Midtown Madness Anxiety

Is anyone else getting e***d about Midtown Madness? If it performs well (multiplayer too) and really looks as good as the screenshots, this could be a *very* enjoyable game. Sounds like the FF wheel support will be good too-- if you've hit a few cars or blew a flat, your vehicle will pull and vibrate... The idea of having a smooth multiplayer session of cops 'n' robbers via the Internet makes me a little giddy! Has anyone gotten their hands on an advance copy or Alpha/Beta? Any comments you'd like to make? I wonder if they plan on coming out with more cities (besides Chicago) in the future? --Mountain K

From what we have seen, this game looks to be a very solid _arcade_ racer. Of course, it won't appeal to the GPL die-hards, but could provide a nice change up to the serious racing sim. You can read our hands-on preview for a more in-depth opinion. http://www.ga-sports.com/previews/mm/ -- Tony Wyss, Editor-in-Chief Gamers Alliance Sports www.ga-sports.com ------------------------------- Network Developer Gamers Alliance, Inc. www.gagames.com ------------------------------- "I'm not an athlete, I'm a baseball player" - John Kruk

I was told that somebody picked it up at a CompUSA today. It seems that it's already released. I got a hand on the beta CD contest they had on their site about a month ago, and it's seriously a solid arcade racer. A very good one. I praise for the incredible detail this title has. It maybe lack in gameplay in a way that after a month there's really nothing else to do with it, but for the month you play it, it's very fun. Each car are well modeled and different. I still don't like the controller approach (you will need as much time as C:PR to get a good feel), but that's a tiny problem compared to the fun I had with it. Simracers will still like it for the change. Multiplayer should be fun, and what's more fun than to crank up a bus on the highway and having fun doing your wannabe Sandra Bullock and not go under 55mph ? :) Nice preview :) -- -- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard/Nas-Frank> -- NROS Nascar sanctioned Guide http://www.nros.com/ -- SimRacing Online http://www.simracing.com/ -- Official mentally retarded guy of r.a.s. -- May the Downforce be with you... "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

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>> From what we have seen, this game looks to be a very solid _arcade_ racer. >> Of course, it won't appeal to the GPL die-hards, but could provide a nice >> change up to the serious racing sim. You can read our hands-on preview for >a >> more in-depth opinion. >I was told that somebody picked it up at a CompUSA today. It seems that it's >already released. I got a hand on the beta CD contest they had on their >site about a month ago, and it's seriously a solid arcade racer. A very >good one. I praise for the incredible detail this title has. It maybe lack >in gameplay in a way that after a month there's really nothing else to do >with it, but for the month you play it, it's very fun. Each car are well >modeled and different. I still don't like the controller approach (you will >need as much time as C:PR to get a good feel), but that's a tiny problem >compared to the fun I had with it. >Simracers will still like it for the change. Multiplayer should be fun, and >what's more fun than to crank up a bus on the highway and having fun doing >your wannabe Sandra Bullock and not go under 55mph ? :)

I'll settle for the Kenau Reeves role, personally (I don't look all that great in women's clothes). I am accepting applications for the Sandra Bullock role, though (please don't tell my wife! <G>). -- JB

I knew it had gone gold but I guess I underestimated Microsoft's turnaround rate eh? I'm interested to know what you guys think of the final version. That's what I mean. Of course it is not going to challenge GPL in terms of anything realistic but it's still a lot of fun in a whole different aspect. I think MS did what they set out to do here. thanks :-) -- Tony Wyss, Editor-in-Chief Gamers Alliance Sports www.ga-sports.com ------------------------------- Network Developer Gamers Alliance, Inc. www.gagames.com ------------------------------- "I'm not an athlete, I'm a baseball player" - John Kruk

I am anxious to get the beta that I won from Next-Gen Online. I guess they used pony express or something to deliver it. I would imagine that if it is a sales success they will come out with other cities, since the full name is Midtown Madness:Chicago Edition. I would like to see a San Francisco version, so I could play out my Bullitt fantasies. Kyle

>...and it's seriously a solid arcade racer. A very >good one. I praise for the incredible detail this title has. I agree, I haven't had this much fun with an arcade racer since NFS 1. True. Though if they bring out addon cities (and there's no reason they wouldn't) it could extend the replayability a lot. Joe

I have been waiting for this game just to let out my frustration I get from the slow traffic going to work. I want to drive the truck and push the slow car in front out of the fast lane or the car that sits at the light after it truns green. Uh, I mean in the game of course. Lutrell :-) DSR # 74 http://insideracingtechnology.com/dsr1.htm

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>I am anxious to get the beta that I won from Next-Gen Online. I guess they >used pony express or something to deliver it. I would imagine that if it is >a sales success they will come out with other cities, since the full name is >Midtown Madness:Chicago Edition. I would like to see a San Francisco >version, so I could play out my Bullitt fantasies. >Kyle >> Is anyone else getting e***d about Midtown Madness?

I wouldn't say it is totally arcade. The physics are a lot better than, say, Motorhead (one of the last real arcade PC racers) and it is actually slightly challenging to drive, if only because the cars are real and familiar. The vehicles all feel different which is a good thing and they're all fun to drive. Anyway, I've been having fun with it and I think anyone who isn't too elitist will as well. M

I had a chance to try it a while back and found much the same except I'd expect the "fun time" for me to be far shorter, a couple of days or so. Not too good for the $50-60 it will cost when released here. The main frustration is that the car handles nothing like a real car, partly down to controller gripes (somewhat similar to CPR) and partly due to the way the driving model seems to have been implemented. I was looking forward to a tyres-squealing, opposite-lock, smoke-belching type experience, but even the top cars understeer horribly under full lock with the throttle hard down - it seems impossible to induce a tail flick, far less a power slide. That basically means I'm going to drive the car to explore the city and mess around but I'm not going to drive the car just to enjoy driving the car. It is really good fun driving around the city though, but it does seem to be smaller than expected. Having tried "Driver" I must say I'm rather more looking forward to that. The cars drive better (no more realistically but in a really fun "Gran Turismo" type of style), the cities are bigger and there is more scope to the game. Still, Midtown Madness is pretty fun, a really good idea and a fair implementation of it. Cheers! John

I totally agree about Driver. The Driver demo had me wanting to play a lot more of it, especially after watching the rolling demo as well. This game looks to be much better than Midtown Madness if the full version is as good. Plus I like the premise much better (I've always wanted to be Steve McQueen) M

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>The main frustration is that the car handles nothing like a real car, >partly down to controller gripes (somewhat similar to CPR) and partly >due to the way the driving model seems to have been implemented. I was >looking forward to a tyres-squealing, opposite-lock, smoke-belching >type experience, but even the top cars understeer horribly under full >lock with the throttle hard down - it seems impossible to induce a >tail flick, far less a power slide.

I disagree; the cars drive differently than each other, but you can definately powerslide and so on with most of them. The driving model is not bad at all - arcade for sure, but far FAR better than dreck like NFS 3. Joe

>I totally agree about Driver. The Driver demo had me wanting to play a lot >more of it, Haven't heard of this one. Where can I find the demo? It's not on the major download sites. Joe

Yep, the idea behind it is more fun (even if you are a cop), and the cars are more fun to drive. I'd like to try a "full Monty" GPL physics-esque version of Driver, but I fear that our chases would last about 10 seconds! Me too - loved the Puma ads, a stroke of genius by the ad agency. Cheers! John

Demo was on PSX not PC. PC version will be released tho. M

: Yep, the idea behind it is more fun (even if you are a cop), and the : cars are more fun to drive. I'd like to try a "full Monty" GPL : physics-esque version of Driver, but I fear that our chases would last : about 10 seconds! I don't think it would be so extreme. I can imagine that a 60's GP car was an outrageous handful. Having grown up with several high power Detroit thumpers, I know that they aren't so difficult to rein in. I drove a '66 Fairlane with the Mustang 289cid and a four-barrel through two *** winters in Ontario and had no problems. It was my Mom's car, and she was 5'3 and 100 pounds. Granted, she never drove quite as agressively as Steve McQueen, but I think you will find the extra 2000 pounds of road hugging weight tends to take the edge off the 300hp. cheers Stephen

[snip] Hmm, I don't see any evidence of it being released yet on the 'net... If anyone has bought this title already, please let me know? Everyplace I see says it's to be released "in June"...

>I disagree; the cars drive differently than each other, but you can >definately powerslide and so on with most of them. The driving model >is not bad at all - arcade for sure, but far FAR better than dreck >like NFS 3. Well, we agree to differ there then, since I drove the top car (Panoz? I can't remember) and even at low speed and full lock I couldn't break the rear loose - this was on full right setting for the "sim" slider. It looked like fun for a while, but I was looking for other things to do pretty quickly. Cheers! John

you can definitely do that. i LOVE getting in the CTA bus or 18-wheeler, picking up some massive speed, come up to a light with a bunch of cars/trucks/buses waiting in line, and WHAMMO!!!! works especially well if you turn the pedestrian and traffic sliders all the way to the right...

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> I have been waiting for this game just to let out my frustration I get from the slow traffic going to work. I want to drive the > truck and push the slow car in front out of the fast lane or the car that sits at the light after it truns green. Uh, I mean in the > game of course. > Lutrell :-) > DSR # 74 > [link lost in import] > >I am anxious to get the beta that I won from Next-Gen Online. I guess they > >used pony express or something to deliver it. I would imagine that if it is > >a sales success they will come out with other cities, since the full name is > >Midtown Madness:Chicago Edition. I would like to see a San Francisco > >version, so I could play out my Bullitt fantasies. > >Kyle > >> Is anyone else getting e***d about Midtown Madness?

I've also driven the Panoz GT1 car in Midtown MAdness and had the opposite result; I couldn't get the *** to stay pointed in the right direction on slow corners for some time. Also the ground clearance and curbs makes life a little harder than in the normal cars. It *is* fun but not a sim so has limited appeal. M

Limited appeal to the hard-core sim fans....but if you like arcade racing, this is a must. Pure fun.