Electronic Arts' push for multiplayer games at this year's E3 was evident, as the company showed no fewer than four major games with a primary focus on multiplayer. EA's Motor City Online certainly isn't the first driving game to have a multiplayer mode, but it's the first driving game that attempts to build an entire community around the prospect of online racing. We were given a chance to look at and briefly play Motor City Online, and it's clear that the developers want to ensure that every possible aspect of an online driving community is covered.

　　Motor City Online's main interface has been designed intentionally to look like a web page, so that people familiar with traversing the Internet will be able to jump right in and explore some of the game's features. On the left side of the screen, you'll see what your online persona looks like, and other details like how much cash you currently have. The middle of the screen is occupied by an image of your current car, and again, underneath it there's all kinds of information about your car like its power and handling abilities as well as how good its aerodynamics are. While the car shown to us in the demonstration was quite nice, you don't actually start out with a nice car, but rather an older car that's still capable of winning races against newer drivers, but wouldn't stand a chance against Motor City Online veterans.

　　The main interface is also where you'll do your car shopping, though there are actually a few different ways to buy a car in Motor City Online. You can go to one of the car shops and buy a car that falls within your price range, which will be very low at the beginning of the game. Buying a shop car is quick and easy. If you're feeling a little more adventurous, you can try to buy a car from one of the auction lots. Whenever you enter an auction area, the lower portion of the main screen changes into something like eBay where bid information displays the people bidding, the number of bids, how much time is left on the auction, and other details. Like in eBay, some players will try to outbid you in the closing moments, so it's a good idea to keep a close watch over the auction screens. There's one special auction house in Motor City Online named Righteous Rides, which will occasionally auction rare cars that are available no where else in the game. It's also possible, and necessary, to buy car parts at some of these stores or auction houses. There are 1,000 different parts in Motor City Online, and it's actually possible for you to make most of your money by simply staying in the parts business. One way to get parts other than buying them specifically is to buy a car and decide whether or not you want to keep it, or scrap it for its parts.

　　As for actual gameplay, there are three different types of racing in Motor City Online--drag racing, street racing, and oval racing. The previously mentioned stunt-racing feature in Motor City Online has been put on the backburner and may come out at a later date as expansion of some sort. All of the modes are straightforward, but there's always an extra amount of tension in these races, particularly if you're racing for pink slips. We actually took one of the cars out for a spin on an oval track, and it only took a few seconds to become familiar with the controls and the overall flow of the race. There are some variants on these standard racing modes such as the sponsored oval tracks, which essentially let you participate in a race without having to worry about spending money on repairs. But the downside is that you don't actually make any money on the race either.

　　The club system is probably Motor City Online's biggest feature because it not only enhances the community aspects of the game, but it also increases the importance of new drivers. Basically, every track in Motor City Online is a piece of turf that's controlled by one club. The club leader receives a bonus for the size of the club, which encourages leaders to recruit new players, in order to increase their own bonus. If a leader doesn't recruit any new members, then the bonus doesn't get any larger--it's as simple as that. Being in a club as a new driver presents an opportunity to become familiar with the game and race against players with similar driving abilities and cars, assuming that leaders wouldn't let new drivers participate in some of the more important races. Every week, there are turf wars to determine who gets to control a particular track and have their club name placed on top of the lobby for that track.

　　The developers of Motor City Online have basically covered every aspect of building an online driving community. The level of car customization is incredibly high, the club system sounds like fun, and the driving is easy to get into. While the development team has tried to make more additions in other areas, such as increasing the amount of drivers on one track from four, they've found that pushing the game too far may make the overall experience poor for those with lower end machines. The Motor City Online beta kicks off next week, and the final release is currently scheduled for winter.