Midnight Club II
| Midnight Club II | |
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| Developer(s) | Rockstar San Diego |
| Publisher(s) | Rockstar Games |
| Series | Midnight Club |
| Engine | Angel Game Engine |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 Xbox Windows |
| Release date(s) | April 9, 2003 (PS2) June 2, 2003 (XBOX) July 9, 2003 (PC) |
| Genre(s) | Sandbox, Racing, Simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Distribution | DVD, download |
Midnight Club II is racing video game developed and published by Rockstar San Diego. It is the first sequel to Midnight Club: Street Racing, published for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. Players race through cities inspired by Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo. The game also features an online multiplayer component. It is the second game in Midnight Club franchise, followed by Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition.
Contents
Cities[edit source | edit]
Dry, hilly suburbs and congested interstates can be found throughout Los Angeles, and just like Midnight Club: Street Racing, the city contains many landmarks, as well as numerous shortcuts and jumps. Paris is the home to cobblestone alleyways, monumental roundabouts, and the Paris Catacombs. Also featured are a lot of jumps taking you across the river of Paris and into an alleyway. Tokyo is a city of neon-glittering avenues and tight alleyways, and contains an equal array of tourist sights and attractions.
Gameplay[edit source | edit]
Races consist of a series of checkpoints, represented by columns of light. In some races, the order in which the checkpoints must be cleared is prescribed. In this case, a transparent, glowing arrow points to the next checkpoint. In other races the checkpoints may be cleared in any order. In that case, the arrow turns constantly without pointing in any particular direction.
It is up to the player which route to take from one checkpoint to the next. There are no artificial barriers in the game's open world environment that force the player to stay on a specific course. Any area that is drivable or jumpable in the free-roaming cruise mode between races may be used to get to the next checkpoint.
Some areas can be driven upon that are not intended for such use outside of a computer game. Examples are escalators, roofs, railways and riverbeds and many ramps. However, many areas that would be drivable in reality, for example entrances and some stairs, are fenced off with invisible barriers. In some areas, the player can jump or drop down. Using this to the player's advantage can be necessary in order to win a race. If the car falls into deep water, the damage meter goes to its maximum stage and the car starts to overheat and the race is immediately lost.
The game features a damage model. The amount of damage inflicted upon a car is indicated by both an HUD indicator and visual damage to the car. The performance of a car does not degrade with damage. When the damage limit of a car is exceeded, the car explodes or stalls. After a delay of a few seconds, the player can continue with a new car.
Vehicles[edit source | edit]
The vehicles in Midnight Club II all resemble real life vehicles but have subtle differences to their counterparts, such as different headlamps or tail lights. Also, most of them have aesthetical modifications commonly found in the street racing and import scenes, e.g. spoilers and body kits.
In the car selection menu, descriptions and stats of each vehicle can be seen, along with the option to choose among 4 colors. Once a car is viewed a sound effect is played in the background, which is unique to each one of them.
Los Angeles [1][edit source | edit]
- Cocotte - 1983 Ford Escort MK3 (EU)
- Citi - 1992 Honda Civic (EG)
- Emu - Volkswagen Passat (B5)
- Torrida - Acura/Honda Integra Type-R
- 1971 Bestia - 1966 Pontiac GTO Coupe
- Interna - 1999 Honda S2000 (AP1)
- Cohete - Honda CBR929
- Citi Turbo - 1996 Honda Civic (EK)
- Monstruo - 1995 Mazda RX-7 (FD3S)
- Jersey XS - Dodge Viper GTS-R Concept (2000)
Paris[edit source | edit]
- Boost - Ford Puma
- Bryanston V - 1992 Ford Escort Cosworth
- Schneller V8 - BMW M5 (E34)
- Alarde - Lotus Elise 111R
- Monsoni - Ducati 748/996
- Fripon X - Volkswagen Golf Mk3
- Victory - Aston Martin V12 Vanquish
- Modo Prego - Porsche 911 GT3 (996)
- Paris Cop - Citroën ZX
Tokyo[edit source | edit]
- Lusso XT - Toyota Aristo V300/Lexus GS 300 (JZS161)
- RSMC 15 - Nissan Z Concept (2001)
- Vortex 5 - Toyota MR2 GT-S (W20)
- Saikou - Toyota Supra SZ-R (JZA80)
- Knight - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII (CT9A)
- Nousagi - Yamaha R1
- Saikou XS - Toyota Supra with ABFLUG body kit
- Torque JX - Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34)
- Veloci - Saleen S7
- Tokyo Cop - Nissan 300ZX (Z32)
The SLF450X is the only original vehicle in the game (though it has visual resemblance to the Pagani Zonda F). Although no stats are seen of this vehicle, practical exercises show it has the highest performance capability of all vehicles previously listed. It's capable of reaching more than 400 km/h without nitrous.
Since the game is not capable of replicating AWD vehicles, they are only available with RWD or FWD setups. An example of this is the Knight (based on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII, with an AWD system in real-life), which only has the power driven to the front wheels. Moreover, the Stadt has a FWD setup instead of the MR layout of the real-life Renault Clio V6 that is based on. The reason for this is that FWD cars usually offer a more stable driving in-game with less risks to spin out, and thus its description available in the menu states that it has formidable handling.
Soundtrack[edit source | edit]
| Midnight Club II: Original Soundtrack | ||||
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| Soundtrack album | ||||
| Released | 2003 | |||
| Length | 03:50:00 | |||
| Label | Rockstar Games | |||
| Midnight Club soundtrack chronology | ||||
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The album was released at E3 in 2003 as a promotional gift.[2] It consisted of mainly electro and techno music along with rap music.[3] Altogether, the soundtrack contained a total of 38 tracks.[4]
| # | Title | Artist(s) | Genre | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | "Midnight Club Theme" | 8-Off Agallah | Rap | 04:04 |
| 02 | "Ride Out" | 8-Off Agallah & Ike Eyes | Rap | 03:46 |
| 03 | "Elements Of Trance (DJ Kim's Reload Mix)" | ACM | Electro/Techno | 07:46 |
| 04 | "Jump Jet" | Alpine Stars | Electro/Techno | 02:54 |
| 05 | "Round About Midnight" | Antenna | Electro/Techno | 09:19 |
| 06 | "Blue Owl'" | Art of Trance | Electro/Techno | 09:04 |
| 07 | "Stealth" | Art of Trance | Electro/Techno | 07:11 |
| 08 | "When I Fall In Love (Strike Acid Dub)" | Axus | Electro/Techno | 08:12 |
| 09 | "Paranoize (Flip Path Mix)" | Bipath | Electro/Techno | 07:04 |
| 10 | "Midnight Club II" | Blue Warta | Rap | 03:37 |
| 11 | "Simon and Lisa" | Bluemarten | Electro/Techno | 05:36 |
| 12 | "Home Videos" | Bluemarten | Electro/Techno | 04:52 |
| 13 | "Electrified" | DJ Robert & Martinez Brothers | Electro/Techno | 04:40 |
| 14 | "Brain 26 (Question Non Vocal Mix)" | D-Noiser | Electro/Techno | 06:45 |
| 15 | "Brain 29 (Demon Of The Church Mix)" | D-Noiser | Electro/Techno | 06:43 |
| 16 | "Brain 30 Brain Train (Psycho Mix)" | D-Noiser | Electro/Techno | 06:57 |
| 17 | "Silverscreen (Shower Scene)" | Felix Da Housecat | Electro/Techno | 04:42 |
| 18 | "Sequel 2 Sub" | Felix Da Housecat | Electro/Techno | 03:50 |
| 19 | "Nix" (Feat. Miss Kittin) | Golden Boy | Electro/Techno | 06:01 |
| 20 | "It's Good For You To Meet People Like Us" (Feat. Miss Kittin) | Golden Boy | Electro/Techno | 06:42 |
| 21 | "Syntrax" | Jack Henderson | Electro/Techno | 04:13 |
| 22 | "Roccoco" | Kansai | Electro/Techno | 07:49 |
| 23 | "Space Station" | Kinnder | Electro/Techno | 07:45 |
| 24 | "Brain 21: Something For Your Mind (Kaylab Remix)" | Michael Da Brain | Electro/Techno | 05:57 |
| 25 | "Brain 35: Only an Illusion" | Michael Da Brain | Electro/Techno | 08:04 |
| 26 | "Never Could I Have Your Heart" | Mistress Barbara vs. Barbara Brown | Electro/Techno | 06:38 |
| 27 | "Mirage" | Moogroove | Electro/Techno | 08:26 |
| 28 | "Aurora" | Nokternal | Electro/Techno | 06:38 |
| 29 | "Live 135" | Patient Zero | Electro/Techno | 04:35 |
| 30 | "Escaping Sao Paulo" | Projections | House | 06:09 |
| 31 | "Timeshift" | Subtech | Electro/Techno | 13:42 |
| 32 | "Extra Dry" | Thomas Bangalter | Electro/Techno | 04:57 |
| 33 | "Outrun" | Thomas Bangalter | Electro/Techno | 05:41 |
| 34 | "Turbo" | Thomas Bangalter | Electro/Techno | 04:03 |
| 35 | "What Is It? (Feat. Masta Ace)" | Tommy Tee | Hip-Hop/Rap | 04:19 |
| 36 | "G's Up (Feat. Doo Wop)" | Tony Touch | Rap | 03:15 |
| 37 | "Let's Go" | Tre Little | Rap | 04:23 |
| 38 | "Put Your Top Down" | Tre Little | Rap | 03:23 |
Characters[edit source | edit]
Each character will cruise around the city waiting for a challenge. This excludes Moses, who begins the Career Mode, and the four champions who will seek you out after all predecessors are beaten. They will talk to the player or 'think loudly' during pre-race cutscenes, during which the player can discover their motives, learn the statistics of their vehicle, and preview their theme song.
The characters are:
Los Angeles:
Moses, Steven, Maria, Angel, Diego (Has the 1971 Bestia but is not mentioned), Gina, Hector, Dice ( Los Angeles Illegal Street Racing Champion),
Paris:
Blog, Jewel and Julie (twins), Primo, Stephane, Ian, Farid, Owen (Has the Victory but not mentioned), Parfait (Paris Illegal Street Racing Champion),
Tokyo
Ichiro (Has the Lusso XT but not mentioned), Shing, Ricky, Haley, Nikko, Zen, Kenichi, Makoto (Tokyo Illegal Street Racing Champion), and Savo (World Illegal Street Racing Champion)
Reception[edit source | edit]
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 85.85% (PS2)[5] |
| Metacritic | 85/100 (PS2)[8] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | B+ (PS2)
B- (PC) |
| Allgame |    [11] |
| Eurogamer | 9/10 (PS2)
8/10 (Xbox) |
| GamePro | [12] |
| GameSpot | 7.3/10 (PS2)
7.9/10 (Xbox) |
| IGN | 9.1/10 (PS2)[13]
8.8/10 (Xbox) |
The game received positive reviews from critics. For the PS2 version, IGN called it "An excellent online game that offers an ostensibly limitless amount of replay value, given the range of courses and numerous race alterations and variations".[13] In contrast, GameNOW, grading it a B- for the PS2 version, states "One thing about the game will really piss you off, though, and that's the difficulty. In plain English, the A.I. is brutal, and if you make one mistake in most courses, you may as well restart the race".
For the Xbox version, GamePro rated the game a 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating "Visually, the game doesn’t disappoint—lots of shiny cars, detailed environments, and lighting effects that prove crucial during these after-hours races".[12] In contrast, Allgame stated "The online component is addictive and is almost reason enough to purchase Midnight Club II, but solo players will be yearning for things to do in the cities outside of competing in more checkpoint races".[11]
The game has sold 1.28 million copies worldwide on the PS2.
References[edit source | edit]
- ^ "Video of all the Midnight Club II cars on YouTube". Retrieved 2012-06-17.
- ^ "Midnight Club II soundtrack sampler". Retrieved 2012-06-17.
- ^ "Midnight Club II Soundtrack page". Retrieved 2012-06-08.
- ^ "List of all the songs". Retrieved 2012-06-17.
- ^ "Midnight Club II for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ^ "Midnight Club II for Xbox". GameRankings. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ^ "Midnight Club II for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ^ "Midnight Club II for PS2". Metacritic. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ^ "Midnight Club II for Xbox". Metacritic. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ^ "Midnight Club II for PC". Metacritic. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ^ a b Marriott, Scott. "Midnight Club II". Allgame. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ^ a b Elektro, Dan (2003-06-03). "Midnight Club 2". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2011-12-01. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ^ a b Perry, Douglass (2003-04-08). "Midnight Club II". IGN. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
External links[edit source | edit]
- Midnight Club II official website
- Midnight Club II's channel on YouTube
- Midnight Club II at MobyGames
- Midnight Club II at the Open Directory Project
- Midnight Club II community
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