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Reviews make game sound better than reality

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: July 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I recently bought this game because I was looking for a game that I could just drive around and have fun, much like GTA: Vice City.

Graphics are great, handling and speed is nice, however, to beat the game it is very hard. I gave up and just searched for codes because I wanted to be able to drive all of the cars.

For this price, I would reccommend this game, however, reviews are often over exaggerative.

My favorite game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Okay, so I only have a handful of games for Xbox and haven't owned a home video system since Atari 2600, but this game is hands down my favorite.

Sure, there are negative aspects to it like the level of difficulty on the final Blitz races (hard!) and trying to unlock certain cars. But overall, the graphics are great, the scenery is quite lifelike and depictive of the real D.C. and Paris, and it's the coolest feeling to tool around both cities jumping stairs at famous monuments and knocking each and every lamppost out all around the White House.

The game is the epitome of fun. Where else can you race a garbage truck up the steps of the Capitol building or do doughnuts under the Eifel Tower? My one peeve: players can't get inside the White House fence. Oh, the things I could do....

Its not just racing...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Midtown Madness 3 is not your typical racing game.Its just not all racing in this game...In fact there is less racing in this game than anything else in it.So,what else can you do besides racing?Well,you can do all types of pretty fun missions.The missions are great at first but do get repetitive later on.I mean,some missions are the same thing you did before earlier on but explained a little differently(but the same thing,nontheless.).There are two citys to choose from in Midtown Madness 3,one set in Washington D.C. and another one set in Paris.They are both very large and you can explore both of them in a free run mode without any time to distract you.The racing bits in Midtown Madness 3 aren't that great though.I mean,they are good,but they are nothing really special.I think the visials are ok,nothing spectacular but are still very good looking.The music is just bland.Midtown Madness 3 has many high points but isn't really spectacular,but is still some of the best mindless fun you can have(and its even a step up ahead of games like Crazy Taxi,too).Plus,theres even Xbox Live play to boot.If you wan't a fun online game or just some mindless fun then go pick this up but don't expect a masterpeice or anything.

This game does everything right

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is like Wreckless except it does everything right. Wreckless still has the best graphics on the Xbox but this game improves on it in every other way. The controls are great. The cars feel weighty and seem to actually gain momentum. Each car sounds great and feels different. The sound and interactivity of the city is very impressive and the citites are huge. Plus you can choose the weather, time, season, as well as the traffic and pedestrian density. The reviews show Midnight Club to be just as good as this game. That is rediculous. I'm getting rid of midnight club tomorrow. The cars in Midtown have different suspension and velocity and although the physics are somewhat skewed (in your favor like in Wreckless), it works very well here. The damage system for the cars is great also. Plus you can customize soudtrack's which you cannot do in Midnight Club. If you have networking buddies or Xbox live, then you have to get this game. The multiplayer is awesome.

This game kicks booty!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: October 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I loved this game!! The graphics are fantastic and the handling is superb. Plus, that guy in the black leotard and yellow clown-noses is sooo hot! I can't stop watching the stop-motion video. Michael White is a god!

Good but could have been better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: June 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I'm a huge fan of racing games. So when I heard that a new xbox live racing game was coming out I had to get it. I've never played the previous midtown games so I really didn't know what to expect. The first thing I did when I started the game was to go immediately to multiplayer and see what I could do. For the first couple of hours I was over joyed. The game played great. There was a good collection of vehicles and game modes. The graphics are pretty good. Pretty much what I've come to expect out of the xbox. Then while playing a game of "hunter" I noticed a major problem. For some reason occasionally one of the people that you are playing against doesn't move. At first I just thought that they were probably taking a break and just not playing at the moment but later I found out that they were playing, its just that on my screen it didn't appear that they were moving. So I moved my cop car up and crashed into their car turning them into a hunter also. Well on their screen there was no cops nearby. They were hiding in a good spot. The more I played the more this happened. I would be driving around avoiding the cops and then wholla I'm a cop. I cannot express in words how aggrivating it is to be avoiding 5 cops and having fun and then all of a sudden get "tagged" and its not because they actually caught you. Its because the game screwed up and you're not moving on one person's screen. There are other issues also. For some reason your car has the ability to drive through about 99% of all trees. Which is unrealistic but thats not what bothers me. Its the 1% that you can't drive through. You'll be driving along and try to take a short cut. You'll make it through 6 trees and then BAM!! You're stuck on a tree. Occasionally the tree will get stuck in the middle of your car and you have to reset your car in order to keep driving. There are lots of other issues too. Such as spots where you can drive out of the map and then no one can get you. its really pretty cheap. Over all you'll have a decent time playing online but it can be pretty frustrating. As far as single player goes its a mix of good and bad. The blitz and checkpoint modes are entertaining for your average arcade racer but the undercover missions are repetitive and boring. They involve a lot of crazy taxi missions and horrible, EAR PIERCING voice overs. I have never told my xbox to shut up more in my life. Plus there are two secret cars that are only available if you beat the entire game. So to use these beauties online you have to put up with all of the missions. It felt more like work and less like fun as I work my way through mission after mission. I'm still only like 65% done with all of the missions but so far every one has been a irritation. If you like arcade racing and you can handle all the bugs then get this game. But I would really recommend renting it first before you throw down the cash.

Great Diversion

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

There's little left to the imagination with the Midtown Madness series. Released in its first two incarnations on PC only, the games were already well-known for their original, free-roaming style of gameplay, their wide selection of real world automobiles and their revolutionary use of online play. This was one of the earliest games to allow players to leave the pre-set race tracks and obstacle courses to explore an entire virtual world on wheels, complete with working traffic systems, interesting jumps and stunts, and pedestrians. I'm surprised it took the series this long to make the transition from home computer to consoles, but the third chapter in the ongoing series was worth the wait. It's a vast improvement over chapters one and two in every area, and though it does have its faults, I'd consider it to be one of the Xbox's strongest original titles.

The storylines themselves are, honestly, very overwhelming and incredibly cheesy, but that slowly becomes part of their appeal. Every single character you interact with is a crazy, super-exaggerated parody of some sort of culture, be it French, American or anything in between, and the voice acting reflects that more than anything else. The unifying sense of humor between all the different stories is a bit too cartoony for my taste, but occasionally delivers a good laugh or two. If you're looking for a game with the realism, grit, grime and atmosphere of Grand Theft Auto, you better move along because this ain't it. If you've got your eye out for a squeaky clean, sometimes amusing, lighthearted adventure that won't lose you any sleep at night, this is your ticket.

The controls employ your standard racing setup, basking in the glow of the strengths of Microsoft's controller design. The triggers are your gas and reverse, respectively, and are pressure-sensitive which makes all the difference when you're trying to set the proper speed for taking a turn or lightly brake before pulling a fancy Hollywood U-turn. Both the left analog stick and the D-Pad can be used to steer, but you're out of your mind if you use the D-Pad. Unlike Sony's classic dual analog, Microsoft's S-Controller was born to handle racing titles, and my hands never cramped or suffered throughout my experiences behind the wheel of MM3 (which is something i most certainly CAN'T say about my marathon sessions with Gran Turismo 3.) Even the extra "click" functions of the Box's two analog sticks come into play here, and clicking the right stick will bring up a translucent full-screen map of the city and your location, overlaying the game screen itself which is still in motion. It really gives the feeling of keeping one eye on the road while you quickly check the map in your passenger seat, and often leads to similar results. I've driven headfirst into some nasty situations because of this map, and I love it that way. Very nicely done.

Though not particularly original, the graphics of MM3 are still quite a sight to behold, and deserve special mention without a doubt. There's a nice visual theme running between the cutscenes, (which are few and far between) the loading screens, the main menu and the in-game HUD, and the car / building models themselves are fan-freaking-tastic. There's no question in my mind they were setting out to flex the Box's muscles in a big way with this one (thus the inclusion of both 480p High Definition and Dolby Digital 5.1 support) and in this regard they were quite successful. While I won't go so far as to claim the vehicles or environments trump those seen in the previously mentioned Project Gotham 2 or Gran Turismo titles, they do give both a healthy bit of competition. The sheer visual interactivity of tiny elements of the scenery especially caught my attention.

Almost as an afterthought, the sound is also an impressive example of what the Box can do when it really sets its mind to it. The use of Dolby Surround is more effective than you'll give credit for at first, sending the sound of squeeling tires, angry horns, screaming pedestrians and scattering change from one side of the room to the other as you wildly spin the wheel. There's no doubt in my mind that this is an example of some of the best use of ambient noise in a video game, and it aids the entire package immensely. The in-game music is nothing worth remembering, no doubt, but never really gets in the way and is negated due to the inclusion of custom soundtracks. There's really no excuse for a racing game to ship on the box WITHOUT this feature, since even the greatest tunes can get old after an hour of solid racing, but it's noteworthy all the same.

All in all, this is a game I'm happy to have in my collection. It didn't force my jaw to the floor in utter disbelief when I first caught a glimpse of the visuals, it didn't blow me away with unique, revolutionary new gameplay methods or stun me with a totally original concept. Put plainly, it is what it is; a solid, straightforward adventure game mixed with a solid, straightforward driving game. The single player story mode isn't anything to write home about, but I can't think of a time at any point in the future where I'll grow tired of playing the online modes and trying to erase my old land speed records offline. This is a great example of a game that never takes itself too seriously and is meant as a diversion, a way to kill a couple hours with pure, unadulterated fun. It isn't perfect, but it's good enough. I'd recommend a purchase without a second thought if you're Live-Enabled yourself.

FUN at First!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: June 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

this game is okay, but i think that is a clone of the Crazi Taxi series and Need for Speed. when i first played it yesterday, i was syked about it, but then today i got a chance to play a little more of it, and frankly i was getting bored with it. the initial missions are lackluster and they are all about beating the clock like in Crazi Taxi; except delivering people to places you deliver pizza and packages(BORING). also they have slow vehicle in the beginning: you can drive antiques, foreign models and industial trucks(SLOW). don't get me wrong this game is okay, but i don't think that it is worth [item price]at all, maybe ...just rent it. the other part of the game that is similar to Need for Speed is the cruise mode, you pick a vehicle (a slow one) and you cruise the city either Paris or D.C. and you start out cruising just getting familiar with the city and then you begin to run into things while driving fast and then the Police get dispatched to chase you. again!, cool at first and then you get chased and the cops are easy to get by and they only ram you vehicle(they do nothing else), plus you choose between 1 and 4 cars to chase you (what a rush, NOT!) at least in Need for Speed you get cool fast cars and a rush.

overall: this games has nice graphics and neat ideas but all in all it is just a cheap immatation of Crazi Taxi and Need for Speed. if you are itchin' to play like i was, just rent it. luckily i got mine from gamestop so i will be taking it back this weekend.
overall score 6/10

best game ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: August 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is just awsome and its full of excitment. I have owned this game for about 3 years and i still like it. this game is awsome. You could unlock cars such as a garbadge truck or even a corvette. Ive beat the game 5 times and i still like it

A Highly Addictive Racing Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When I first got this game I couldn't get away from it. The different undercover jobs are great and there are so many cars to choose from. The cruise mode lets you just fool around which I like to do sometimes. Even though there are only two cities{Washington and Paris} none of the city is blocked off so you are free to roam and take shortcuts wherever you want. The people are on the sidewalks are very realistic and so are the cars and the city. So if you are looking to buy an X-box game this is the game for you.

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