Midnight Club: Los Angeles

Midnight Club: Los Angeles launched in October 2008 simultaneously for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, bringing Rockstar Games' series of illegal street races to a faithfully rendered Los Angeles with an open map including the surrounding highways. Compared to previous entries, it offered denser traffic, more elaborate vehicle damage, and deeper tuning and personalization options for both cars and motorcycles, making it one of the most technically advanced arcade racing games of its generation.

The PS3 version launched the same day as the Xbox 360 release and was identical in content - the same Los Angeles map, vehicle roster, and race modes, including online multiplayer for up to sixteen players simultaneously active in one city. Differences between the platforms were minimal, mainly showing up as small frame rate variations and the use of trophies instead of achievements. Later downloadable content, such as the South Central expansion adding new cars and routes, also released on both consoles simultaneously, so neither platform had a content lead.

The game never released on PC, which was the exception rather than the rule for Rockstar Games at the time - the studio then focused primarily on console releases and didn't consider a PC version a priority for smaller series like Midnight Club compared to flagship series like Grand Theft Auto.

Midnight Club: Los Angeles thus became the series' final major entry - Rockstar San Diego never released another sequel after it, and the series remained closed out with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 pairing.

For street racing fans, that means only these two equal versions of the game exist to this day - no later remaster or port to newer hardware was ever made, so both console releases remain the only way to play Midnight Club: Los Angeles in its original form.

Why play it: Since no remaster or port was ever made, this is the only chance to play Midnight Club: Los Angeles in its original form - an ideal choice for street racing fans.