Whilst playing Midnight Club L.A. again, I wondered "Why don't we have cruise lobbies in the perfect cruise/race game??" My answer came shortly after, when my PS3 froze as a result of fiddling with the livery editor too long.
I think I actually brought up the idea of running on MCLA once. Me and Dan (don't remember anyone else) had a little discussion about it. Here's what I can think of:
FOR:
Amazing livery editor: All kinds of designs can be created for both cops and racers
Unparalleled customization: Kinda goes hand in hand with the livery editor, but no matter what your style (donk, sleeper, ricer, cop car, replica etc.) you can find wheels, body parts and a lot more to make your perfect car
Free-roam city: LA isn't as big as TDU's Hawaii, but that means it's a perfect size. All kinds of terrain from mountains to cities to highways, and 100 miles of road means it's gonna take a while before you're bored.
Wide variety of cars: No matter what your style, there's a car to go with it. You've got tuners (Skyline GT-R, Evo IX, RX-7), muscle cars (Mustang Boss 302, Challenger Concept, Z06), luxury cars (300C SRT-8, S600, SL65), exotics (Gallardo, Murcielago, R8), bikes (Monster S4RS, 999R, Ninja ZX-14), SUVs (Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Supercharged) and lowriders (Riviera, Impala, Malibu)
Cop cars: The cop car pack brings special versions of the Impala SS and Charger SRT-8 with police equipment and enhanced performance over the standard versions. Light up the sirens and take up pursuit, these cars are perfect for enforcers. If you need something faster, take one of the high-end cars, go into the livery editor and make your own cop car
Cruise control: While it may be hit-and-miss in a few rooms, there is a cruise control feature. Feather the throttle to activate cruise control and stick to the speed limit designated for that road
Street races: Players can actually propose challenges, ranging from traditional street races to capture-the-flag modes. These are official events with checkpoints and cash prizes. Cruising non-participants can still get tangled up in the race, giving an opportunity for cops to bust up the race meet
AGAINST:
Troublesome randoms: A big problem on GT5, any cruise room on MCLA is going to have to account for randoms, who only want to street race, have no respect for cops and can't be kicked
Hacks: Plenty of hacks floating around, from low level colored lights and city buses, to dangerous magnetic S7s and infinite-speed-and-mass DB9s. Randoms with hacks can be especially dangerous
No kick: Already touched upon, there is no function to kick troublemakers from the room
Freezing: A common problem, freezing pretty much never corrupts your gamesave (never did for me in three years of playing), but can still necessitate a reset
Lack of traffic: Traffic can be present in online rooms, adding an element of realism to cruise games, but cannot be selected with more than 8 players
Lack of text chat: Mics allow communication, but can be abused by randoms with squeaky voices and gangsta music. More importantly, there is no text chat, meaning non-voice communication will have to take place on PSN's chat room service
Big map: It'll be hard for cops to patrol such a big area, so a few cops are going to have to patrol select districts which themselves are rather big
Outdated game: There's no hiding the fact that MCLA is an old game. It came out in 2008, there may be games with better graphics, and the car list is looking a little outdated
FINAL VERDICT: Overall, MCLA has a few great features that would suit a cruise/cops game well, but glaring faults mean that it won't eclipse GT5 as the cruise game of choice.
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