Midnight Club: Los Angeles is set in the city of Los Angeles, again providing an option to completely free-roam (in an
open world environment larger than all the three cities combined from the previous game,
Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition).
New additions are a 24-hour day-to-night cycle, weather effects and
traffic with licensed vehicles, adding a realistic aspect to the game.
The new dynamic weather system has been reported to alter the gameplay
experience, making the vehicle more prone to sliding on slick surfaces.
If any damage is inflicted upon a vehicle after races, the player does
not necessarily need to drive back to a garage for a full repair, but,
instead, can choose the "Quick Fix" option through which old,
junkyard-esque parts will be added to the car. To get back that "nice,
new car look", the player must actually drive back to repair their
vehicle at a garage or gas station. This also means that totaling a
vehicle is only possible within a single race or event. With the RAGE
system being used for this game,
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traffic levels fluctuate throughout the day, with light traffic at
night, heavy traffic in the morning and afternoon, and heaviest traffic
in the evenings. Motorcycles are again part of the game, including the
Ducati 999R and the
Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14.
Convertible cars, customizable interiors, in-game photo mode, and
customizable exotics are all new additions. Developers placed great
emphasis on the elimination of load screens, stating that the player
could literally jump from career mode to an online race in under ten
seconds.