Club: Los Angeles, which was announced by Rockstar Games on April 21, 2008 for PlayStation Portable. The game was released on October 21, 2008 in North America and on October 24, 2008 in the PAL region.[20]
The game features only a portion of Los Angeles, using the same map from Midnight Club II. Making up for this, the game features another playable city, Tokyo, which uses the same map from Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix. Unlike the console version, the police do not chase the player in "Cruise" mode. However, the player can get caught after running from the police for a long period of time, and eventually getting boxed in, and getting no fine. Also unlike the console version, Midnight Club: L.A. Remix does not feature cut scenes. Also,the cars in the game have been split up meaning that one half of the cars can be used in Los Angeles while the other half can be used in Tokyo, the bikes aren't split as all three can be used in Los Angeles and Tokyo.
[edit] References
1.^ a b [1]
2.^ "Full Cars List". Midnight Club Los Angeles. http://www.rockstargames.com/midnightclubLA/cars/.
3.^ "GC 2007: Midnight Club: Los Angeles Preview". IGN. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/814/814933p1.html.
4.^ "Midnight Club: Los Angeles Review". IGN. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/921/921784p1.html.
5.^ "Now in broad daylight and looking very, very cool". HEXUS.gaming. http://gaming.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=9706.
6.^ "Midnight Club Los Angeles Hands On". http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=203314.
7.^ "Midnight Club Los Angeles Online". http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/2124/Midnight-Club-Los-Angeles/p3/.
8.^ "Trophies: Midnight Club: Los Angeles". Joystiq. http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/09/30/trophies-midnight-club-los-angeles.html.
9.^ "ROCKSTAR GAMES SOCIAL CLUB". Rockstar Games. http://socialclub.rockstargames.com.
10.^ "GameRankings: Midnight Club: Los Angeles". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/939534.asp. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
11.^ "MetaCritic: Midnight Club: Los Angeles". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/midnightclublosangeles?q=Midnight%20Club%20Los%20Angeles. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
12.^ "Midnight Club: Los Angeles review (PS3/X360)". Boomtown. http://ps2.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=16971.
13.^ Matt Helgeson. "Back To The Streets". Game Informer. http://gameinformer.com/games/midnight_club_los_angeles/b/xbox360/archive/2009/09/23/review.aspx. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
14.^ Chris Roper. "IGN: Midnight Club: Los Angeles Review". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/921/921813p1.html. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
15.^ "GameSpy: Midnight Club: Los Angeles Review". GameSpy. http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/midnight-club-los-angeles/921988p1.html. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
16.^ "Midnight Club: Los Angeles Update arrives". Gaming Nexus. http://www.gamingnexus.com/FullNews/Midnight-Club-Los-Angeles-Update-arrives/Item10857.aspx.
17.^ "Midnight Club: Los Angeles South Central Delayed". http://xbox.joystiq.com/2009/03/11/midnight-clubs-south-central-dlc-delayed-a-week/. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
18.^ "Midnight Club LA Police Car Pack (free via PSN)". Gaming Nexus. http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=racing&thread.id=223689.
19.^ http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/18/amazon-lists-midnight-club-los-angeles-complete-edition-for-p
20.^ "Rockstar Games announces release date for Midnight Club: Los Angeles on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system along with Midnight Club: L.A. Remix for the PSP". Take-Two Interactive. http://ir.take2games.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=305565.
•Cheat mode
Find the indicated numbers of hidden Rockstar barrels (collectables) to unlock the corresponding cheat option. Note: Enabling a cheat will stop your progress in Career mode and disable the earning of money and reputation from races.
Unlimited Nitro: 10 barrels
Never Damage Out: 20 barrels
Unlimited Special Abilities: 30 barrels
Top Down View: 40 barrels
No Police: 50 barrels
No Fines: 60 barrels
•Infinite money
Successfully complete Career mode.
•Karol Garage partner mission
Get the "Idol" rank (33,500 Reputation) to unlock the Karol Garage partner mission.
•Hydraulics and air bags
To unlock hydraulics and air bags, you must join the Rockstar Social Club, link to your online profile, then complete four of the twelve "Driving Test" achievements listed on the website. Doing so will unlock hydraulics/air bags for your online profile, even if you completely restart the game. If you already have four of the achievements completed, just joining the Rockstar Social Club and linking your online profile will unlock the hydraulics and air bags.
•Vehicle groups
Reach the indicated rank to unlock the corresponding vehicle group:
Group 2: Get the "Student Driver" rank (2,000 Reputation).
Group 3: Get the "Racer" rank (8,060 Reputation).
Group 4: Get the "Champion" rank (16,500 Reputation).
•Performance upgrades
Reach the indicated rank to unlock the corresponding performance upgrade:
Level 1 Performance upgrades for Group 1 vehicles: Get the "Navigator" rank (800 Reputation).
Level 1 Performance upgrades for Group 2 vehicles: Get the "Driver" rank (5,600 Reputation).
Level 1 Performance upgrades for Group 3 vehicles: Get the "Elite Racer" rank (13,700 Reputation).
Level 1 Performance upgrades for Group 4 vehicles: Get the "Savant" rank (22,760 Reputation).
Level 2 Performance upgrades for Group 1 vehicles: Get the "Rookie" rank (3,610 Reputation).
Level 2 Performance upgrades for Group 2 vehicles: Get the "Veteran" rank (10,760 Reputation).
Level 2 Performance upgrades for Group 3 vehicles: Get the "Legend" rank (19,540 Reputation).
Level 2 Performance upgrades for Group 4 vehicles: Get the "Hero" rank (26,160 Reputation).
•Custom items
Participate in the indicated number of races for a specific vehicle class to unlock the corresponding item that can be customized for that particular class (Tuners, Muscles, Luxury, Exotics, or Superbikes):
Blowers: 45 races
Car headlights: 36 races
Car spoilers: 18 races
Car stereos: 27 races
Exhausts: 45 races
Front bumpers: 9 races
Front seats: 27 races
Hoods: 36 races
Intercoolers: 45 races
Motorcycle bowls: 36 races
Motorcycle tails: 18 races
Motorcycle tanks: 27 races
Post gauges: 27 races
Rear bumpers: 18 races
Skirts: 9 races
Steering wheels: 27 races
Taillights: 36 races
Widebody kits: 45 races
•Easy rank and money
Go to Arcade mode, and set the AI to "Easy", traffic to "None", and disable power-ups. To earn money, make sure you do not finish in last place.
•Getting rid of police
Use the following trick to get rid of the police when doing a race. Finish the race, and enable the "No Police" cheat, then turn it off again. The police will disappear, and it will not have any effect on what you do afterward.
•Catching freeway racer
When you see a red target far away on the map, enable the "No Damage" and "Unlimited Nitro" cheats to reach them quickly. Then, turn off both cheats once you are about to race him to keep your reputation and money intact.
•Trophies
Successfully complete one of the following tasks to get a trophy:
Streaker (Bronze): Win 5 races in a row offline.
Neither Bird nor Plane (Bronze): Travel 1020 feet in a single jump.
Wanted Man (Bronze): Pull over while the police are in 'pull over' mode, then drive away during the ticketing cutscene.
Out On Bail (Bronze): Evade the police successfully when they are in pursuit.
The Basics (Bronze): Complete one of the missions you receive in the mission log.
Paparazzi (Bronze): Save 16 photos to your photo album.
What's a Speed Limit? (Bronze): Win 15 dynamic freeway races.
Saving Los Angeles (Bronze): Enter the Race Editor, create a race, and then save it.
Where in the World? (Bronze): Find half of the collectables in Los Angeles.
Winning With Less (Bronze): Win 10 races on a motorcycle.
Hear me Roar! (Bronze): Unlock Level 3 Roar.
Anger Management (Bronze): Unlock Level 3 Agro.
Zoning Out (Bronze): Unlock Level 3 Zone.
Go on Green (Bronze): Win 15 Red Light Races.
Uncle Time (Bronze): Finish the first mission for each of the 4 time trials.
Father Time (Bronze): Completely unlock a time trial by completing all 3 missions.
Getting Off the Bench (Bronze): Enter an online cruise and join a proposed race.
Who Made This? (Bronze): Enter a Race Editor Race online.
Turn in the Work (Bronze): Submit a vehicle to Rate My Ride.
Everyone's a Critic (Bronze): Rate 25 rides online.
Crossing the Line (Bronze): Finish 50 races online.
Mild Dedication (Bronze): In Goal Attack, complete every goal for one race.
Jordan Jumpman (Bronze): Spend more than 10 minutes in the air. Brought to you by jordan brand.
Set To Stun (Bronze): Unlock Level 3 EMP.
T-Mobile myFaves (Bronze): Join an online game with 5 of your friends. Stay Connected with MyFaves from T-Mobile.
Unicycle (Silver): Drive a cumulative total of 50 miles while doing a wheelie on a motorcycle.
Just Get A Motorcycle (Silver): In a car, drive a cumulative total of 50 miles on 2 wheels.
Destroyer of Worlds (Silver): Successfully destroy 15 opponent vehicles using the Payback vehicle at the Beaches garage.
Here for a Pickup (Silver): Successfully deliver 15 vehicles out of the Hollywood garage.
Competitive Glory (Silver): Win each of the 4 tournaments at least one time.
In the Lap of… (Silver): Beat the Luxury Champ.
Name that Tuner (Silver): Beat the Tuner Champ.
World's Strongest (Silver): Beat the Muscle Champ.
Two Wheels of Fury (Silver): Beat the Motorcycle Champ.
How Exotic (Silver): Beat the Exotic Champ.
Have Car, Will Travel (Silver): Drive a total of 5,000 miles, including any miles driven online or offline.
Rags To Riches (Silver): Have $1 million dollars in the bank while playing in Los Angeles.
The Winner (Silver): Win 180 offline races.
Waldo's Still Missing (Silver): Find all the collectables in Los Angeles.
It's How You Play The Game (Silver): Finish 300 offline races. Winning is not required.
Retire the Master (Silver): Beat the City Champ.
Master Thief (Silver): Steal 80 flags while playing Capture the Flag or other battle matches.
Postman (Silver): Deliver 100 flags in Capture the Flag or other battle matches.
Ranking Up (Silver): Win 20 Tiered Matches online.
True Dedication (Gold): All Goal attacks must be unlocked and every goal for every race completed.
The Completist! (Platinum): Unlock the Platinum trophy by unlocking all other trophies.
