Fans of DUB Magazine will have already picked up their copy of Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition for their love of the brand, but let me say for the record that Midnight Club 3 needs DUB about as much as I need a date with Lady Saw. That came out wrong, I think. What I mean is that those of us who came home years ago with Midnight Club on our PS2 knew that we were dealing with a bad-ass racer. In that way nothing has changed, but the rich look of this puppy in such a small package along with the great DUB brand and a music mix that defies the imagination makes this the ultimate Midnight Club package, in my opinion.

Three cities are packed in, with scenes you'll recognize from Detroit, Atlanta and San Diego, if you live there. The size of each city is mind-blowing, and although the visuals aren't as refined as their large-platform counterparts, the cities don't seem any smaller. The way you can customize each vehicle also seems infinite sometimes, with color changes possible for everything from exhaust pipes to window tint. Licensed brands for decals, parts and body kits make Midnight Club 3 ultra-realistic, not to mention increasing appeal for folks who covet these upgrades or actually have them on a ride. The variety of music is ridiculous, as in eleven-pages-of-credits ridiculous! Some entire game manuals aren't that long... There are good jukebox features and the ability to skip songs, so you can really customize the music as much as the look of your cars.

Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition has as much in common with the ordinary racer as a Swiss army knife has to that thing you spread butter with at yo momma's house! You pick it up and start playing and when you think you have it wired, you realize that you are still driving the first car in the first city. Three cities, sixty cars, and a mix of parts that could keep even a mechanic busy will give DUB fans a virtual playground. Of course, all that customization doesn't come for free. You have to earn it.

Starting off the game in Quick Race is an easy way to get a taste of the action, but Arcade is where you start to feel some of the depth in Midnight Club 3. The Autocross game is great, with all the technical driving that those snooty Euro types enjoy, but on some US asphalt. Solo or against competitors, this is a test of skill, pure and simple. The Paint and Capture the Flag games are best played against other racers, especially when you can grab power-ups and dominate the track by hook or crook. Yes, icing the road or turning invisible would be considered crooked, don't you think? There is a Free Ride or Cruise option as well, if you want to explore without the pressure of a time-clock. Or, network wirelessly with up to six others for the ultimate competitive experience.

For most, Career Mode is the heart and soul of the Midnight Club experience. Think Final Fantasy on wheels for customization and Tekken for the 'take no prisoners' attitude you adopt when all that matters is beating the snot out of the other guy. Racing through the city, you take on a variety of different competitors, in standard race events or those with special conditions. Standard circuit races and tournaments are mixed in with fun 'frenzy' and 'tag' races. In these, you race for points by hitting checkpoints and either dodging traffic or trying to stay close to the 'IT' car. The goal ultimately for Career is to pimp a ride and compete in races that earn you scrilla enough to pimp out more rides and build up a garage. Cars are expensive, but certain races will actually score you a new ride. Always my preference to beat some guy and win his car, rather than spend my hard-earned money. Besides, I'd rather save my money for wheels, rims and body kits.

Opening up new vehicles, parts and even cities comes mostly from racing, but there are other extras. Discovering hidden items in each city will earn bonuses, as will racing certain types of vehicles repeatedly. Various car clubs have skills they can teach you, opening up the possibility of special abilities you use when you race their type of car. But first, you have to beat them.

There is a nice learning curve here that allows you to race in the early stages without getting it handed to you too many times. Now, that said, the competition is stiff. Rarely do you ace an event the first time, unless you reach that magical point where you over-customized. I always pumped my winnings into the car I was driving at the time, going for performance over pretty until I found I was winning more races. It's possible to repeat races, so it's not like you have this locked-in path you must follow. Flexibility and a very non-linear approach means you don't feel trapped and over your head. Coming in number two or three isn't always a big issue as you learn the controls, but making it to first place gets harder and harder. Especially since the other racers are vicious contenders! One of the more interesting strategic elements of Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition is the slipstream turbo, where the racers behind you fill their turbo meter by drafting. It's a great feature when you are behind a racer, but when you are in front, you constantly worry about giving somebody a turbo. There is nothing worse than leading for a few laps, then watching somebody kick your ass in the last few miles by getting a free turbo from behind you.

The analog control is a must for any racing game, and Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition adds a few neat features hinged to the shoulder buttons. Weight transfer is something you might expect to see in a rally racer or maybe motocross, but it works great for street racing. The real trick is going up on two wheels, good for getting into tight spaces and also avoiding the slipstream turbo trick mentioned before. But, learning to drive on two wheels has its challenges. Otherwise, the driving component is pretty straightforward. The garage is another story.

What I like most about the garage is how clearly it shows what each performance part will do to your ride. And, the body shop parts are also reflected in real time as you add them, which is a nice touch. Not all the parts are available at first, of course. The worst thing about garage and the entire game is the length of time Midnight Club 3 loads between races, garage screens and really any part of the game that doesn't involve cruising around. I'm not usually bothered by loading screens, but loading doesn't usually take this long. Loading really takes some of the fun out, because you just have to wait so damn long to do anything before or after you race.

The prize money from racing corresponds to cost for each part in the garage, but there are some freebies as well like color and some decals. The best design element, for me, is the custom license plate. You can actually do a vanity plate, which is awesome, and you can choose from each of the states, sometimes across more than one state design style. All of this design caps off a great package that drives as nice as it looks. It would be hard to pin down why someone wouldn't love driving all these licensed cars in massive city environments against good AI competition or six friends. If you like racing games, you owe it to yourself to try this out, and unless the loading gets you down too much, I predict you'll spend many, many hours cracking open all the special features in Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition.