Midnight Club II is the first sequel to Midnight Club: Street Racing, published for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. Players race through cities inspired by Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo. The game also features an online multiplayer component.
| Midnight Club II | |
|---|---|
| File:Midnight Club II Coverart.png | |
| Developer(s) | Rockstar San Diego |
| Publisher(s) | Rockstar Games |
| Series | Midnight Club |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Xbox, Microsoft Windows |
| Release | PlayStation 2
Xbox
Microsoft Windows
Steam: January 4, 2008 |
| Genre(s) | Sandbox, Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer |
Cities
Dry, hilly suburbs and congested interstates can be found throughout Los Angeles, and just like Midnight Club: Street Racing, the city contains many landmarks, as well as numerous shortcuts and jumps. Paris is the home to cobblestone alleyways, monumental roundabouts, and the Paris Catacombs. Also featured are a lot of jumps taking you across the river of Paris and into an alleyway. Tokyo is a city of neon-glittering avenues and tight alleyways, and contains an equal array of tourist sights and attractions.
Gameplay
Races consist of a series of checkpoints, represented by columns of light. In some races, the order in which the checkpoints must be cleared is prescribed. In this case, a transparent, glowing arrow points to the next checkpoint. In other races the checkpoints may be cleared in any order. In that case, the arrow points to the nearest checkpoint.
It is up to the player which route to take from one checkpoint to the next. There are no artificial barriers in the game's open world environment that force the player to stay on a specific course. Any area that is drivable or jumpable in the free-roaming cruise mode between races may be used to get to the next checkpoint.
Some areas can be driven upon that are not intended for such use outside of a computer game. Examples are escalators, roofs, railways and riverbeds and many ramps. However, many areas that would be drivable in reality, for example entrances and some stairs, are fenced off with invisible barriers. In some areas, the player can jump or drop down. Using this to the player's advantage can be necessary in order to win a race. If the car falls into deep water,the damage meter goes to its maximum stage and the car starts to overheat and the race is immediately lost.
The game features a damage model. The amount of damage inflicted upon a car is indicated by both an HUD indicator and visual damage to the car. The performance of a car does not degrade with damage. When the damage limit of a car is exceeded, the car explodes or stalls. After a delay of a few seconds, the player can continue with a new car.
Cars
The vehicles in Midnight Club II all resemble real life vehicles but have subtle differences to their counterparts, such as different headlamps or tail lights. Also, most of them have aesthetical modifications commonly found in the street racing and import scenes, e.g. spoilers and body kits.
In the car selection menu, descriptions and stats of each vehicle can be seen, along with the option to choose among 4 colors. Once a car is viewed a sound effect is played in the background, which is unique to each one of them.
Car list
Los Angeles
- Cocotte - Ford Escort
- Citi - '93 Honda Civic (EG)
- Emu - Volkswagen Passat (B5)
- Torrida - Acura/Honda Integra (DC2)
- 1971 Bestia - '67 Pontiac GTO
- Interna - '99 Honda S2000 (AP1)
- Cohete - Yamaha R6
- Citi Turbo - '96 Honda Civic (EK)
- Monstruo - '95 Mazda RX-7 (FD3S)
- Jersey XS - Dodge Viper GTS-R
- L.A Cop - Ford Crown Victoria (Second generation)
Paris
- Boost - Ford Puma
- Bryanston V - Ford Escort Cosworth
- Schneller V8 - BMW 740i/740iL (E38)
- Alarde - Lotus Elise 111R
- Monsoni - Ducati 996
- Fripon X - Volkswagen Golf Mk3
- Stadt - Renault Clio V6 Renault Sport (2001)
- Victory - Aston Martin V12 Vanquish
- Modo Prego - Porsche 911 Turbo/Carrera S (996)
- Paris Cop - Citroen ZX (with Peugeot 106 lights)
Tokyo
- Lusso XT - Toyota Aristo V300 / Lexus GS 300 (JZS161)
- RSMC 15 - Nissan Z Concept (2001)
- Vortex 5 - Toyota MR2 GT-S (SW20) (TOM'S T020)
- Saikou - Toyota Supra SZ-R (JZA80)
- Knight - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII (CT9A)
- Nousagi - Yamaha R1
- Saikou XS - Toyota Supra RZ (JZA80) (AB Flug)
- Torque JX - Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34)
- Veloci - Saleen S7
- Tokyo Cop - Nissan 300ZX (Z32)
The SLF450X is the only original vehicle in the game. Although no stats are seen of this vehicle, practical exercises show it has the highest performance capability of all vehicles previously listed. It's capable of reaching 400KM/H+ without nitrous.
Since the game is not capable of replicating AWD vehicles, they are only available with RWD or FWD setups. An example of this is the Knight (based on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII, with an AWD system in real-life), which only has the power driven to the front wheels. Moreover, the Stadt has a FWD setup instead of the MR layout of the real-life Renault Clio V6 that is based on. The reason for this is that FWD cars usually offer a more stable driving in-game with less risks to spin out, and thus its description available in the menu states that it has formidable handling.
Characters
Each character will cruise around the city waiting for a challenge. this only excludes Moses, who is waiting in front of the player, and the four champions who will seek you out after all predessors are beaten. They will talk to the player or 'think loudly' during pre-race cutscenes during which you can discover their motives, learn statistics of their vehicle, and preview their theme song.
Los Angeles: Moses, Steven, Maria, Diego (Angel's Father), Angel, Gina, Munro (LA Bikers), Hector (Maria's older brother), and Dice (LA Champion)
Paris: Blog, Jewles & Julie, Primo, Stephane, Ian, Farid, Inspector Owen (Farid's Pursuer), and Parfait (Paris Champion)
Tokyo: Shing, Ichiro (Shing's Associate), Ricky, Nikko, Haley, Zen, Kennichi, Makoto (Tokyo Champion)
All three cities: Savo (World Champion)