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Review: Pimp (and race) your ride in 'L.A. Rush'By Sid Lipsey  The cars in "L.A. Rush" are incredibly detailed and lifelike. RELATED
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- Rides are pimped, swiped, side-swiped and pimped again in Midway's new racing game, "L.A. Rush." You play a rich and successful street racer, Trikz Lane, who has not just one of his pimped rides stolen from him, but 30. Trikz has somehow earned the wrath of Lidell Ray, a local kingpin whose plan to take over the underground street racing scene includes swiping Trikz's wealth and all of his prized cars. Trikz's mission is to re-enter that underground scene and win enough races, street cred and cash to get back the cars and get back at Lidell. Helping Trikz's mission is the gang at West Coast Customs, the real-life California auto customization shop that does the car makeovers on MTV's popular "Pimp My Ride." As Trikz acquires cars and wins cash, you can pull into a West Coast Customs shop to have your car outfitted with spoilers, stabilizers and other aftermarket racing accoutrements. The West Coast Customs guys you've seen on MTV -- Ryan, Big Dane, Mad Mike, Q, Ish and Alex -- all play themselves in the game. But the real action in "L.A. Rush" comes from rushing through L.A. as you burn mad rubber with no regard for traffic, pedestrians or police. The game features an open-ended recreation of Los Angeles that takes you through the incredibly detailed streets and freeways of Hollywood, Santa Monica, Mulholland Drive, Beverly Hills, Compton, and Long Beach, among others. The cars you drive are incredibly detailed and lifelike as well -- classics like the `64 Chevrolet Impala and the `69 Dodge Charger, or modern machines like the Mitsubishi Eclipse and the Hummer, all make appearances in this game. If you've played a racing video game before, it'll take you no time to get accustomed to "L.A. Rush." Problem is, if you have played a racing video game before, "L.A. Rush" may not offer much that you haven't seen before. The race sequences, though exciting enough, still follow a predictable pattern: race three or four other cars through the streets, acquire speed-enhancing nitro-boosts on the way, and try not to hit any walls or innocent motorists. But don't worry if you do; the crash sequences in "L.A. Rush" are loads of smash-up fun. If you crash into something at top-speed, the screen shot switches to a wide 3-D view that renders the ensuing wreck in meticulous detail. These crash sequences are so delightfully over-the-top, they look like the slow-motion pileups you used to see on the TV cop show "CHiPs." Of course, you can opt out of the storyline and just cruise through Los Angeles while you enjoy the game's hip-hop heavy music soundtrack (which features the likes of rappers Chingy and Twista, who plays himself in the game) and, as 2Pac once said, "serenade the streets of L.A." Because in "L.A. Rush," as in real driving, there's a real rush in not rushing -- especially when your ride is properly pimped. "L.A. Rush" is available for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 and retails for $49.99. 
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