#Midtown madness 2 windows 8 full#

It's a comparison that's been used before, but Midtown Madness is as close as any game has come to recreating ITV's Police, Camera, ActionlJhe carnage is relentless, and although some of it is scripted to an extent, moments of pure comedy occur naturally, although this being a Microsoft game no one actually gets hurt. And to add variety, the density of police, traffic and pedestrians can all be altered. In fact it's quite easy to crank up the tunes (see Music Sounds Better With You panel) and spend an hour simply cruising around, either legally or otherwise.Д¬learly, there's more fun to be had in the latter, and there's plenty of scope for it, be it jumping the odd red light or playing chicken on the freeway.

So whether it's a VW New Beetle for weaving between the traffic, an 18-wheel truck for ploughing through the traffic, or a Ford Mustang Fastback for performing Starsky& Hutcth style turns, all tastes are catered for.ДЄnd if you simply want to put your choice of vehicle through its paces, as well as learn the intricacies of the city, the Cruise mode enables you to do just that. It's a case of horses for courses, and the ten vehicles on offer have genuinely different characteristics in terms of handling, speed, durability and so forth. Talk About The WeatherД¬hicago may be synonymous with wind, but rain and snow play their part here, and driving is noticeably affected by adverse weather conditions. In fact, in some races you can actually plan your route in order to avoid the busies. There's much fun to be had in giving them the runaround, and great satisfaction to be gleaned from glancing into the rear-view mirror to see a police car drive straight into the bollard that you've expertly negotiated. However, the cops appear to be graduates of The Blues Brothers' school of motoring, and the artificial stupidity has been particularly well-implemented. Having a police car slew across your path with the finish line in sight is enough to provoke a wry grin at best, and a volley of foul and abusive language at worst. The police obviously take a dim view of unauthorised street races, and once alerted to a felony will be all over you like a cheap suit.

#Midtown madness 2 windows 8 full#

The latter two modes take place with incidental traffic in full effect, often leading to the midtown madness of the title. Circuit races are over charted courses, with other roads blocked off Blitz races take place against the clock and Checkpoint races involve clearing all points before your opponents. Planes fly overhead, traffic stops at red lights, and the police even have their own network.Д¬ity simulation is a different game altogether though, and what we're talking here is action-packed racing, the game featuring a variety of different modes, with success unlocking further vehicles and tracks. It's very well done though, and effortlessly conveys the sense of being in a fully functioning, living city.

Clearly, some kind of artistic licence has been taken, and what we have is a slightly compressed version of the real thing, comprising all the major landmarks. That city is Chicago, Illinois, which to the less geographically minded is somewhere in America near a big lake. No guns, no gimmicks, just accurately modelled cars and a meticulously recreated city. Instead of pissing about inventing hover vehicles that race on the moon, or resurrecting some obscure sport, what they've done is to take a modern-day city and fill it with authentic vehicles. Not so Angel Studios, the talent behind Microsoft's Midtown Madness. And when it comes to racing games, you might as well forget it, with most developers showing about as much ingenuity as the average boy band. The heads-up display includes, alongside information about the race, a detailed map, but this display can be turned off.In these cynical days of 'reissue, repackage, reevaluate', an original game is about as rare as proverbial rocking horse shit. Environmental conditions that traverse all modes include weather (sunny, rainy, cloudy, and snowy), time of day (sunrise, afternoon, sunset, and night-time), and the density of pedestrians, traffic, and police vehicles. All of these modes except Cruise are divided into missions completing one unlocks the next. In the Cruise mode, the player can simply explore the city at their own pace. The Checkpoint mode combines the features of Blitz and Circuit has the player race against other cars to a destination-but also adds the complication of other traffic, such as police cars and pedestrians.

The Circuit mode curtains off most of the city to resemble race tracks and pits the player against other cars. In Blitz, the player must swing through three checkpoints and drive to the finish line within a time limit. Midtown Madness features four single-player modes: Blitz, Circuit, Checkpoint, and Cruise.