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Motor City Online for PC game reviews & Metacritic score: Build and race your own collection of custom hot rods with thousands of real people online! More than just a racing game, MCO is a virtual hot rod haven for gea. Motor City Online (formerly known as Need for Speed: Motor City) was a massive multiplayer online racing game officially released on October 31st, 2001 and shut down on August 29th, 2003. It was developed by EA Seattle and published by Electronic Arts. On May 11th, 2001, the first open beta of the game was released, from which two more were later introduced.
The last time we checked up with (originally known as Need For Speed: Motor City), the game was looking great, and heading for a fall 2000 release. Obviously the game was pushed back, and now it's headed on the mark for a summer/fall 2001 launch. Take out the fact that we have to wait even longer to play this online racing game, and you'll find that things look better for the title than ever before.In the change from Need for Speed: Motor City to, the development team decided to make a conscious change from a hardcore racing game to a game that would support communities, something that has kept MMORPGs like Everquest and UO going strong for years now. What that means is that you'll still be able to swap pink slips, lose your shirt in a big race, and win big money in a pro race.
But it also means that you'll be able to join a club, attend swap meets, as well as read up-to-date news about Motor City and keep up with who's winning the big bucks, and who's car is making the heads turn in town.The newest information to be released about motor city are the two modes that you'll be able to choose from when you play Motor City. The biggest option will be Sim World, the most talked about part of the game. You'll be able to sell, trade, and customize your cars in Sim World, and then take those cars into official or unofficial races. Pro races will give you prize money so you can build the perfect vehicle, while the now-infamous pink-slip races will allow you to wager your car against another gamer on the streets of the city. If you're feeling a little less brave, you can always bet cold hard cash, as well.Arcade Action is a way to jump in races without having to lose money, cars, or effect your car's inventory. Just like other online games, you'll be able to jump on and race, while still gaining points towards your level, which will ultimately increase your weekly salary (you'll gain points at a much lower rate than in Sim World mode, however).
It's a great way to get you into racing online, and used to your favorite cars. At some point, however, you'll want to race with the big boys and girls in the Sim World, where the stakes are high, but the rewards are even higher.There can't be a racing game without a heavy emphasis on the cars, and Motor City Online is going about and beyond the call of duty by releasing around 50 cars at launch from the 'big three,' Ford, Chevrolet, and Chrysler, with more available as downloads during the game's life. EA's always done a great job of supporting the NFS series with new cars as downloads after a game's launch, so we can only assume that the online racing counterpart will have even more car support. You'll have the opportunity to buy your cars from one of eight dealerships, with seven of them being auctions. This opens up a multitude of opportunities, depending on how you want to play Motor City. While you aren't a character class in the game, you will be able to tailor the game to your interests, and the auctions play a large part in this. If you're big into deals, then you can always lurk in the dealer auctions looking for those perfect bargains, and then resell them in player auctions for a tidy little profit.
Or if you're the technical type, you may enjoy buying a car and scrapping it in your garage, adding new parts and creating a specialized racing machine that you can then sell later, or just race around town for bragging rights. With the real supply/demand and auction models in place for Motor City, you'll be looking for that perfect pair of shocks for your '57 Chevy Bel Air like an Everquester looks for a Runic Carver.It doesn't hurt that you'll be able to use real parts in your realistic cars, either. Car parts from Edelbrock, Holley and Hurst will be available for you to use in the game, with over a thousand different parts available for your cars.
That doesn't even include cosmetic tweaks like custom hubs, license plates, paint jobs and even fuzzy dice. But those fuzzy dice are just going to gather dust if you don't take advantage of some of the best body enhancements out there, like bigger engine blocks, blowers, and spoilers.How are you going to afford all these parts and modifications on your own? You won't have to, if you take advantage of joining one of the clubs that will be available in the game. Just like clans in game like Quake, you'll be able to join up with a group of likeminded racers, and get training, protection and parts from your teammates. You and your friends can literally own turf on a part of town, defending it from other clubs and their hot rods. Plus, there are even cash rewards for your team by winning races, and adding new players to your club.
If you want to think about it in Team Fortress terms, you can even see it as an opportunity to specialize. Good mechanics can put together the perfect cars for use by the best racers on the team, while buyers outbid the competition for the best parts.The engine in particular is filled with more detail than even previous versions of the game, including some great environment effects, such as the roaring tornado during a farm race (check our movie below for a full view).
Cockpits are fully rendered, but now we've got a movie that shows off the detail you'll be able to gaze at when you should be trying to keep your eyes on the road. The new four-point physics engine created specifically for the game will keep you from gazing to hard at your shiny dashboard however.Motor City Online continues to look impressive, and as more details are released about just how much you'll be able to interact with gamers, build the best car on the block, and generally show off your bragging butt on a nonstop basis, the more we here at IGNPC get excited about the possibilities.- Vincent Lopez. June 17, 1999First off, I'd like to tell you all that I have rewritten this intro paragraph about eighteen times now and I've come to the conclusion that I can't start this preview off in a creative fashion. It's not that Need For Speed: Motor City isn't an interesting game, in fact, it's quite the opposite. I just can't get going and I apologize, but I said I'd post this preview today, and dog dang it, I'm going to do this.
I'm sorry, I wish I could give you back the last 20 seconds of your life, or however long it took you to read this. From here on out, it's good readin', I swear.Need For Speed: Motor City doesn't put gamers in control of a slick Jaguar or a Lamborghini Diablo. Oh no, Motor City takes you back when cars could crash into anything, and not get dented, cars that you could fix in your own garage.
That's right kids, grease up your pompadours, Motor City allows gamers to take the wheel of one of over 40 licensed classics such as a 1932 Ford Coupe, 1957 Chevrolet Sport Bel-Air Sport Coupe, 1963 Corvette Stinray, 1966 Pontiac GTO or a 1970 Mustang Boss 302.Motor City also features two racing types, street-racing challenge and sanctioned road courses. The street-racing challenge is like a quarter-mile competition, where as the road courses, thirteen in all, allow you to race opponents through the twists and turns of Motor City.The big sell point in Motor City is the deepness in customization options for your car. Gamers can change and customize just about anything on their automobile. You can upgrade your engine, muffler, rims and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Racers can also alter the paint color and add graphics, throw on a ground kit, and with some cars, you'll even be able to chop the top and make your automobile look really tough.Another feature that's going to make this game shine out from the rest is its online features.
It's a whole lot more than just finding someone and racing them. EA is actually trying to create a 'Motor City Community.' In addition to racing each other, gamers can visit 'hangouts', such as Sal's Drive-In or Roxie's Diner, and show off their cars, talk in chat rooms, or just kick back and listen to music.Motor City also has a money system - and this is where the real fun begins. Gamers start out with a set number of dollars and can visit various used car lots to purchase a 'fixer-upper.' So when you first start out, your car is going to look like crap. In fact, some of the used cars have dents, crap paint jobs and busted stuff, which can all be fixed as you progress through the game, of course. So how do you earn money and get a better car?
Gamers can either race for a set number of dollars, or even for pink slips. This is such a cool game/online premise - it's like virtual-Grease.It looks like has got a real winner on its hands, with Motor City, due to the fact that there are aren't a lot of classic racers out there, and even fewer that offer such an immersive environment.
We'll be keeping close track of this title as its winter release cruises closer.- Jay Boor.
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