Need For Speed - Motor City (Part Deux)

• publisher: Electronic Arts
• developer: Electronic Arts - Need for Speed

Last week we took a look at new The Need for Speed game, called Motor City. We talked about the incredible number of customization options available including being able to change most anything under the hood. You can also select from a wide variety of paint jobs and other cool features.

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This week we'll take a look at what will be one of the most revolutionary steps in multiplayer gaming ever. Racing games have always been pretty dry in the multiplayer department. All you could ever do was race. Sure there were some career options and cool cars, but a couple of laps around a couple of different tracks got old kinda soon. Well with Motor City, EA is hoping to change all that.

To start off, EA will be hosting their own Motor City server. Think of it like Blizzard's Battle.net. You will only be able to play Motor City in this new server, but surely if Motor City is successful, there will be new games released to take advantage of this multiplayer option. Hopefully we can look forward to speedy servers that will be kept up to date and lag free by one of the giants of the gaming industry EA.

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So, how will Motor City work online? Well, when you first log to the Motor City server, you will sign up and get a certain amount of money. You will then see a map of a city, presumably Motor City. On it there will be different locations. They include: the new car dealers, the used car dealers, the junk yard, the auto parts shop, the diner, the auto body shop and maybe more.

With the money that you get, you will have to buy a car. There are many different ways to get one. You could buy a new one, which will be more expensive, but in great condition. Or you could buy a used one, which will be cheaper but could be a little dinged up, or finally you could go to the junkyard and get cars for cheap, of course they will not be in the most pristine condition.

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Once you get a car, you could start upgrading it immediately, but chances are if you bought a new car you're going to be too short on cash. Or if you picked up an old junker from the junkyard, you'll have to spend lots of time (and money) at the auto parts shop buying parts for the jalopy. Eventually you'll likely end up with a car that you can race. And that's when the fun begins.

You'll go to the diner and meet other players there. You can then challenge them to races through the city or in the country or in the nearby dirt track. If you win these races, you'll get the prize money. Second, third, fourth, and fifth place will also likely get some of the purse. With the money you can upgrade your car and or repair the damage your crazy driving has done. Of course, if you're Michael Andretti and don't need to repair your car, you can always get a cool paint job.

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EA is trying to make this game more than simply a racing experience. Let's say you've grown tired of your old '67 Chevy Impala and want a T-Bird. But you Impala is all upgraded, has a kick ass paint job and let's face it, you've put a lot of work into it. Don't want to trash it? Just sell it. That's right, with Motor City you'll be able to sell you car in the Motor City newspaper. With the money you make from it, you could probably buy a much better T-Bird.

EA is also putting in a new code so that the gaming itself will be much faster. When the game initially loads, both computers will be loaded with the track details and the types of cars (including paint jobs, and upgrades). When playing, the data that is transmitted will consist of: car direction, car speed, and car position. This is in contrast to the huge amount of info that must be transmitted in ordinary racing games. Surely this will make lag free racing a real possibility.

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Need For Speed Motor City will be the next big thing in both multiplayer gaming and racing games. With the NFS and EA's deep pockets the game will be a success, making the multiplayer world even more fun. EA has already proven that it is the big daddy in racing games and Motor City will be but another step to perfection.