"These cars are 100,000 polygons," I'm told at Rockstar's booth. "That's not how many polys you'll see in Maya, that is the actual, in-game count." The man helming the controller dutifully pans around the car to show it off. It is impressive looking, down to the detailed interior. We then put the camera inside the car. Welcome to Midnight Club: Los Angeles and,yes, there is a cockpit view. "This is my favorite way to play," the Rockstar rep tells me, beaming ear to ear.
The racing itself stresses the illegal street-racing aspect of the Midnight Club series and, when you scream around a corner, the camera slides to one side as if its trying to keep up. Hit the nitrous, and the camera moves to the side of the car and focuses on the driver. This may sound annoying in print, but in action it still gives you a near-perfect view while giving the game a much more cinematic feel. You can also turn this feature off if you like, locking the camera behind the car.
I'm promised a solid framerate on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version of the game. I'm looking at you, EA. I've never been a big fan of the Midnight Club games, although I'm told that Dub Edition moved an amazing 5 million+ copies, but from what I've seen of Midnight Club: Los Angeles, this game is going to be quite the next-generation racer. I'm very impressed.
