Maniacal Drivers Unite!

Developer: Angel Studios
Publisher: Microsoft
Midtown Madness 2 official page: http://www.microsoft.com/games/midtown2/

Ahh, the plight of the gamer

We, as gamers, have to deal with the slander and anger coming at us from the media, our parents, and sometimes even our friends. We get to hear Larry King ask a man how it was that a shareware game caused the deaths of more than a dozen innocents. We get nagged that we didn't take out the garbage because of this stupid "Earthquake" game. We return to beds to find the girlfriend asleep, and hear grumbling in the morning over Yuban. And last, but certainly not least, we get to hear how we are idiots because we missed a really hot girl's party over Allegiance rocking your world (hey, she already has a boyfriend and her friends aren't that hot.).

Hydroplaning action!

No officer, not one drink today.

So, we look for the game that will appease all those outside forces, right? One that keeps our girlfriends happy, teaches us CPR, and cures cancer. Not quite. Instead we simply look for the next game that is so involved it inspires even more asinine questions from the general media (along with asinine answers from a certain Lt. Col.).

Midtown Madness 2 might be this next in a long series of grandiose endeavors involving caffeine, nicotine, and sleep deprivation. But even if it isn't, one thing I guarantee it will do is make a maniacal driver out of you, and soon, very soon, we'll be hearing Larry King asking a would be Vice President why he thinks a computer game caused a pileup on highway I-10.

This is bad news for those of us obsessed with reverse gear.

Even the coppers get a little drag here and there

Double the Madness

The original Midtown Madness was published over a year ago, and received an immense amount of acclaim. Reviewers and players alike loved the smell and feel of the city of Chicago, and above all, they loved crashing through it.

Just seeing the sights, officer.

Marin or bust!

One of the truly great aspects of the original Midtown Madness was the "Beaucoup Break Stuff" factor. BBSF, as it henceforth will be called is just as mad as it was the first time. Streetlights, signs, meters, other cars, your own car, if you can see it, you can break it. If you can't break it, you can definitely get a pedestrian to yell you for trying.

This time around, the folks at Angel Studios decided not to include just the one city of the first game, but two cities, London and San Francisco. The number of vehicles to choose from have doubled as well. You can drive anything from a bright red fire truck to the United States Army Light Tactical Vehicle (a big fancy term for a Humvee). You are given a variety of tools, and two beautiful settings, for maximum creative destruction.