So, let’s say you’re a big fan of Paris and Washington DC. Now let’s also say
you would love to drive like a madman through these cities and when I say madman
I’m talking about the type of driving that would wind you up behind bars about 2
minutes into your trip. But say that I can offer you complete freedom from any
real legal prosecution and, more importantly, can make sure you get through it
all without a scratch. Yea, now you’re listening! While I can’t make that deal
in the real world I can give you the next best thing and point you in the
direction of Midtown Madness 3 for the XBox where you can live out many of your
social breaking driving dreams.
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Joyriding in Paris. |
Like I just mentioned, Midtown Madness 3 (MM3) takes place in two different
cities: Paris and Washington DC (who said WDC and France weren’t getting
along??). If you’re not familiar with the Midtown Madness series let me sum it
up for you like this; the game lets you run completely amok crashing into all
sorts of things and scaring mimes to death. Personally any game that lets me
chase down a mime with a car is all right by me. (A quick note: much like Crazy
Taxi no virtual pedestrians are ever actually hit. They all make amazing dives
out of the way at the last second.)
MM3 has a few different modes for you to choose. Within the Single Race you can
either go with the Blitz mode where you race against the clock, try the
Checkpoint mode which is just as it sounds, or just Cruise where you can go at
your own pace to learn the city or just go site-seeing. There is also the “Work
Undercover” option where you play as either an undercover cop in Paris or as a
detective in DC. In this mode you end up doing things like delivering pizzas,
driving an ambulance or even becoming a stunt driver. Basically these are just
excuses for you to drive as fast and carelessly as possible while trying to
accomplish some relatively simple task. Oh, and you get to crash into just about
anything you can find.
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Midtown Madness 3 is fast driving and high flying. |
One of the more entertaining parts of MM3 is that it does not take itself
seriously. It’s not trying to become the next Gran Turismo; no it’s more along
the lines of a Cyndi Lauper that just wants to have fun. However, unlike Ms.
Lauper this is not a freaky looking thing, but instead a very beautiful game. I
can not really vouch for how authentic Paris has been represented, but I can do
so for DC and it’s very detailed and very nice looking. There is just something
cool about being able to drive up to the U.S. Capital and drive right up the
steps. Each city has tons of little secrets hidden about and a large part of the
fun is finding them. The controls are about what you would expect, not very
realistic but good control given what the game is all about.
Naturally one of the better parts of MM3 is that it’s Xbox Live enabled. Of
course this automatically sends the replay value sky high as playing against up
to 7 other drivers is always dynamic. The one compliant that I have about the
Xbox Live part really has nothing to do with the game as it handles the online
play flawlessly, but rather the players who show up. I suppose it’s just the
price you have to pay to be online, but do I really have to hear people that are
just plain mean-spirited and vulgar every time I go online? Probably.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
84%. Midtown Madness 3 is a rolling good time where those pesky
traffic laws take a back seat to fun.
