For the first time that I can think of we have a Midnight Club release very close to a Need For Speed release.  Some people will buy both, some people will only buy one.  So the question is, which one is the better game?  I have played all of the Midnight Club’s and I have played Need For Speed since 3DO (yeah, I said it), so I think I can give a pretty good run down of both franchises.  From this point on I will be referring to Midnight Club as MC and Need For Speed as NFS.  Lets do a quick history of both games.

Need For Speed

NFS has been around for quite a while.  Releasing games at least once a year.  It started off as your standard racing game, then in 1998 came NFS III: Hot Pursuit, which made the major element of game play evading police.  This was popular, but it really caught on in 2002 when they released NFS: Hot Pursuit 2.  I couldn’t stop playing this game, it was so fun.  I completed 100%.  It even had some pretty good commercials:

I would say NFS became major player in November 2003 when NFS: Underground was released.  This came out at the perfect time, when “The Fast and the Furious” had everyone into street racing.  It was a great game.  It was the first NFS to had a story.  I completed this game 100%.  The follow up NFS: Underground 2 wasn’t so great.  Story wasn’t as good and there wasn’t that much new too it.  One thing they did that was a great addition was to add open world driving, which is driving freely to find races.  However, once in a race you were confined to a track.

That was the last NFS game for the last generation consoles.  The first NFS game for the next generation consoles was NFS: Most Wanted.  Most Wanted combined NFS: Hot Pursuit 2 and NFS: Underground perfectly.  Also, on the next gen consoles the AI was improved greatly.  Cops would run police patterns to try to catch you and of course the higher your heat level the greater the threat of being caught was.  They also added effects that would help you feel that you were moving really fast.  Blur effects, and draw lines helped with his.  I also completed this game 100%.

Now comes the dark years…two to be exact.  The follow up to Most Wanted was NFS: Carbon.  Carbon had some major flaws.  Two of which are a horrible AI for the police and the fact that you really didn’t have to win races.  You could select your race team member, which was a good concept, but most of the time they were faster than you and could get to the finish before you, since they are the NPC and can navigate perfectly.  It takes the fun out of the game when you really don’t even have to play.

NFS: Underground will be released in November of 2008.  NFS looks very promising because it looks like they went back to the Most Wanted style of play.  I guess we will find out in November.

Midnight Club

In 2000 Rockstar Games released Midnight Club.  I haven’t done to much research on this, but I think its safe to say the MC was the first racing release for the PS2 generation that focused on street racing.  This game offered a free roaming environment.  It would provide checkpoints for the races, but it was up to you on how you got there.  And as the game got harder, their would be less and less checkpoints.  More decisions to make, more ways to lose.  In April 2003, MC: II was released.  This was actually the first one I played, I played the first one after I played the second.  This game was amazing.  The cars, the locations, the sound track.  All very nice.  The game was very hard especially toward the end.  I never completed the very last level.  I consisted of 40 check points, in the rain, with A LOT of corners.  I still have the save on my Memory Card .  MC: Dub Edition was released in 2005.  This is the first time they included licensed cars.  Also you could fully customize your vehicle.  They also added Motorcycles.  The game was good compared to other racing games, but still not as good as MC: II.

So now that you know a bit about the games, if you didn’t already know them, I am going to compare them based on my experiences.

Soundtrack

Hands down MC has the better soundtrack any day.  For most of the NFS games I usually plug my iPod into my console, or for the old xbox use the music I imported to the system.  MC has a larger catalog of music from most popular genres.  NFS usually has mostly rock tracks, maybe a few electronic, with a smidgen hip-hop.  Rockstar are pro’s at doing game soundtracks as can be seen in the GTA series.

Winner: Midnight Club

Police

Since I think that an important part of any street racing game would be the police chases I will also compare this.  Even though the police chases in MC: Los Angeles are better than before, it still pales in comparison to the chases in NFS: Most Wanted.  Police are smarter and more aggressive in most wanted.  Also in MC: LA there is no heat level, so you can kinda just ride around all day until you lose the cops.  Not to mention, the penalty for getting caught is only a $100 ticket, unlike NFS which is your car being impounded.

Winner: Need For Speed

AI (Artificial Intelligence…for those that don’t know):

I have to give it to Midnight Club on this one.  Besides the police in Hot Pursuit, the AI is pretty predictable.  Pretty much only following the predetermined path.  Maybe moving around for cars in there way.  Once you get used to the patterns, you can pretty much blow the opposing racers away.  Part of the difficulty of Midnight Club is the AI.  Since Midnight Club is free roaming, the AI have a bit more decision making to do than in NFS.  You can think for a minute that your winning, and before you know it he AI blow right past you because it took a slightly faster way to the checkpoint.  In MC, you will never be that far ahead of the other races to blow them out of the race.  Most races in MC are won by a few seconds, if not less.  Car in MC adjust faster to new situations than any other racing game I have played.  I’ve even had a car use my slip stream to boost past me.  All and all, MC is better for the AI.

Winner: Midnight Club

Cars and Customization

Both MC and NFS have very nice cards with great customization options.  Most have MANY packages to choose from for body kits, paint, and other customizations.  To be honest, I can’t give anyone a win here because they are both great.

Winner: (Tie)

Difficulty

NFS, at times can be difficult.  Most of the game is slightly challenging, mixed in with some pretty hard parts.  MC, from the jump is a pretty challenging game.  You really feel like your earning your stripes with mostly every race.  Like I mentioned before, the AI is no joke in MC.  They keep up with you well and all you need is one mistake for them to over take you.  And getting back to the head of the pack isn’t a easy task.  in NFS, you can crash, skid on a wall, bounce off of cars and still make first with about 15-20 seconds to spare.  in MC, bumping into other cars and skidding off walls will slow you down, not that much, but because the enemy is so close behind you they will over take you easily and ride off into the sunset.

MC, also adds a element that NFS doesn’t…pedestrians vehicles.  In NFS, when you race the roads are clear for you pretty much, may have some cars sometime.  MC, pedestrian vehicles are always present.  This adds another opponent to each race.  Your opponents are usually the enemy cars and your own human imperfection, you now have to add regular cars getting in your way.

In NFS, you can hit a 90 degree turn going 80mph with your handbrake and make it with room to spare.  Not in MC.  You actually need to slow down in this game.  Use some common sense when you hit those sharp turns.  Also, you can’t hit the turns from the same angle every time, you really need to base it on if there is a pedestrian vehicle in your way or not.  I mean, you have to take the turn, but how you do it is a different story.  So all and all I would say MC is more difficult.

Winner: Midnight Club

Conclusion

To be honest with you, which game is better really depends on what type of gamer you are.  Are you a gamer that plays games just to have fun, or are you a gamer that plays as a hobby?  Whats the difference?  Well, a gamer that just plays to have fun, will likely get angry at MC (any edition) and throw it on the bottom of the pile, possibly playing it further down the road, or just trading it in.  For someone who plays as a hobby, the fun is accomplishing the hard things.  Knowing that no matter how hard it got, you stuck through it and completed the game.  Another notch in the belt.  I’d say NFS is for the people that just want to have a little fun, MC is more for the person that wants a challenge.

NFS: Undercover has yet to be released yet, so it may be an amazing game.  Possibly much better than MC:LA.  However, from what I have seen, it looks to be pretty much the same as Most Wanted.  Which isn’t a bad thing, but in my opinion MC:LA is a better street racing game.  I guess we will find out in november.