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Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition is one of those titles in which we all wish would exceed in every aspect; the gameplay would be stellar, the soundtrack would be appealing to all listeners, and the graphics be beaten by none. However, the PS2 Edition of MC3 falls short of this godly expectation due to the some graphical mishaps. Although the graphics aren’t terrible, there could have been an improvement on the environmental effects and surrounding vehicles. The Midnight Club series has progressed through the years as a premier medium for extreme urban racing with some of the most exotic cars that the average player will not obtain within their lifetime. MC3 has not only continued with its success by bringing the traditional gameplay we all know and love, but Rockstar extends the Midnight Club franchise by including more highly customizable cars, a greater soundtrack, and of course a deepened storyline. Instead of altering the gameplay for worse, Rockstar has taken a more upfront approach to the storyline. There won’t be any horrible voice-overs, useless intervals of unneeded cut scenes, or a sappy love connection; just pure, fast-paced racing carnage
Midnight Club 3’s storyline is identical to most other racing titles; MC3 begins the story with 22 thousand dollars to purchase a stock vehicle of your liking. The performance won’t be outstanding, so enhancing the ride will begin to after placing first in a few races. Once you have scrapped enough money together, customization shall begin on your soon-to-be-beast. Customizing is perhaps the most important and exciting feature of MC3. The possibilities of changing the performance, appearance, and handling of your ride is quite impressive, and will have people wanting to continue with the story to improve each and every vehicle. There are numerous upgrades that can affect whether you gain that extra needed edge amongst the competition or not. Properly upgrading each car part is crucial to progressing through each location, so spend cash wisely.
Online play is included, featuring many more game modes to extend the Midnight Club universe even further. Racing online is taken to the next level thanks to a creative feature that allows more competitive players to join and/or create Clubs. Once a Club has been created, there are four different management classes: Owners, Officers, Members, and pledges. Obviously Owners are the most powerful, possessing the most powerful actions, such as deleting members and inviting new members.
There isn’t a single doubt that the gameplay is quite exceptional, but the soundtrack is absolutely stellar. Instead of targeting a single audience, Rockstar includes several different genres including rock, hip-hop, and some techno. Depending on the racer, the soundtrack enhances the experience by stimulating you to perform even better. You can select different songs by pressing the left and right arrow buttons. The only disadvantage to the PS2’s audio department is inability to scroll through a user created soundtrack because the selection becomes somewhat repetitive after a few hours of play time.
As stated before, the only downfall to MC3’s graphics is the environment. Besides that, everything down to the rims is a constant treat on the eyes. The sense of speed is dramatically increased thanks to the blurring of the screen when reaching blazing fast speeds. Frame rates drop to a crawl whenever there are more than 20 plus instances of vehicles on the screen, but fortunately driving is still bearable. Depending on how much time you put into creating a ride, goodies such as front and rear bumpers, rims, and completely new paint jobs enhance the visual appeal of your vehicle.
In the end, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition is a great addition to the Midnight Club series. The only disappointing setback is the environmental detail and the bland cars driving in the cities. Just about everything else about MC3 provides for an amazing racing experience. Anyone that is looking for a great title, whether it is for customization, extravagant gameplay, or a fantastic audio collection, then Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition is a must own title for each gaming console.
