Rush

We also enjoyed the new and highly addictive Cruise races, which have you careening non-stop through crowded streets at a minimum speed, weaving to avoiding accidents and slow-downs while trying to safely get through waypoints. Also much funner, uh, we mean, more fun than simple street racing is the Battle Arena multiplayer mode, which includes explosive weapons.

Regardless of the mode, each of 55 officially licensed and Midway created vehicles looks great and moves well while dodging traffic, drifting around corners (even sliding under some semi trailers) and kicking in the occasional nitro boost. We especially love zipping around in Midway's Batmobile-esque concept cars and crushing traffic with the H2 Hummer.

We don't quite understand why rear bumpers get dented after front-end collisions but appreciate the complimentary repairs to the cosmetic damages.

The environments look pretty good and most elements are pleasingly destructible. All the trees have unexplainable magic anti-vehicle repellant that makes them impossible to even hit - yet, metal light posts, concrete stairs and even an entire Ferris wheel snap like toothpicks. Maybe trees simply grow uber-strong in the L.A. smog.

L.A. cops might be tough, but we didn't realize they can even issue fines while your vehicle is still moving. Again, must be something in the air. We do appreciate that all police vehicles are highlighted on the HUD's mini map and that user-selected destinations come with dynamically marked routes, both features that save a bit of time and hassle.