Now, before this review really begins, it must be said that MM3’s single player game is not the best that has ever been in the world of wonton vehicular mayhem. Indeed, as far as crash-and-bash car games go, MM3 is simply passable, and were that all there was to it, this review could be wrapped up with a mere few paragraphs that would peak with the extraordinarily detailed cityscapes you can tear apart to your heart’s content, and bottom out with the meager gameplay modes that reek of been-there-done-that. But no, that isn’t all there is to MM3. Not by a long shot. To help buoy up a game that might have been just "okay", DICE has given us a multiplayer game that shines so brightly you’ll need a welder’s mask to protect yourself from the glare. And not just your average split screen or Xbox Link, either. No, not satisfied to offer the usual multiplayer suspects, DICE has created a piece of electronic nirvana in their Xbox Live online modes. Yes, it is that good. But, before we delve into that dessert, let’s get the meat and potatoes single player dinner out of the way.

Simply put, MM3’s solo game brings very little new to the table. Split between a lackluster Undercover mode and a Single Race mode, if you’ve played more than one game of this type you know what you’re in for. Undercover is your career game, where you play as a covert detective type in both Paris and Washington D.C. that has to blast through a series of missions all strung together by a flimsy and often juvenile storyline, and some of those missions are difficult beyond belief. Single Race is broken up into Blitz, Checkpoint, and Cruise. Blitz sees you racing through the two cities in a desperate effort to get from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible, passing through a series of marked areas in any pattern you like so long as you make it to the endpoint under the time allowed. Checkpoint is much the same, but now you’re racing against several computer controlled opponents, each of whom drive with different techniques, and often in different patterns through the markers. Cruise is, as you’d imagine, a pure free-for-all in the city of your choice. There are no time limits, no checkpoints, and the amount of traffic you encounter and the type of weather, not to mention time of day and season of year, are completely controlled by you. If you’ve ever wanted to take a sightseeing tour through Paris or Washington D.C., this is your chance.

The cars that you can drive are an eclectic mix, ranging from the tiny LFE and Mini Cooper, up through Lotus and classic Mustang hatchbacks, right up to armored trucks and 18-wheelers. You start the single player game with a limited selection of vehicles, as you would expect, and you unlock others by completing the Undercover missions and Single Race tracks. There are a total of 34 vehicles, with two of them secret and only reachable once you’d completed the game and gotten the fastest car of the lot. Most of the cars also have unlockable paint jobs that are found sprinkled throughout the cities. Some are easy to reach, and some require the patience of Job and the skills of a gaming virtuoso to attain.

In multiplayer game modes, all of the cars, save for the two that are hidden, are available for play, whether or not they were unlocked in the single player game. So, regardless of what you've completed, if you want to test out that Lotus and see how she handles, feel free. Just know that you won't be fooling anyone when they see you driving without a custom paint job, which are like badges of accomplishment, and can only be gotten once you've unlocked the car and sought them out high and low.

Luckily, you’ve got some great physics to assist you in assuming your role of daredevil driver. Each car handles in a very convincing manner, with the lighter cars zipping around corners and bouncing across open ground, while the big bruisers chug and slug through the towns like bulls on a bender. Collision detection is, for the most part, very spot on, with every curb and light pole a hazard, though occasionally it does draw you out of the experience when it does something like allow you to plow right through a tree without a bump or a dent to mark your passing. But, on the whole, MM3 offers a fun and entertaining romp through two cities that most in the world will never see with their own eyes.

The cars and the cities you drive them in are very pleasing to the eye, though not extraordinarily so. Car models are pleasantly detailed, the urban environments look authentic, and the frame rate is solid. Not every inch of the two cities is exactly as they are in the real world, obviously, but there are enough well rendered landmarks and buildings that you would barely know the difference. Paris under Winter’s snowy cloak is incredibly charming, and seeing Washington’s trademark cherry blossoms blooming in the Spring should put a smile on your face. The cars also damage well, and during your hectic travels you’ll see all of them in every stage of duress.

The sound department is also pretty solid. Each car sounds unique, and the noise of the cities is enough that if you closed your eyes you’d almost believe you really were jetting past mimes and moms with inches to spare. The music is okay, though you can load up your own tracks from the Xbox hard disk. The only drawback as far as sound goes is the voice acting for the Undercover game. Simply put, it’s bad and so clichéd that it boarders on distasteful. Why they chose to be so stereotypical in their portrayals is a mystery.

But, now that we’ve gotten all that out of the way, let’s dive straight to the good stuff: Multiplayer. Of the three different multiplayer modes, only System Link and Online are really worth it. Split screen is okay, and it does the job if that’s all you have, but real joy can only be found when you have the screen all to yourself. System Link lets you link up to 8 Xboxes together, and Xbox Live opens you up the rest of the world. Really, this is the game that Xbox Live was made for.

Multiplayer game modes consist of Cruise, Checkpoint (both of which are identical to the Single Race modes), Capture The Gold (just like Capture The Flag from every FPS game under the sun, where you have to race over the gold and then ferry it toward your stash area without being hit), Tag (someone is “It”, and it’s their job to hit another player before time runs out, to make them “It”), Hunter (one person is the hunter, and it is their job to make everyone else hunters too until only one prey remains), and Stayaway (the opposite of Tag). Each of these modes can be set for players who are new to advanced, and most of them can be played either as individuals or as teams.

All of the modes have an undeniable appeal to them, and when played with others of a comparable level of skill, they are each examples of what online gaming is all about, but Cruise is probably the best example of the bunch. With no restrictions of any kind in place, cruising around the city with a group of friendly yet faceless players can be a great deal of fun, and the free form nature of it invites inventive play. If you want to race, you can setup simple drag races or city-swallowing chases, if you get everyone to the top of a parking garage you can play King Of The Hill, where the last car at the top wins, or you can just show people around, pointing out where paint cans hide in the offline game and where good shortcuts lie. Really, the sky is the limit as to what you can do.

In closing, MM3 is a gem with a few rough faces to it. Offline, the game is ordinary and without much originality to it. Online, though, it is another kettle of fish all together, and there are few games out there that can match it for thrills, chills, and spills. The variety of play is just incredible, and the infrastructure of Xbox Live ensures an almost always rock-solid experience. If you have Xbox Live, you owe it to yourself to pick this title up and give it a whirl. You have to play it to believe it.