L.A. Rush [PS2]

Before hitting the streets in LA Rush, let's answer a question. If the game had to resemble one of three games, which title would be best? How about if the choices were San Francisco Rush, Midnight Club 3 and Driv3r? It's obvious what the best comparison would be, but sadly this new racer is much more like Driv3r than anything else. It's got ambition and gets some things very much right, but at the end of the day LA Rush is not much fun to play.

Unfortunately, LA Rush doesn't simply provide a thin premise to get players on the road. No, there's -- shudder -- a story. The central figure -- not a hero exactly -- is Trikz, an up and coming street racer with a huge garage full of cars. His rival Lidell doesn't like that, and Trikz comes home one day to find all his possessions gone. So begins a street-inflected quest to regain the stolen cars and put Lidell in his place.

In truth, the game's central figure is really a solid rendition of Los Angeles. Though there isn't as much to do as in a GTA release and it's hardly realistic, this L.A. can be fun to drive, and serves well for the basic type of racing Rush relies upon. There's no ultra-high flying air in the old Rush style, but some of these jumps are close enough. The biggest complaint is that players will find far too many low walls and curbs to get hung up on.

To retrieve their cars, players have to wait for a friend to track each ride down, after which ensues a snatch and grab. In the meantime, there are street races and other events to enter which offer cash rewards. Most events will require an entry fee, too. This quickly breaks the system.

There's a lot of cash to be won, but it only plays two roles. One use for money is to upgrade cars at West Coast Customs, which does result in some pretty cool looking rides, even if they're not as hot as what's in Midnight Club 3. The other is to fix up recovered cars. See, Lidell's got a street team that's as aggressive as a starving pitbull, and it's rare that you'll be able to return home with an intact car. His men will batter your ride to pieces.

And that's where LA Rush starts to get muddled. In every other instance, cars take damage but there's no penalty or need to pay for repairs. Why create one instance where money is a factor, but not carry it through the game? Especially since a really bad run home with a car can empty the bank account, forcing players to replay old street races to build more cash. Not fun, and when there's a whole open city to explore, there's no need to force players to relive content unless they want to.

As in GTA, players have to worry about the cops, who often seem to roam this version of LA in packs. There's a five-star alert system, but it could just as well be a single star, since the wanted level frequently goes from one to five stars in seconds. In fact, the implementation of police forces seems very arbitrary as a whole; there isn't the sense that players are facing a smart, concerted effort from the cops. Instead, they're just another bunch of really aggressive guys in fast cars, only with sirens. And they are everywhere.