Firstly, let's just say this: Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition resembles its console brethren very closely. So closely infact, that Rockstar is looking to ambitiously cram virtually the entire console game onto a single, itty-bitty UMD. And given that a UMD is roughly one-third the size of a DVD, it was never going to be an easy task. Unfortunately, it’s clear that concessions have been made to bring this title to the small screen.
Most of the game is intact. There'll be a veritable ton of cars to choose from, the expansive Career mode, numerous Arcade modes, wireless Multiplayer and the exaggerated, stunt-like speeding through the middle of the night. As far as the actual racing is concerned, PALGN remains confident that the game will retain the 'feel' of the series, despite the demotion to D-pad. However, will it be able to keep up with the pack?
Night Racing
Fortunately, the Career mode has gotten through the porting process pretty much unharmed. Considering that this is the game’s most outstanding feature, it's a welcome sight. The gist is as follows: you drive around cities earning cash and credentials, as well as improving your garage. There will be plenty of customisation options for the rev-heads, and an auto-upgrade feature for the plebs.
The game strives to be an arcade title in every sense of the word. It's filled with unrealistic physics and occurrences that are there to enliven the experience, such as some cars having special abilities, like a 'bullet-time' mode that allows for better handling. There are also several opportunities for insane stunts and crashes. As far as racing and handling goes, PALGN has no reason not to expect it to be of equivalent quality of the console versions.
You have your regular races that consist of several laps, checkpoints or a mad dash from point A to B, but in addition you can challenge others to capture the flag, tag, and 'paint' (essentially, checkpoint capturing) matches with four to six players. However, the multiplayer will only be played over a wireless network, meaning you won’t be able to play your buddies on the other side of the World.
Looks Similar to the console versions
Even though the game has most of it's features intact however, the main aspect that does suffer here is the technology. The damage model will not be as comprehensive as it was on the consoles, and the special racing effects, such as the blur at high speeds, probably won’t make the final cut. Alas, this is the unfortunate result of a downgrade, rather than original or PSP-specific titles, like Ridge Racer or WipEout Pure. Reports have suggested that the game is swallowed by the load-time beast, a fatal flaw when we’re talking about handheld titles.
In reality, it’s not that Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition will be a poor title. Indeed, on some levels it actually looks like being quite promising. Though as a PSP or handheld title, it’s competing with a flourishing genre that's overflowing with numerous optimised and PSP-specific titles. And because of that, this could be yet another game that shows why shoehorning console titles onto a handheld in cut-down form is a bad idea.
.
Loading...
