"Midnight Club 2" is one of those racing games that stood out from the others due to the unique combination of illegal street racing and dynamic gameplay. And although the graphics were not very cool even compared to their contemporaries, they looked quite decent for their time. But what the visual effects couldn't compensate for, the music made up for perfectly. Energetic, memorable tracks that accompany the player throughout all the races create an indescribable atmosphere. The soundtrack perfectly emphasizes the spirit of illegal street racing, charging with adrenaline. And some tracks are still present in my playlist.
The plot of the game is not too complicated, but it sufficiently fulfills its task - immerses the player in the world of illegal racing, where you need to gain respect and climb the career ladder, defeating the most dangerous rivals. The game takes place in several major cities around the world, such as Los Angeles, Paris and Tokyo. Each of the cities will offer its own special tracks and unique landscapes, which adds variety and interest to the gameplay. The night streets of these cities are especially impressive, where the main events unfold. Players are offered a variety of races with specific routes. There are races where the player determines in which order to visit all the checkpoints. And it really was a challenge. Such races were much more difficult. But they were more interesting.
One of the strengths of "Midnight Club 2" is the variety of missions. The game offers several modes, both in career and single-player racing. A career is a path from an unknown racer to a street legend, where you have to defeat more and more experienced and aggressive rivals. However, in addition to the main campaign, free races and single-player competitions are also available in the game, which gives players the opportunity to hone their skills and explore cities at their own pace.
But one of the main innovations that really brought freshness to the gameplay is the opportunity to race motorcycles. Motorcycles give the game additional dynamics, because their controls are very different from cars, which adds even more variety and unexpected moments to the gameplay. Driving on two wheels through the narrow streets of Paris or maneuvering between cars on the busy highways of Tokyo is a really exciting experience. However, I didn't really like such races, motorcycles are very difficult to enter turns and you fly off them every 500 meters (or 100). But the two-wheeled ones drove much faster.
However, despite all the energy and drive, I see the game has its drawbacks. One of the main disadvantages that catches your eye right away is the lack of the possibility of tuning and customization of cars. In the world of racing games, especially in illegal street racing, this feature has become almost mandatory, and its absence in "Midnight Club 2" significantly limits the sense of individuality of the player and his car. I would like to be able to "adjust" the car to my preferences, as it could be done in some other games of this genre. But the cool thing was the opportunity to listen to the operation of its engine in the game menu when choosing a car. And the engines sounded really different. Well, I don't want to mention the complexity of the game. I don't want to, but I'll mention it. The difficulty here was wild. I remember that even one mistake could immediately lead to the restart of the race, because there was no way to win the race. It happened that one race had to go for hours and spend a lot of nerves and the "health" of the keyboard.
"Midnight Club 2" leaves a memorable impression thanks to the dynamics, a wide selection of tracks and cities, opportunities for motorcycle racing and excellent music. Yes, it has its drawbacks, but for that time it was a worthy representative of the street racing genre, which is still able to give hours of exciting races.
8 out of 10.
