Too much style kills a racing game. Need for Speed: ProStreet was unbearable because it tried too hard to be cool and Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition was over-the-top. Leave any sense of style out, however, and a racer just isn't appealing. Midnight Club: Los Angeles seems to have struck a balance, walking a fine line between substance and style. While the fundamentals of gameplay are fantastic, it introduces just enough style with its highly detailed graphics and slick camera shots to keep the game fresh and interesting.

Arriving in Los Angeles, you have the freedom to go where you please. From scaring snooty shoppers with a speedy run along Rodeo Drive to checking out the surfers dotting Ocean Avenue, you're welcome to roam the city at will; however, gaining credibility as a street racer and accessing new cars and parts can only be done by tackling races. Much like the open world design of Need for Speed: Carbon, the game allows you to take missions on at will while driving freely throughout the city. You can drive up to a marker to start a race or you can jump to an event by selecting one from the overhead map. The game features a stunning GPS-style map of the city, which is quite impressive since the game zooms out from the interior of your car to an overall bird’s eye view of the city. Of course, a mini-map helps in navigation during races too, displaying the location of flares and your competitors without having to zoom out to the full map.

Since events occur within the city and not dedicated tracks, flares mark the designated route at regular intervals. The lengthy race we competed in had us running from the ocean's edge to the banks of the LA River. This ordered race was set up on a local network with other Xbox 360 consoles, allowing us to compete with nine other players. Rockstar has yet to release full details regarding the maximum number of players supported in multiplayer, not to mention exactly what modes the game will offer. Online play via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network and LAN are both going to be there on day one and there's even talk of support for Rockstar's Social Club, but no word on split-screen or a definitive list of multiplayer events. Additionally, we're not clear on whether customized vehicles can be used online or if those are locked to your offline career.

What we do know is that it'll deliver the same high-octane racing across both solo and multiplayer modes. There's nothing that the game necessarily does new to make it stand out as inventive or particularly innovative as a racing game; however, it provides such a quality, polished experience that far exceeds most other racing games of this generation. The physics are accessible, yet realistic enough to be challenging. Graphically, it's a powerhouse. Customization is out of control with dozens of options for performance and aesthetics, which is even better when you consider that the cars have been licensed directly from manufacturers. Even better, you're able to wreck your creations thanks to destructible vehicle models. You won't get the same car crunching effects as seen in Burnout Paradise, but your car can unload a bumper, crack a window, and get a significant ding or two during aggressive races.

Certain elements in the surrounding environment are destructible as well, although you're not able to smash through buildings or anything devastating like that. Instead, you can obliterate bus stop benches or knock over trash cans to the horror of pedestrians. These objects aren't meant to encourage reckless racing since they'll slow you down; instead, they're meant as obstacles to encourage a clean racing line that sticks to the asphalt and not the sidewalk.