When you’re Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal, you can just show up at Rockstar Games’ New York City offices and kick your feet up on their waiting room coffee table, knocking the latest issue of Alternative Press right onto the floor. Then, Rockstar’s VP of development Jeronimo Barrera brings him a drink (non-alcoholic — N’Gai’s working, after all) and spill the beans on an upcoming patch for Midnight Club: Los Angeles for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
“Obviously, we like to listen to our fans,” Barrera told Croal. “We’ve done a bit of tuning on the dynamic race structure so that early on, it will be easier for novice players to get to the later races.”
Long story short, this patch (or the “update,” as Rockstar likes to call it) is going to make the game a bit easier … at least the first third of the game. The A.I. will be tweaked so that it makes more mistakes, botching smooth turns or careening more carelessly through intersections. The update should be available today for Xbox 360 owners, and PlayStation 3 owners should see it soon.
If you haven’t had a chance to play Midnight Club: Los Angeles, I’d highly recommend it. While we didn’t get around to reviewing it this season (too many games, not enough people to play them!), the leisure time I spent with it was quite rewarding. Outside of it being absolutely gorgeous, the game is easy to pick up and play, with a structure that doesn’t necessarily even require you to place first in every race to progress. Yes, it’s a game that people like me who suck at racing games can even enjoy.
