In circuit races the player races along a circuit course through the city for a set number of laps. In ordered races the player races through the city on a course marked by yellow-orange flares to reach a finish line.

There are five types of races in the game: Ordered Race, Circuit Race, Unordered Race, Autocross Race, Track and Frenzy. The cars are divided into four classes: D, C, B and A, depending on their performance. These options include enhancing the performance, adding vinyls and new paint jobs, and physically modifying the car by changing parts such as wheels, bumpers, spoilers, neon, hoods, and engine components. By winning races, the player unlocks new cars and options to customize them with. Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition is an open world racing video game and the first game in the series to include car modification, both visual and performance. Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition is the first game in the series to feature licensed vehicles. Other than modifying the external looks, the vehicle's performance can also be improved (with the exception of all 'A' Class vehicles except motorcycles). There is also the ability to customize a player's vehicle. The game features a number of graphical views after the player crashes into certain objects, or travels across particular stretches of road.

Players race through open world recreations of San Diego, Atlanta, and Detroit listening to 98 (124 in the Remix version) licensed music tracks that include hip hop, rock, and other genres. The name is derived from a partnership between Rockstar and DUB Magazine, which features heavily in the game in the form of DUB-sponsored races and DUB-customized vehicles as prizes.

Like previous installments in the series, the game is an arcade-style racer and focuses on wild, high-speed racing, rather than realistic physics and driving. It is the third installment in the Midnight Club series. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition is a racing video game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games.

Midnight club 3 maps