Just got Microsoft's Midtown Madness Chicago Edition racing game.
It is surprisingly GOOD!
The graphics are decent
The cars are nicely rendered with somewhat accurate dashboards.
The trafiic and pedestrian AI is above average - certainly better than
Carmageddon
The geography is very accurate - I'm in Chicago almost once a month
and this game is very accurate for major roads and buildings.
Back in 1989 Spectrum Holobyte had a little EGA game called VETTE
where you raced around the streets of San Francisco going from
checkpoint to checkpoint. The cool part was that you got to plan your
OWN route through the maze of downtown streets.
MTM is very similar to this except the checkpoints are much close
together so there isn't as much freedom to plan your own route. It is
fun to see ALL the checkpoints on the map but not know which one is
going to light up next until you pass through the current checkpoint.
Also - the checkered flag is randomly placed somewhere on the map
after the final checkpoint and it usually is far enough away that you
get to plan some strategy on the best route to get there.
There is a pretty good selection of cars but I've been sticking with
the VW Beetle for now since it dodges in and out of traffic pretty
well and can go down narrow alleys.
The damage model is good - the cars get dented, glass breaks, rims get
bent and wobble and tires come off. Wreck too many times and your car
is totalled and you are out of the race. Your car's handling with get
worse as your car becomes more damaged.
There are good time-of-day effects including headlights and night
driving and weaving through downtown traffic at 80mph just has to be
expereienced to be believed. All non-racing traffic is pretty good
about obeying traffic lights and using turn signals, etc. Pedestrians
will leap/dive out of your path which makes it very fun to drive down
the sidewalk.
The COP's AI isn't very agressive and when I finally did get caught
after about 6 red lights, 4 hit and runs and 3 pedestrian kills (note:
the object of this game is not to KILL people) they only gave me a
SPEEDING TICKET. Of course I had also totalled my car which is why
they caught me in the first place so I don't know if you can continue
the race if you get pulled over under other circumstances.
MTM was only $29 at EB (marked down from $34). Don't let the low
price fool you into thinking this is a sub-standard game. While it's
not as accurate as the *** sims and there isn't the carnage of
Carmageddon it IS WHAT IT IS.....
...a fun checkpoint sprint racing game in downtown Chicago with heavy
traffic and lots of pedestrians to AVOID. I am anxiously awaiting
future CITY updates - hopefully San Francisco will be next, followed
by New York and LA.
Quoted text (56 lines)
> Just got Microsoft's Midtown Madness Chicago Edition racing game. > It is surprisingly GOOD! > The graphics are decent > The cars are nicely rendered with somewhat accurate dashboards. > The trafiic and pedestrian AI is above average - certainly better than > Carmageddon > The geography is very accurate - I'm in Chicago almost once a month > and this game is very accurate for major roads and buildings. > Back in 1989 Spectrum Holobyte had a little EGA game called VETTE > where you raced around the streets of San Francisco going from > checkpoint to checkpoint. The cool part was that you got to plan your > OWN route through the maze of downtown streets. > MTM is very similar to this except the checkpoints are much close > together so there isn't as much freedom to plan your own route. It is > fun to see ALL the checkpoints on the map but not know which one is > going to light up next until you pass through the current checkpoint. > Also - the checkered flag is randomly placed somewhere on the map > after the final checkpoint and it usually is far enough away that you > get to plan some strategy on the best route to get there. > There is a pretty good selection of cars but I've been sticking with > the VW Beetle for now since it dodges in and out of traffic pretty > well and can go down narrow alleys. > The damage model is good - the cars get dented, glass breaks, rims get > bent and wobble and tires come off. Wreck too many times and your car > is totalled and you are out of the race. Your car's handling with get > worse as your car becomes more damaged. > There are good time-of-day effects including headlights and night > driving and weaving through downtown traffic at 80mph just has to be > expereienced to be believed. All non-racing traffic is pretty good > about obeying traffic lights and using turn signals, etc. Pedestrians > will leap/dive out of your path which makes it very fun to drive down > the sidewalk. > The COP's AI isn't very agressive and when I finally did get caught > after about 6 red lights, 4 hit and runs and 3 pedestrian kills (note: > the object of this game is not to KILL people) they only gave me a > SPEEDING TICKET. Of course I had also totalled my car which is why > they caught me in the first place so I don't know if you can continue > the race if you get pulled over under other circumstances. > MTM was only $29 at EB (marked down from $34). Don't let the low > price fool you into thinking this is a sub-standard game. While it's > not as accurate as the *** sims and there isn't the carnage of > Carmageddon it IS WHAT IT IS..... > ...a fun checkpoint sprint racing game in downtown Chicago with heavy > traffic and lots of pedestrians to AVOID. I am anxiously awaiting > future CITY updates - hopefully San Francisco will be next, followed > by New York and LA.Just to clarify one thing - you cannot "kill" pedestrians in the game.
They always jump out of the way at the last second. A design decision
with the developer, I suppose. Otherwise, a good review - I enjoy the
game very much as well.
Joel
I've read somewhere that, even though Midtown Madness is called 'Chicago
Edition', there won't be any add-on's/city updates. If they'd release
another city it would be another complete game (something like Midtown
Madness 2). I think that's a pity. New cities would be great. But, the price
of the game here in Holland is about $24! And that's the adviced price! So,
that's cheap. An add-on wouldn't be much cheaper. So if they release MM 2
(ever), I will buy it anyway. :-)
I like it and for my kids it's a dream come true: for them it's almost the
real thing! And I'm glad you can't kill pedestrians...
Jeroen
Just copied this from the web:
AGN our host has posted an interview with Clinton Keith, one of the lead
developers of the game. Here is a snap from it:
Current owners of the game will be interested in the part of the interview
that talks about an upcoming city editor that will be available soon for the
public. now you will be able to make your own city just by laying down the
roads and other objects!
Click here for the Real Player show and interview about MM on AGN:
http://pseudo.com/links/archiveplay.asp?archid=5357&archtype=vid
Jeroen
>I like it and for my kids it's a dream come true: for them it's almost the
>real thing! And I'm glad you can't kill pedestrians...
Ditto ... my fiance's son love the game (as does my fiance!). It's
nice to see a game the whole family can enjoy.
Joe
Quoted text (7 lines)
>>I like it and for my kids it's a dream come true: for them it's almost the >>real thing! And I'm glad you can't kill pedestrians... >Ditto ... my fiance's son love the game (as does my fiance!). It's >nice to see a game the whole family can enjoy. >JoeI think that selling other cities as a separate game would be a
strange decision, or at least a decision they didn't clue the game
designers in on - since there's a "Location" button built into the
game menu that would indicate they planned add-on locations. But who
knows... I heard that rumor started with the person manning the
Microsoft booth at E3.
Joel
My 4-year-old loves it. I put her in the city bus, cruise mode, and explain
the forward/reverse keys, and away she goes!
Dan
