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[Brandon F]

Something that has become very obvious lately in Midnight Club 3 is that the AI drones you compete with adjust their speed cap, turning abilities, and overall aggressiveness based almost solely on your overall ranking in the game. The more you win, the more difficult they drive...start earning a few 6th place finishes thoigh and almost immediately the game "corrects" itself giving the gamer a MUCH more manageable chance at victory.

On the one-hand this fixes the inexplicable challenge MC2 delivered without resorting to rubberbanding. Almost any race in the game is guaranteed so long as you just reach the finish line a couple times regardless of position(pause-restarts won't adjust a thing for the next attempt).

And yet, what a slap to the face. The feeling of accomplishment is lessened, and the freebie handout is an insult. "Can't handle my A-game kid? Here's my C-game!"

Granted my threshold for pain is far greater than most of you, I love stepping up my game to deal with a severe challenge. MC2 was a delight the whole way through despite the often multi-hour attempts to finally earn gold on some races, but I at least EARNED those wins. This just hurts.

 

[Wario64]

There's no option to play on a set difficulty?

Self adjusting AI sux

 

[Roland Hood]

I remember being supremely frustrated with MC2 so I'm OK with this. I'm finishing 1st or 2nd in all the races so far (4% ) so hopefully the AI won't totally disintegrate.

This is different than in ATV where if you ran off the road or fell to far behind the AI would just slow down and practically wait for you to catch up. That would be unacceptable.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

Racers need to be unforgiving like F-Zero GX

 

[Brandon F]

The first city is supah easy. Game ramps up once you hit Atlanta.

Debating just pawning this thing off now. Can't be bothered without that satisfaction of ownage.

 

[Wario64]

Racers need to be unforgiving like F-Zero GX

With an announcer that calls you a 'retard' upon failing

 

[Lyte Edge]

You know what sucks about MC3? The fact that Rockstar shipped the Xbox version with a major custom soundtrack glitch, causing it to reset at times when you finish a race and are using a custom soundtrack. :/

I don't know if it's happened to anyone else here, but a friend of mine has it happen EVERY single time he tries to play the game. I have had it happen several times.

The game rocks, though. How is it online, Brandon? I haven't even tried multiplayer yet.

 

[Brandon F]

Yea, the custom soundtrack glitch is for real. I had to stop using my burned music since the same weird resets kept happening to me.

Also, there is a separate audio glitch in the garage, where occasionnally the soundbyte for the menu selection will get stuck on a loop and keep "clicking" incessantly. Annoying when it happens.

Online is ok. I mean it's about the same experience online as in MC2. Doubt I will spend much time with the game online.

 

[MrPing1000]

With an announcer that calls you a 'retard' upon failing

then beats you. Badly

 

[Ranger X]

The more you win, the more difficult they drive...start earning a few 6th place finishes thoigh and almost immediately the game "corrects" itself giving the gamer a MUCH more manageable chance at victory.

I don't see what's different from rubberbanding here. It accomplishes the exact same thing: making the game suck more.

Shit man there should be a law against self-adjusting AI and rubberbanding or something. I kills the purpose of playing and getting better. Just give difficulty settings god damnit.

 

[monchi-kun]

one man's self-adjusting AI is another's rubberband AI

 

[Brandon F]

The difference between rubberbanding and what I am discussing IS slight, but vary in application.

Banding will generally negate the point of laps, relegating the difference between a 1st place and a 6th place win most conclusively on how effective one handles the final stretch of a race. The elasticity is present during the race itself.

MC3 will have you lagging the entire race with opponents that are seemingly beefed beyond what the stats actually allow, having you question if the car chosen just isn't up to task. Then magically 3 full attempts later it will be YOU utterly dominating by a large margin as if someone sabotaged the AI cars between restarts.