Hot Rod Hustle To The Starting Line

Do you remember Motor City Online?

No?

Don’t worry, most people don’t.  It was a unique MMO from EA released in 2001 that discarded the usual mages and fighters you normally see online in favor of American muscle cars.  Players could hoon around in their customized cars finding other people to race for prize money and bragging rights.  The game was officially shut down in 2003, but not before it attracted a small but dedicated following.

Over a decade later a small team of MCO fans are looking to bring back the glory days of online racing and tuning with Hot Rod Hustle.  As with MCO, in Hot Rod Hustle players will receive a car that they must take from jalopy to dreamboat by paying for a variety of upgrades.  Money can be had via racing for cash, racing for pinks, or even taking on part time jobs that bear more than a passing resemblance to some classic arcade titles.  Unlike MCO, Hot Rod Hustle will let you deal with real cash, or BitCoin, to fund your car habit, as well as put on the line when racing.  There’s also cross platform play, an actual storyline, and the possibility for car auctions and player controlled gangs.

While some of the gameplay shown in the Hot Rod Hustle funding video looks a little rough at the moment, there are some moments of greatness; it’s easy to see what they’re going for.  And the 2D non-racing art direction?  It looks like it does a fantastic job of setting the mood for a lawless world full of burning rubber and broken egos.

Head over to the Hot Rod Hustle Kickstarter page to learn more, then decide if you’d like to contribute to their modest $23,000 goal.  Just make sure you do it before February 13^th.