Rockstar San Diego has also overhauled the graphics engine, adding new levels of realtime reflections, more realistic car models, and longer draw distances. There are tons of new side roads, shortcuts, insanely placed jump sections, all placed in three highly detailed cities (Atlanta, Georgia; Detroit, Michigan; and San Diego, California), each with its own distinct neighborhoods, downtown sections, and suburbs. Just like in MC2, the cities are filled with moving traffic, civilians, and AI opponents that are even more intelligent and crafty than before. Remember how you couldn't follow any single racer from one point to the next to gain first place in MC2? Having brought "Railbranching" into MC2, Rockstar San Diego has plans to up the AI levels, while also building the cities out with more streets, jumps, secret alleys, and side-streets from which to choose.

 

Online, Rockstar is currently being very quiet. Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition offers Xbox and PlayStation 2 gamers the chance to drive against seven others simultaneously, and after you have stylized your ride you can then bring that online to race against anyone else. We suspect many of the previous modes of play, such as Race, Detonate, or Capture the Flag, might be available in this new version, but again, Rockstar hasn't revealed everything just yet. The Race Editor will be back too, but with a more dynamic role.

For the first time in the series, customization will now play a major role. Players can alter the outward look of their vehicle via the use of paint, adding layers and styles of color. Players can color shift their vehicles, i.e. tuning the base color and adding five custom highlighted colors on top of the base color. You can then tweak the body of your vehicle, switching out fenders, bumpers, fins, lights, grills, hoods, rims, wheels, and more. After you're done finding the right combination of style and class to reflect your personal, eh-hem, "lifestyle" (watch the gold, baby), you can then get to the nitty-gritty, performance mods. Change out the suspension, air intakes, and exhaust parts, or add superchargers to give your car an extra boost. There is actually a lot more on this area to talk about, but Rockstar is still implementing many new sections of the game and it's also holding its hand close to its chest, so as not to give away too many secrets right away.


 
 

The fact is, while Rockstar's Midnight Club series was indeed the first racing game to tap the street racing culture in the videogame arena, other companies have caught on fast. EA (Need for Speed), Acclaim (Juiced), Namco (Street Racing Syndicate), Capcom (Auto Modellista) you name it, many others are right there making street racing culture a part of videogame culture. The thing is, Rockstar's game is already quite different, with its wide open cities, intense sense of speed, and sense of style.

By infusing high levels of customization to the exterior and the performance of the vehicles, and by bringing in more than 50 licensed vehicles, all with the ability to take heavy damage, Rockstar San Diego looks to give MC3 an edge over its competition. The fine details behind Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition still remain to be seen, and we'll be here to provide you with all of them in good time, so stick around gearheads.


 

  Text Box: Following the second super-fast mofo of a racer (MC2), Rockstar San Diego plans to vastly improve Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition in each of the areas that Midnight Club 2 excelled. So, first, there are more cars and motorcycles, 50 of them -- all licensed. Rockstar has revealed only a smidgeon of vehicles that will be available, but you can count on playable Cadillacs, Mercedes, Ducatis, and GMs (Hummers) among other cars, and loads of new motorcycles including the introduction of choppers. The class of vehicles has grown too. There will be import tuners, trucks, sedans, muscle cars, and various other kinds. Rockstar San Diego has also overhauled the graphics engine, adding new levels of realtime reflections, more realistic car models, and longer draw distances. There are tons of new side roads, shortcuts, insanely placed jump sections, all placed in three highly detailed cities (Atlanta, Georgia; Detroit, Michigan; and San Diego, California), each with its own distinct neighborhoods, downtown sections, and suburbs. Just like in MC2, the cities are filled with moving traffic, civilians, and AI opponents that are even more intelligent and crafty than before. Remember how you couldn't follow any single racer from one point to the next to gain first place in MC2? Having brought "Railbranching" into MC2, Rockstar San Diego has plans to up the AI levels, while also building the cities out with more streets, jumps, secret alleys, and side-streets from which to choose. Online, Rockstar is currently being very quiet. Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition offers Xbox and PlayStation 2 gamers the chance to drive against seven others simultaneously, and after you have stylized your ride you can then bring that online to race against anyone else. We suspect many of the previous modes of play, such as Race, Detonate, or Capture the Flag, might be available in this new version, but again, Rockstar hasn't revealed everything just yet. The Race Editor will be back too, but with a more dynamic role. For the first time in the series, customization will now play a major role. Players can alter the outward look of their vehicle via the use of paint, adding layers and styles of color. Players can color shift their vehicles, i.e. tuning the base color and adding five custom highlighted colors on top of the base color. You can then tweak the body of your vehicle, switching out fenders, bumpers, fins, lights, grills, hoods, rims, wheels, and more. After you're done finding the right combination of style and class to reflect your personal, eh-hem, "lifestyle" (watch the gold, baby), you can then get to the nitty-gritty, performance mods. Change out the suspension, air intakes, and exhaust parts, or add superchargers to give your car an extra boost. There is actually a lot more on this area to talk about, but Rockstar is still implementing many new sections of the game and it's also holding its hand close to its chest, so as not to give away too many secrets right away.   The fact is, while Rockstar's Midnight Club series was indeed the first racing game to tap the street racing culture in the videogame arena, other companies have caught on fast. EA (Need for Speed), Acclaim (Juiced), Namco (Street Racing Syndicate), Capcom (Auto Modellista) you name it, many others are right there making street racing culture a part of videogame culture. The thing is, Rockstar's game is already quite different, with its wide open cities, intense sense of speed, and sense of style. By infusing high levels of customization to the exterior and the performance of the vehicles, and by bringing in more than 50 licensed vehicles, all with the ability to take heavy damage, Rockstar San Diego looks to give MC3 an edge over its competition. The fine details behind Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition still remain to be seen, and we'll be here to provide you with all of them in good time, so stick around gearheads.