L.A. Rush

Format Xbox

Developer Midway

Publisher Midway

Genre Racing / Driving

Burnout 3 has a lot to answer for. It's redefined the genre, encouraging everything from the Need For Speed franchise to, erm, 187 Ride or Die to trade in brain-power for bling. Who needs the racing line these days?

Certainly not LA Rush, the latest in a long, long line of urban racers screeching this way at the moment. First impressions? It looks pretty smart, actually. Imagine if all the participants of Pimp My Ride got together and tested their daft machines on the streets of LA for a laugh - this is what it would look like. As a member of the 'cru' at a LA Chop Shop (like a fancy Kwik Fit), LA Rush will be yet another urban racer where you can drive licensed cars customised to fit into whatever category you want to race them in.

And you won't just be racing through five massive sections of LA either - with driving off jumps, along rooftops and through billboards also on the cards, we're pretty sure the rush in question is an airborne one. You're very much encouraged to take the high road - succeed in safely driving your car off a cliff, say, and you'll be rewarded with bonuses and upgrades.

It may not have the background pedigree of Burnout, nor the sheer commercial impact the deluge of NFS games have had, but with its sights set firmly to the sky and a whole garage of upgrades ready to tinker with, LA Rush could well be making a name for itself.

Official Xbox Magazine staff