"Motor City Online" is an online racing sim, sure to keep racing fans addicted. This game brings together racing, building a car, and a community of fans with one game. There is a $9.95 USD monthly fee. But you get a trial month free to test it out. "Motor City Online" will keep you busy trying to trade for parts, earn points to get to the next level, and driving your favorite car around the track.

Gameplay
One of the first things you'll do is create a persona for yourself. You pick the clothes (even the colors), your license plate number, and your personality. You'll also get to pick a car. You'll only have three choices at first, but once you get to the game you can buy or trade for a new car. Although you probably won't be able to do this right away, because no one is going to want to trade for your car, and you won't really have enough money to buy a better car.

You can visit the garage to get your car fixed up and painted. You can choose a repair all choice that makes fixing your car very easy. You'll get an estimate of course. So if its too much, you can pick and choose what you want fixed.

The racing areas are very cool. With each race that you finish by the qualifying time, you gain points towards the next level. (Everyone starts out at level one as a newbie.) You'll also get cash. But unless you get in the top three, it isn't very much. With each level that you pass, more racetracks open up to you. So the higher the level you are at, the cooler the race tracks. However, it is important to note that it takes time to get to the coolest tracks. There are 24 tracks and four racing modes including Circuit Racing, Time Trials, Drag Racing, and Street Racing. You can race with your own car, or pick a car in a sponsored race.

There are over 60 cars from the 1930s to the 1970s for you to try out. There are plans to include more cars in the game. Some of the models are - Mustang, Camaro, and Bel-Air. Since you'll need to replace some of the parts in your car because they are wearing out, or you just want something better, the game comes with over 2,000 parts.

The sponsored races are the smartest ones to race. You get to pick a good car and try to make the qualifying time. With the choices you have for cars in the beginning, its difficult to meet the qualifying time, because the car just isn't as powerful. Another problem with racing others with a different connection then you is, that cars will seem like they are behind you, and they end up winning the race; because of the time lag. This can be very frustrating, especially when you think are actually doing well.

Graphics
If you like your games to have awesome graphics, you'll like this one. The graphics are much better than I expected. For once, the actually game lives up to the preview screenshots. Like many games, you'll need a decent graphics card to fully enjoy them. Also, the mouse is slow moving across the main interface.
Screenshots

Sound
"Motor City Online" has awesome sound. The cars sound very realistic. The background music is your choice of an oldies radio station. You can easily "flip" through channels to find which one you like best. Or you can use one of your audio cds, which is a very good option. Being stuck with awful background music can ruin the gaming experience.

Conclusion
Okay, I know we are all a bit reluctant to buy games that are completely online, because of the return policy of many stores. But, if you like racing and building cars (trust me you really don't need to know anything about building cars, after all I can do it), then you may want to try this. The graphics are awesome, the community aspect is fun, and you get to race with some really cool cars. This game is well worth the monthly fee. And yes, you will need a credit card, or check card, to play this game. You will need to have a really steady, fast internet connection to enjoy the game. If your dial up service is really slow or likes to disconnect you a lot, you won't be able to fully enjoy the game.

This is a game of skill. It'll take time and practice to open up the new levels and to compete with high ranking players. So if you are looking for a game that you won't defeat in the first 100 hours, "Motor City Online" would be a good route to go.

Minuium System Requirements

• Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP
• 28.8 Kbps or faster internet connection
• Web Browser
• 350 MHz Intel Pentium II or AMD K6-2 processor
• 64 MB RAM
• 4x CD-ROM
• 800 MB free disk space
• DirectX 8.0a
• 8 MB Direct 3D capable video card with DirectX 8.0a compatible driver
• DirectX 8.0a compatible sound card
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Joystick or Gamepad recommended