PAX: First look of Midnight Club: Los Angeles

After taking a few years off, Rockstar will make a Midnight Club return on next-gen consoles in 2008 — a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version is expected to hit sometime early next year. After a last-gen overabundance of street racers, it’s refreshing to see next-gen racers improve upon the formula. Midnight Club: Los Angeles looks to be righting a lot of wrongs committed by over-eager publishers.

As I sat down for a 20-minute demo of the first public look at this game, I was immediately impressed with Rockstar’s Rage engine — also the engine being used for Grand Theft Auto IV. Not only do the streets and environments look incredible, but the cars themselves are also very impressive. Rockstar said they were able to pack in 100,000 polygons into each car.

Besides the first-look eye candy, the game is also very impressive in the way it represents speed and a feeling of immersion in this illegal scene of street racing. While in the “cinematic” view, once a player hits the nitro, the camera shifts to a very delightful close up of the side of the car. The blurring sides and rumble of the screen actually make the player feel as if they’re racing down the streets of Los Angeles at a very unsafe speed.

If you happen to be in the cockpit view, then you do get to see your driver actually drop his right hand as he shifts in and out of gear.

Speaking of immersion, the police are also very active in the game. If you break the law, you’re gonna get busted. We had a chance to see just what happens when a player gets pulled over and it was all actually very entertaining. Once you get pulled over, the view suddenly switches to a grainy cop car camera as you see the man in blue slowly approach your driver’s side. And, just like in real life, you will get a ticket.

As far as the races, the usual Midnight Club modes are in there. But, this time, you don’t have to finish first to receive some kind of reward. You only need to finish in the top three to collect whatever it is you can for that specific race — a welcome departure for those who didn’t like to have to finish in first to progress in the previous versions.

Rockstar is still keeping their online options under wraps, but promise something special for the fans. And, if you want to use your Xbox 360 wheel, you will be able to with this game — PS3 users can also attach and use their USB-connected wheels as well.

When it comes to damaging your car, Rockstar says that you can “crash out” of a race or free roaming, but the way your car drives will not be affected. In essence, you’ll still be able to drive your car until it’s so completely trashed that you are forced to repair it.

One of the most refreshing features to see in the game is the way that Rockstar actually presents the races and maps. As games get bigger, load times also become a problem. With Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Rockstar has just completely done away with dreaded load times. Switching back and forth between Google Map-like views and other modes is as seamless as you’d hope every game would be.

When it comes to the actual streets of L.A., Rockstar says that they aren’t going for a street for street representation of the city. They want to take the most memorable parts of the iconic locale and make it bigger and better. Basically, they want you to have fun.

Will they achieve that goal? We’ll find out next year. But, as far as street racers go, this may actually be one worth driving.