Reviewed: November 10, 2005
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Midway
Developer
Midway
Released: October 10, 2005
Genre: Racing
Players: 1-4
ESRB: Teen
6
7
6
5
6.0
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
For as much time as I spent in the arcades growing up I never did get around to playing San Francisco Rush or any of its numerous variations and sequels until it started showing up on those console compilation collections. In fact, my biggest taste of the entire franchise was just last month when Midway Arcade Treasures 3 shipped with two variations of the game.
So when I learned that Midway was working on L.A. Rush I probably wasn’t as excited as a lot of gamers in my demographic, but then I got a chance to see some screens and video and interview the developer and I really started to sniff out what might be the cult racing hit of the season. At least that’s what Midway is hoping.
What was originally a quick and dirty arcade racer is now a massive and totally immersive street racing title coming at you with more than 55 cars, 350 miles of meticulously recreated L.A. streets, a West Coast Customs licensing plug, and a decent story to tie it all together.
The story is all-too familiar…it’s actually the same story that’s been used in the past four or five racing games I’ve played. You start at the top…lose it all…and must work your way back up from the bottom. In this case you play Trikz, a street racer who has parleyed his success into a virtual empire with a massive stable of cars, endless poolside parties, and more bikini-clad babes than Malibu beach.
It’s during one of these parties where Trikz doesn’t show the proper “respect” to one of his arch-rivals, or perhaps it’s because he’s putting the moves on his girl, but after returning from a vacation he finds he has lost everything…cars…house…and of course, the babes. The only thing left is the old car that started it all, and guess what…Trikz gets to relive his entire career and this time you are along for the ride.
L.A. Rush comes with the traditional Quick Race and split-screen multiplayer modes for up to four players racing locally, and while the game does offer limited Xbox Live support there is no online racing. For those who don’t like split-screen there is an interesting Cruise mode that allows gamers to take turns driving the same route and trying to earn the highest score.
These modes are merely filler to the Story mode, which is the core of L.A. Rush. Using nothing but your skills and a vintage muscle car you must defeat countless street racers, reclaim each of the cars from your stolen garage, and get back to the top. After all, those bikini babes won’t wait forever.
Probably the most distinctive element of L.A. Rush is the size. L.A. is huge and so is this game with more than 350 miles of streets, alleys, and freeways to explore and race. You'll race through the streets of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Venice, Compton, Carson, South Central, Long Beach, Downtown, and all the highways that connect these burbs. Each area has its own custom look and layout and even some specific driving tactics for racing on these streets so you are constantly forced to rethink your strategy based on where you might be racing.
Just one trip to the map screen will put things in perspective and you will quickly learn to value the integrated GPS. Simply go to the in-game map and place a GPS marker over your destination on the map. The GPS system will then kick in and show you the street route to your destination… if you miss a turn it recalculates the route just like a real GPS unit.
Races come in a variety of flavors; Street Races, Stunt Races, Cross-town Races, Endurance Races, Retribution Races, and Acquire Races. Acquire Races are probably the toughest since these are the ones that earn you one of your cars. You actually steal your car back and then must race it across town to your garage while Lidel’s thugs are all coming after you trying to destroy the car. You’ll have to pay to repair whatever damage you do take.
While L.A. Rush has some car customization and even a West Coast Customs licensing spin, this is not an import tuner title and shouldn’t be confused with something like NFSUG. Rather than wading through menus of parts and upgrades you simply take your ride to WCC and tell them to “pimp your ride”…and they do.
Perhaps the most surprisingly element of L.A. Rush is that there is car damage, even on the licensed vehicles. Normally this is taboo, as car manufactures don’t want their products shown as anything but gleaming works of art.
Controlling the cars is pretty fluid with great analog input and precision braking and gas with the triggers. The difficulty factor is high, not only because of the numerous cops on patrol but the heavy L.A. traffic that you must constantly weave through during races. Even the most skillful drivers will be banging up their cars pretty good before it’s all over.
I know this is an arcade racing game but I do have to comment on the really cheap A.I. that doesn’t even try to hide its elastic nature. Simple fact - if you are leading the race you will likely lose the race. The computer detects that you might be a “winner” and breaks all the rules of top speed, handling, and course plotting to make sure you aren’t. If you want to win races you need to hang back in the pack and make your move on the final stretch, otherwise you won’t stand a chance.
Even so, a first place finish isn’t always required to continue the story. Unlike most other racing games where you retry until you win, L.A. Rush realistically allows you to progress with a top-three finish, just not with as much glory or money, neither of which is all that important.
The recent crop of racing games all seem to take place at night so the only real game I could possibly compare L.A. Rush with would be Juiced and oddly enough, the two games look mighty similar. The streets of L.A. have never looked better with all sorts of area-specific structures and details.
For those who have been to E3, you can even crash through the L.A. Convention Center during a trade show or race laps around the Staple Center. You can drive along the Santa Monica Pier or crash through the Hollywood sign, or even take a trip to LAX in case the freeways aren’t congested enough for you.
The Xbox version definitely rises about the PS2 in both framerate and texture quality and there isn’t nearly as much pop-up on objects that appear on the horizon. There are some good lighting and visual effects that help sell both the day and night races.
Car models are really good, especially the ones you are driving with smooth lines and reflective surfaces. The random traffic is admittedly simple and repetitive, but at 100+ mph you won’t have time to notice. The car damage is also extremely well done with loads of debris and particle effects during collisions.
There are four camera views to choose from, one inside and three outside the car, and they all work reasonably well. The distant chase view seemed a bit swishy to me and I ended up racing from the bumper cam as always.
Cool as they are, the most aggravating element of the entire game had to be the crash replays. Not only are you forced to watch these replays each and every time you crash (normally you can turn these off in the options), but there is no way to skip them. You can speed them up a bit (like a golf shot in Tiger Woods), but being forced out of the race for a prolonged crash sequence only serves to take you out of whatever groove you might have gotten into and artificially extend these races.
While not nearly as cheesy nor offensive as 187 Ride or Die L.A. Rush comes at us with so much hip-hop flavor and urban slang that you’ll need your “Rapper-to-Cracker” translation dictionary handy to play the game, or at least watch the cutscenes. The best dialogue comes from the boys at West Coast Customs while the worst has to be the totally annoying announcer who ties with the cops that yell idiotic things over their PA during chases.
Sound effects are pretty much engines and crashes, which are powerful and even explosive at times. Glass shatters, metal bends, and pieces of cars and street side objects will litter the streets. There is minimal environmental sounds, most of which is drowned out during the race.
The soundtrack is a love/hate affair. L.A. Rush insists on using, and not surprisingly so, a hip-hop infused soundtrack that seems to have taken over the game industry and either forced me to turn off the music or make use of the custom soundtrack feature on nearly every Xbox game I played this year. I don’t care if MTV and every radio station in the world starts playing rap and hip-hop exclusively, I’m not going to like it anymore or even listen to it. Racing games are about “speed”, thus rock and roll and techno. I’m not trying to blow out my rear window with a 24” sub-woofer.
Casual racers can finish the story mode in L.A. Rush in about 20 hours; less if you don’t crash that often and have to watch those stupid replays. There is no online play and the game doesn’t get anymore fun when you cram 1-3 other gamers on the couch and split the screen. The online leaderboards might give those with an overly competitive nature a reason to play longer than they probably should.
You can probably extend the story mode by actually driving to all of your destination rather than selecting them from the map and jumping to them, but L.A. traffic is frustrating enough in real-life – why simulate it?
Having never really played the other Rush games until just a few week before L.A. Rush arrived I came into this game with no expectations. From my interview I knew what the designers were trying to accomplish and I think they did succeed, but whether the end result is what the gamers are looking for is up for debate.
There were several enjoyable moments during my time in L.A. and I truly appreciate the epic scale and detail that went into this city. I could only wish for thinner traffic, smarter opponents, and craftier police. As it is, everything is just thrown at you, and the entire game seems just a bit…ahem…“rushed”.