MSR - Quality! (Metropolis Street Racer (DC))

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Product:	Metropolis Street Racer (DC)
Date:	26/02/01 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The Cars

Disadvantages: None

This is a FUN game. Take the repetitiveness of Gran Turismo, throw in a bit of TOCA madness, add 128-bit graphics, stir in the realism of Le Mans, pop it in your Dreamcast, and you've got the recipe for one huge game. You start with one car, and you have to complete the first 'chapter' which consists of 10 races set in various locations around the world (San Francisco, London, Tokyo), and EVERY race is different. Sometimes you have to beat just one car, then race against 5 others, do a 'hot lap' within a specified number of laps, overtake a certain number of cars...it's incredible, and the variety will keep you up all night screeching around corners and trying to get those handbrake turns perfected. There are at least 25 chapters here, so that's 250 races to start with. As you progress through the game, more cars and circuits are unlocked, each with their own unique characteristics. The thing that makes this game stand out is it's ethos: 'It's not how fast you drive, it's how you drive fast'. There are three ways you can earn points: Skill, where you keep to the right line and don't hit anything and finish within the targets that were set for that particular race, Kudos, for driving snazzily (flipping out the rear end on corners and keeping those tyres squealing), and Penalties, if you don't hit anything during the race, you get a bonus, if you DO hit something, the points are deducted from your Skill+Kudos score. Some races have 'specials', where if you get above a certain score you get a new car/cheat/joker. You can play jokers at any time, if you win a race with your joker on it your points for that race are doubled. So as your score increases, more races and more chapters open up. There are many gratifying points to this game. The circuit design is very realistic, you can drive the London courses and actually recognise buildings, monuments, even the exact placing of the railings and bollards and the
layout of the roads has been meticulously positioned. I would have to assume the same for San Francisco and Tokyo because I have never been there. Time is also important, the game runs on a 'real clock'. So what time of day you play determines whether or not it will be dark in London or not. Weather effects come into it, you can race in anything from clear, to foggy, to wet, to downpour, so realism is another factor they have taken into account when making the game. Then you have the AI of the cars, and they are not infallible to hitting things, crashing head on into barriers if you put them under pressure, you can even nudge their rear ends on a corner to send them spinning out of control (you get a penalty for hitting them, but if you need to win, you need to win, ok?). Sometimes they just lose control all by themselves on the early levels, which gives you a fighting chance, and a belief that you are actually in a 'real' race. MSR is a nice mix of the Sim and the Arcade genres of racing. It is very realistic like Gran Turismo, with perfect handling for all the cars (and the lawnmower!), and yet it has all the fun of the arcade with great challenges and absorbing racing. Another great feature is the ingame music. Each city has a radio station that plays as you drive along, and the tracks you get depend on what city you are in and what time it is. The reception even varies as you drive under a tunnel or through a covered shopping arcade, and this attention to detail is incredible. You can also opt for a CD player in your car instead, and customise the tracks you wish to hear. It just goes to show you that the makers have gone to great lengths to make this game not just a racer, but a racing experience, and in my book they have done exactly that. MSR blows away any opposition in the console gaming market. Get it for your Dreamcast, and it will blow you away too.

Everyone likes to compare all EA Sports games to Madden these days, it seems. An
d you can understand that, for Madden is after all a stunning game. But can the rest of the EA Sports stable match that excellence? Well NBA Live 2001 on the PlayStation 2 can't quite. It's not a bad first PS2 hoops number, for sure, but it is only really a good-looking version of the PSone game with the great Challenge Mode missing and an AI that is not quite as classy. Graphics-wise of course there can be few complaints (except those from who think everyone working in the EA dungeons are alchemists). The very fist time you see the troops trot out you think: yep, this is NBA Live on the PS2. The shiny court surface, the fantastic reflections... quite superb (as you would expect with a 128-bit machine to work on). The players, in-game and out, move fairly nicely, are stuffed full of polygons and are enthusiastically modelled on their real-life counterparts (please, none of your 'Oh, he doesn't look anything like such and such...). The arenas might have had more attention, but it's the action on the court that counts, and here, in greatNBA Live tradition, a lot of effort has gone into making it all seem real - all the way down to banter and hi-fives between plays and remonstrations after fouls. The frame rate? A little disappointing. The play, then. The AI for both your team mates and your opponents isn't exactly brilliant. Sometimes they appear to move well into space to receive passes and sometimes they push in close to challenge, other times you simply see them do the most ridiculous things, and sometimes the collision detector seems a little off. The rebounds seem a little repetitive, too. Playing against the computer, though, in the harder modes (there are four settings in all) the AI does give you a fairly intelligent battle. Trick-wise, NBA Live has some nifty, easy-access moves on offer. Fakes, stutter steps, cross-overs, it's got the lot nicely captured, and there is no better time to use them that during the games fabulous one-on
-mode, which is worth the entrance money alone. Can you take on Michael Jordan, man to man? You can in this mode - and in a inner city court. The front interface could certainly be improved upon: you have to reprogram your settings and tactics every time you begin (there is no auto save), which is most tedious. The other major gripe is the absence of the Psone version's hugely enjoyable and repayable Challenge Mode. Bring it back, please. Other plus points include: the Rewards mode, where you can take on a number of challenges to earn points for extras; all time greets teams; 'Face in the game' technology, where you can put your own ugly mug on a player; and of course, the Create-a-Player facility. In all, we've enjoyed playing NBA Live 2001 despite its foibles, and will continue to do so for a little while.

Gran turismo? No chance, this will wow the world - Metropolis Street racer has been delayed for a while - 1 whole year infact. But it'll all be worth the wait as this racer will be completely different to ANYTHING you've played before. Forget Gran Turismo 2000 - MSR will be the definitive racing game to grace any console. With hundreds of tracks - all incredibly detailed - and a wealth of beasty sports cars to choose from, and promised online support giving you the chance to win REAL sport cars - if you're good enough at the game that is. MSR is a very impressive game and, from what I've heard, it's selling like nobody's business the game is massively huge and really shows off the dedication of the Bizarre people at BC. The game has its faults - yes it does, but this are outnumbered by the good points by at least 1000 to 1. I'm sure you all know this (but just in case), the game is set in 3 real cities! Tokyo, London and San Francisco, and you actually drive in REAL TIME, which is nice. The graphics are very impressive. Very smooth - now who said the game gives you no sensation of speed? I think it was that G
ameplay review - they also said that the lack of a living city (i.e. Pigeons) down graded the game - but to be honest you don't even notice if there are any people or pigeons BECAUSE the game has a fantastic sensation of speed! I bet they only played the game with an above car view - as that makes the game have a much slower feel then when you are right down low close to the road. However, the two-player mode does suffer from a little slowdown, but it isn't such a big problem, because they game hasn't any graphical glitches or anything like this. The single player mode though has NO slowdown from what I can make out and is just amazing in my view! There are so many tracks, and these chapter and Kudos ideas are brilliant! I'm only on chapter 1 out of 24 I think, and so I can not tell what the further races and challenges will be like, but I'm glad that you only get 3 cars (and variations of the MX5) at the start because when you reveal a new car you know that you've actually worked hard for it - I've almost got the Vauxhall Astra! The car details are superb and the fact that you can change the lightness or darkness of your windows - change the roof of the car: hard/soft or no top; change the colour and change the number plate, all make the game 'special'. The music is great and the best tune apart from the Bullet in the gun trailer/advert is definitely the Club Paris song! The radio station is a great inclusion and innovation, and is it not true that you can upload your OWN songs into the CD player? I say this because there seems to be a space where you can put a personal song in. The radio presenters do repeat themselves, but the variations from city to city is superb. The handling is great in my opinion, the cars feel just right and I can tell the difference between cars, which makes a change! The cars also handle differently in the wet weather too. The engine sounds are very realistic and also vary from car to car, the VX220 mak
es a lovely growl (in the demo) and my MX5 Miata is very perky. The game has loads of options; MSR really is a perfectionist's dream game. You can change all the usual stuff like Weather tracks and laps etc, but you also have to choose the type of game you want to play: in Multiplayer you can choose head to head, pursuit, match play, fastest lap wins, fastest section time wins etc. In the single player mode there's the Main Street racing game, quick race, an internet-mode, garage option and much more. I have to say that I don't mind at all if it takes me 5 minutes to set up the race because the way the game is presented is second to none. With 50 real life sports cars to keep you happy - and don't think they'll be handed to you on a plate because you have to work for the best cars; your driving has to literally reek of skill and style (the essence of burning tyres) in order for you to progress and get more of those all important Kudos. The game has been conceived beautifully; MSR has broken into the world after 2 and a half years of developement. Buy this game as it is the only one you'll ever need. There's a very nice intro trailer, which is the same as the advertisement (showing on Monday ITV!) and there's loads of great music in the game to. Thank you Sega for advertising this game as we all NEED to know how amazing it is, but KEEP advertising! I now can see why MSR has taken so long to complete and develop, because Bizarre Creations have really gone to town with this game. It is, in a word - AWESOME!

That's right folks, beware of this game. It's another one of those games that will have a serious affect on your social life and sleeping patterns. It's that good.

Metropolis Street Racer, or M-SR, challenges you to drive some of over 40 vehicles through 3 of the worlds most famous cities - San Francisco, London, and Tokoyo. Each city has 3 seperate sections, such as Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco, Tr
afalgar Square In London, or the fashionable Shibuya in Tokoyo.

Each City has been painstakingly reproduced to the most minute of detail. The developers have taken thousands of photographs, from which they have accurately recreated every Lamppost and Traffic Light in each of the 3 vast cities and their 3 sub-sections. The Cars have also had a lot of attention paid to them, each car boasting a selection of colours, roof options, and customizable registration plates.

The games structure is based on a points system called Kudos. Kudos are rewarded for stylish powerslides, and skillful, quick, lap times. The games' 25 chapters are accessed by accumulating Kudos from a variety of challenges, that take place in parts of the 3 cities. Each of the chapters have 10 challenges, which range in style from completing "Hot Laps" by beating a pre-set lap time on a circuit. Challenges, such as overtake a certain amount of cars in a set time, and street races, whether it be one on one with an opponent car, or with upto 5 other cars over one or more tracks. Kudos are then rewarded based upon how well they powerslide, or on how quick they complete the challenge. Kudos, are however, deducted by not driving well, such as not completing a challenge, crashing into the sides of the track, or colliding with opposition cars. More challenges are unlocked with more kudos gained, and when each of the ten challenges in a chapter are completed, a new car is rewarded. Certain amounts of kudos are required also to unlock further chapters in the game..... PHEW!!

This system works very well. At first, I did have my doubts, like i'm sure many of you who are reading this review are now, but the developers manage to pull it off quite well. There is also an effective system for rating cars on how they perform, because not all cars will perform the same. The "Car Performance Rating", or CPF, ranges from 1.0 to 5.0, 1.0 being the first cars you get,
like the Mazda MX-5, to the 5.0, which is technically the best car in the game, the Nissan Skyline.

Another revolutionary feature is the way the game uses the Dreamcast clock. Players are requested to enter their time and time zone, so that the time of day can be determined in each of the three cities. For instance, it may be 1 'o' clock in the afternoon in London, but it'll be 5 AM in San Francisco, and night time in tokoyo. A Unique, and brilliant idea, that works well.

The Graphics definately show that they have had a lot of effort and time spent on them, simply from the amount of detail there is. What is partucuarly unique is the way you'll go "Oh, i recognise that building!" as youre driving past it at 100 mph! The cars are also adequately detailed, and very realistic looking, giving the game overall a solid graphical look.

Playability wise, this game impresses immensely. The controls are very easy to pick up, yet it will take quite a while to master them. There are also over 250 tracks (which are actually just different routes around the cities) whic h you will powerslide round at one point. A few goes on this game and it will quite simply have you hooked. You'll want to earn those few extra kudos to get the Renault Laguna, or to unlock the Westminister Bridge section of london. Quite simply, amazing.

There are enough options to shake a stick at, along with a fully fledged music "system" which allows players to customize what they want to hear from the the selection of tracks from the game. The quality of these tracks leave a little to be desired, although they do the job of recreating the sort of music found in each of the cities.

Overall, this is a gaming masterpiece. The sheer amount of detail will cause jaws to drop; the amount of hours you play on this to lose sleep, and to make people look at the racing genre in a completely new way. A must have for anyone who is r
emotely intrested in gaming.

Thanks for reading my opinion!

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