10 reasons Midnight Club: Los Angeles will rock your pants

6. DUB All-stars
Just because this edition doesn’t come with the legendary custom-car magazine emblazoned across the title, it doesn’t mean they’re not involved. DUB magazine will be contributing as-yet-unnamed whips, tricked out exclusively for Midnight Club: Los Angeles. Downloadable content has never seemed so likely.

7. Gas up
Ordinarily, no one is ever happy to pull up to the pump, but breezing through one of the many stations scattered about LA can repair a damaged vehicle mid-race, as well as refill nitrous. But you’ll have to go back to your Performance Shop for intensive repairs, and/or any fine tuning.

Above: Care for a Ninja between your legs?

8. Ye Olde Performance Shoppe
Think of Midnight Club’s gas stations as a quick fix, like dressing a wound on the field of battle. But oh, the Performance Shop. Accessible from two garages, this is where you’ll finely hone your vehicle to the highest of specification. Splurge your hard-earned cash on premium parts and tires to enhance performance, or sufficiently pimp your vehicle with the ridiculous amount of cosmetic customization. Spoilers, decals, vinyls - it’s all here. Plus, you can stretch, skew, alter and affix designs to your heart's content.

Even the interior of your car has absurd amount of custom options. Of the numerous camera settings, of course there’s an adequate view from the cockpit. So, if you want a mahogany steering wheel with neon-pink seats, that’s your business, mister.

Above: Subject to change, if you wanna

9. A little bit Special
Midnight Club sits comfortably between hardcore sim and arcade racer, but what else could they do to expand the appeal? Well, MC:LA’s got some field weapons (though luckily nothing as asinine as a blue turtle shell). The three Special Abilities from DUB are returning, only this time they’re interchangeable with any car, one at a time.

To refresh: Zone lets you slow time for impossible weaving, Agro turns your car into a brutal melee weapon, and Roar sends a shockwave that shoves cars off the road. But the newcomer, EMP, gets all technological and emits an electromagnetic pulse that temporarily shuts down the engine any chump unfortunate enough to be around you. It’s like having “the pinch” from Ocean’s Eleven nestled snugly under the hood.

Above: Draft between those trails and get a free shot of nitrous

10. Take it online
Since Midnight Club was one of the first console racing games to do the genre justice online, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network support is a given. Rockstar is tight-lipped about how it will take shape - but they’re Rockstar. That’s their nature. However, you can expect the Rockstar Social Club to double in usefulness. The Rate My Ride feature will let you compare and critique customized creations. Particularly jealous of somebody else’s car? Lack any inkling of artistic talent? You can buy designs off other people online using in-game cash.

In case you couldn’t tell, Midnight Club: Los Angeles has us excited. We’ll have more info for that ass as we get closer to the release date; the game streets Oct. 7 in the US, and Oct. 10 in the UK.

Jul 23, 2008