While this may be partially true, Midnight Club 3 manages to separate itself from most other games with its own brand of open city racing. Three new cities appear, with racers able to take whichever route they choose in most events. All three cities are characterised by open freeways, winding streets, and smaller alleys that make racing so much fun. Checkpoint racing remains at the core of the game, leaving players to choose how they get from one checkpoint to another.

While this does lead to a certain extent to a trial and error approach to some races it also makes for some wonderfully imaginative and fun racing. The design of the cities encourages this type of creativity whilst driving, with multiple paths across each entire city. Veering off the course the others are taking to try out a suspected short-cut may lead to disaster, but it could equally lead to a path that is totally unexpected. Even following the other racers can often lead to new routes, with the AI rarely taking the same route twice.

Part of the reason for this excitement is the speed at which the game operates. Important for a game such as this is the smoothness of the engine and in this respect Midnight Club 3 performs well, with little noticeable slowdown while racing. Complementing this speed is a noticeable improvement in graphical quality over Midnight Club 2 that really makes the game shine. The city is well designed, full of neon and bright lights and holding up well at the higher speeds, as do the traffic and pedestrians occupying each of the cities.

Despite such speed in the game the level of control players have over the vehicles remains good. Each of the cars handles slightly differently, but all remain quite manageable and reasonably easy to control. Compared to Midnight Club 2 the handling is almost a little too forgiving, with that game demanding a fair amounf of skill from players. Motorcycles are still quite tricky to manouvre around the tighter corners though, as are some of the older American cars.

Aiding this control are a number of artificial driving aids, some more useful than others. As well as aids like slipstream turbo, two-driving, weight shifting and in-air control that was seen in the last game other aids used on specific types of vehicles have been introduced for Midnight Club 3. Roar, for instance, can be used on muscle cars and choppers and can send a soundwave out in front of the vehicle, disrupting the traffic in front to clear a path for the racer. The inclusion of these sorts of powers just serves to distract from the core racing game that Midnight Club was. In-air control of vehicles is rather handy but aids like Roar or Agro, which can be used to push traffic around with no damage to the racer, doesn't seem to add anything to a race.

The number of vehicles themselves has sharply increased, with a wide range of licenced vehicles across a number of ranges, from the luxury brands such a Mercedes, through to the sportier exotics like the Mclaren F1 and choppers, SUVs and older muscle cars. As with the last game there are a large amount of customisation options available to kit out most cars, covering a wide range of performance and visual enhancements. Rockstar's association with DUB magazine, a major car customisation publication, has seen the number of custom options increase markedly. There is not a lot separating the customisation options from those of many other racers available, apart from the brands, making it hard to see the benefits of DUB's involvement.

Unfortunately in the single player mode the fun of driving through a city with no set course is tempered with the relative lack of difficulty in the game. Midnight Club 2 was known for its tough racing, where clearing some of the latter races became something of a badge of honour. In Midnight Club 3 that harsh difficulty and steep learning curve is gone, replaced by a friendliness that more casual gamers may welcome. Mistakes made in that game that would have cost a race are often forgotten in this new edition, with players often catching up to the pack rather too easily. Sadly that also means that for many of the races the performance upgrades that are able to be used on a vehicle are just not needed.

Of course for the gamer looking for more of a challenge the ideal solution is to play the game in one of several multiplayer modes. The AI in Midnight Club 3 is soon forgotten once online on Xbox Live playing against some real-life competition. Players can compete in checkpoint competitions through the same streets as the single player game. Also available is the ability to create custom courses in the cities, by placing checkpoints in virtually any part of a city. This extends the number of options online by a great deal, ensuring even greater replayability.

The soundtrack of Midnight Club 3 seems to suit the mood of the game perfectly. Over 100 tracks are included, ranging from hip hop and dancehall, through to techno and rock. While it won't suit every taste the large range virtually ensures that there is something worth listening to. Gamers on the Xbox also have the option of switching the supplied songs off and adding their own custom soundtrack.