Xbox Live Tactics

Imagine sightseeing in Washington D.C. and Paris: The monuments … the museums … the "ooohs" and "ahhhs" from the group as the tour guide points out where that famous guy lived. Booooring! If you're going to visit Paris and Washington, do it the right way—careening around corners at 150 mph while sending frightened pedestrians scampering for their lives. Do your sightseeing while realizing your high rpm fantasies in the ultra-realistic environments ofMidtown Madness 3. The big city can be a scary place, though, as your mother will tell you, especially with all the frightening talent on Xbox Live. But there's nothing to fear but fear itself!

Become a Local
How many times have you had the gold, thought you were making a clean getaway, and suddenly found yourself staring at a dead end? Doh! Should have read that map more closely. This illustrates an important point. Map reading on-the-fly will only get you so far. To be a Midtownmaniac, you must know all the great places to hide, all the subway entrances, all the parking garage locations, all the rooftop hideouts, all the crazy jumps. You can spend your time offline looking for these places, but it's way more fun to go online and join a Cruise mode match. You can usually find someone who not only knows all the cool spots but is also willing to show you. It's a great way to really get to know the cities while talking smack with other players.

Go Camping
The object of many of these games is to stay away from anyone not on your team. That's important to understand. Just because you're driving a Viper, don't think max speed always leads to victory. Many of the game modes adjust the speed of the hunters and prey so a high-velocity chase won't always cut it. Look for a great hiding spot instead. The map is great for pinpointing your approximate location, but it doesn't tell hunters anything about elevation. Find a rooftop or parking garage to camp out for a bit. It will take hunters a while to figure out just where you are, but by that time, you can just launch yourself off the opposite side leaving them scratching their pointy heads.

A Behemoth's Secret Weapon
Okay, so the host has limited vehicle selection of the big boys—the fire engine, buses, big rigs, etc. You just smashed into the gold carrier, and now the prize is yours. But you are painfully aware that those big rigs accelerate like oil tankers. They accelerate like crazy in reverse, though. Hmm. Maybe you can use that to your advantage in a pinch ….

Playing Chicken
You often find yourself staring down the barrel of a potentially earth-shattering head-on collision with the gold/rabbit carrier headed right at you. But nine out of ten times your opponent fakes you out of your shorts, sending you plowing thru the tables and chairs of the local café as the carrier makes a clean getaway. You can't do much if the road is open because your fellow chicken can just tear off onto the grass, but if there are buildings on either side of the road, you may have a fighting chance. First, stay in the middle of the road. You won't have to make a huge adjustment if the other car goes left or right. If they drift one way, slowly angle your car in that direction, but don't overdo it. You still have to watch for the "pump fake." As your opposing poultry gets closer, pull the handbrake and swing your tail around to create a moving roadblock. Opponents must work quickly to avoid the suddenly larger obstacle.

Be a Good Host
Winning is only half the enjoyment of Midtown Madness. Most of the online fun starts when you join a creative host's game. Realize that fast cars don't always make for a fun game. When hosting, try using all of the options at your disposal. A lot of the best gametypes are those created by gamers like you. So when Capture the Gold has lost its luster and you feel like a tired greyhound while chasing that rabbit, try something new. Don't have any ideas? Here's a sampling of some of the great user-made game types we've seen. And these are just the tip of the iceberg. Let your imagination run wild! Design your own madness.

Midtown Soccer: Yes, soccer! Find the soccer field in southwest D.C. near the Vietnam War Memorial. There's a huge soccer ball on the field and two goals. Maneuverable cars will be able to "handle" the ball better, but there's something hysterical about watching a grudge match between cement mixers and garbage trucks. If the huge trucks are too much for the light soccer ball, substitute a small car for the ball.

Rooftop Madness: Invite everyone to meet at the Hotel Des Inval in central Paris. On the eastern side of the hotel is a ramp allowing access to the roof. After everyone is up there, let the mayhem begin. Try playing king of the hill, where you try to knock everyone else off the roof. Or, if you have serious skills, jump to the second rooftop via the jump on the main roof. Have other players attempt to knock you off by hitting that same jump.

Midtown Hideouts: Set up a game of Hunter, but establish a home base that's off limits to the police car. Pick a popular spot that everyone knows. After the survivors make it to the base, try to make it to another location untouched, and so on.