Reviews / previews
Imagine an online community where racers can hang out with their fellow car enthusiasts and buy and sell cars and parts as well as race. Thats what EA is striving for in Motor City Online. The game will try to create a new type of community that is basically a racing RPG. Each player will be able to customize not only their car, but their online persona as well. A full complement of 35 licensed cars from the 30s to the 70s will be available with many more scheduled to be released after launch. To create your dream machine, there will be 60 different car packages with over 1,000 authentic stock and licensed parts to repair and trick out automobiles. Well keep you updated with how all of this will work in action, but for now check out how the game will look with the screens below.
-- 0 / GamePro
Name changes and concept re-inventions, engine overhauls and near-death experiences its been a long and bumpy road for Motor City Online, but EAs ambitious racing game finally looks like its ready to emerge as one of the most promising titles in the upcoming onslaught of persistent online universes.
10 Million Miles from Brittania
Aside from being the first online racing universe, Motor Citys got another thing goin that makes it stand outa keen sense of classic style. The whole game is built around a retro theme, and based around vintage Ford, Chrysler, and Chevrolet from the 30s through the 70s, from classic Thunderbirds to GTOs with fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror. The game will ship with nearly 60 base model cars (fully customizable with over 1000 parts), with even more of each available as time goes on.
Even though Motor City is a million miles and a million years from the Ruins of Kunark, you cant help but think of Motor City Online as an online racing RPG when you buy the game and sign up for the service, you create an online persona that exists on one of the games many servers scattered throughout the country, in a model that closely resembles Ultima Onlines shard system. Youll be able to have up to five personas per shard, and each persona has his or her own bankroll, garage, and community loyalties. Play one persona as a raging jackass who likes to swindle newbies; play another as a delicate female mechanic with a penchant for go-go dancing, or just play yourself its all up to you.
The City That Never Sleeps
Since the world of Motor City never sleeps, Community will play a huge part in the game as well. The meat of the game lies in Sim World, an ever-evolving place where you swap cars, make bets, earn a salary form unions, and race against opponents from around the world, Aside from the EA-hosted deals and special event auctions offering rare and unique new vehicles, players can swap and trade their cars either on the fly or using an eBay-like auction system. Think your tweaked-out Chevy Impala stands a chance against your friends; hey, who knows, maybe he forgot to change his tires for a race in the rain. Lose the race, you might just lose your car and a wad of cash as well.
An intricate club system is under works as well, complete with turf wars (where top Clubs can own and defend one of the games 24 tracks), rankings, and leader boards. EA envisions players taking on roles as specialists, with legions of mechanics, buyers, traders, and expert racers fleshing out the whole team experience. But if UO taught us anything, its that nobody knows what players imaginations will come up with. Its a free world, baby go ahead and start that Club for Blue Edsel Owners Who Love to Crosshatch in Arizona if thats your dream. Of course, if the pressure in Sim World is too high, just head on over to Arcade Mode and race just for the fun of itthe only thing at stake here is your pride.
Grease is the Word
The graphics in the pre-alpha preview build we first saw were powered by an enhanced version of the Need for Speed engine, and they looked great - complete with detailed car models, and excellent environmental lightning, rain, and headlights effects to bring up the level of realism. And while the graphics engine may be a NFS tweak, the rest of the engine is a whole new monster EA has developed an all-new 4-point physics engine for Motor City. The controls in the slightly-advanced build at E3 were solid and tight; a nice blend of true-to-life, realistic physics and more tweaked arcade-like handling whenever the game threatens to become bogged down in the petty annoyances of reality. Plus, the different cars definitely feel very different while driving, as light or as heavy as youd expect them to be EAs trying their best to make sure your best-laid tweaking plans arent all for naught. And while the level of customization doesnt appear to go as deep as Gran Turismos oh-so-delicate I wonder what changing this angle does, whoops, how come I cant steer anymore fine tuning, the ability to swap in over 1,000 auto parts means theres still plenty you can do to tweak out your vehicle.
Rocky Roads Behind Us, Uncharted Highways Ahead
With Motor City Online, EA is looking to bring something completely different to the online gaming mix - a persistent global racing world, steeped in the classic culture of muscle cars, malt shops, motor oil, and pure, uncompromising horsepower. The games slated to go into beta on June 11 (Monday!). Prepare to take a nice, long ride when it hits stores later this summer.-- 0 / GamePro
To really enjoy Motor City Online, youll have to be one part speed freak, one part grease monkey. The game offers tons of classic cars for you to buy, upgrade, tinker with, and racefrom hot-rod relics like the 32 Ford Coupe up through the muscle-bound monsters of the 1970s like the Chevy Nova, Ford Mustang, and Pontiac Firebird T/A. However, just as a serious flight sim is only of interest to players who have a real-life pilots license, MCO is really a haven for wannabe mechanics who know how to rebuild an engine and tweak it for the best performance. If you dont know a camshaft from a crankshaft, this is not the game for youunless youre willing to learn just how an improved valve train or intake manifold can boost your horsepower.
Assuming you are the target market, however, Motor City Online is an awesome playground where car enthusiasts get to build their dream rides, decking them out with everything from custom-built V8 engines to fuzzy dice and flame paint jobs. The game involves a dynamic economy, where cars go up for auction and the market determines any given parts worth. Players are paid weekly based on their racing level, plus theyll earn cash for winning street, circuit, and drag races. Only the brave and crazy will risk their ride in a pink-slip race where the winner leaves with both cars! Unfortunately, most people dont race their own carssince you have to pay for damage and upkeep, youre more likely to find folks racing in sponsored contests. While youll make less money and earn less points this way, nobody feels bad wrecking a rental. Thats less romantic compared to the idea of building your dream machine and putting it to the test, but heythe game is young, and perhaps this trend for safe bets will change.
A broadband connection isnt required, but it sure is recommended; the hi-res, accurately re-created car models look much better when theyre traveling at 150 mph and not dogged by lag. The cars are a little too shiny for their own good, but youll love the wholly generic tracks like the fairground dirt oval and shortcut-laden street races down the main roads of middle America. The soundtracks awesomea selection of radio stations cranks everything from rockabilly to surf to funk, offering music for every era represented in the game. Not only are all the engine sounds accurately reproduced, but so are the horns. Oh yes, they sweat the details.
If youre a serious PC racing fan, you probably have a decent steering wheel. If not, heres your opportunity to get one. Full force-feedback support means youll feel every rough idle, every hay bale collision, and every sickening crash. The keyboard, joystick, and gamepad all work, but this game was designed with a wheel in mind. Youre cheating yourself if you play without one. (For the record, the Logitech MOMO Force and Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro both work great.)
All told, theres a lot to like in Motor City, and the games off to a great start. As long as youre prepared to be your own mechanic (and youre prepared to pay $40 for the game, then an additional $10 each month to play), then Motor City Online is a killer ride.-- 0 / GamePro
Got an opinion about Motor City Online? Or maybe know a good cheat or strategy? Share it with the world!