As a child, what was your favorite thing to play with? Did you like playing with Dolls/Action Figures, sticks, balls, trading cards, board games, and/or cars? Did you want to be a cop, a race car driver, a soldier, a robber, a housewife, a model, a lawyer, or something else? As a child, I enjoyed crashing cars into each other, driving them around tracks, and launching them off ramps. Although that wasn’t my only hobby, it was something fun to do with my friends in the sandbox, carpet, or Hot Wheels track. Now, Plaion & Milestone looks to give players a fun Monster Jam experience with Monster Jam Showdown.
For the thirty-minute demo, we were taken through three scenarios and given the chance to try different courses and environments. Before we jumped into those courses, we were given the chance to check out the different trucks available. Monster Jam Showdown features a ton of famous monster trucks including Bakugan Dragonoid, El Toro Loco, Megalodon, Grave Digger, and many more; the game features other vehicles that the player can use to have a good time.
Monster Jam Showdown Gameplay Demo
For the demo, we used Bakugan Dragonoid to participate in the three courses. The demo showcased one match in three of the different environments. The three environments showcase and give players reminiscent depictions of “Alaska’s rugged terrain, Colorado’s breathtaking landscapes, and the unforgiving land of Death Valley.” The three challenges we needed to complete were 1. A race against other monster trucks, 2. A race and skill contest against another racer, and then a destruction/trick competition.
In the first race, we went against seven other racers in a race to the finish. Since it was the first race, we got smoked by the competition. Trying to figure out how to control the truck was the hardest part of racing; in order to break, you need to utilize either the front or back breaks. Remembering which button controlled the front or back break made us screw up on multiple occasions.
At one point during the race, I accidentally hit a ramp in a weird way and ended up spinning the truck clockwise and landed a 1080. Despite landing an amazing accidental trick, we only managed to get 6th in the race.
The second challenge was against another racer; originally, I thought it would be racing against a ghost and trying to beat their score/race time. After not flooring it, it turned out it was an actual sprint race. The race went a lot smoother than the multi-truck circuit. We were about to get first place, but crashed a few yards before the finish line and lost.
The final course challenge was a trick competition where we had to combo tricks and destroy environmental obstacles to rack up a score. Despite landing some combos, if we didn’t finish it quickly, one wrong move would flip the truck over. The truck sustaining damage and having it build up made it feel more realistic.
Breaking Preparation & Spawn of Doom
Despite the fun gameplay, the brake control system and the truck respawn system. The two-break system made it hard to navigate, if it was one button and then joystick control it might have been a bit easier. The truck respawn system also had a good bit of issues. On multiple occasions, when we respawned the truck would immediately flip, and then it would be stuck again; this occurred multiple times and lost us a ton of valuable time.
In the skill competition where we had to perform tricks, we got stuck in a one-minute cycle of the truck flipping and then respawning. Once, we stopped trying to gas it out, we were able to get out of the respawn loop. Even with the constant respawn, what we got to experience was neat, but could easily not be for everyone.
Overall, Monster Jam Showdown was a fun experience but it will definitely take a good bit of time to get the hang of things. The game’s environment and graphics look good but they could be overshadowed by some of the issues that we faced while playing.
Monster Jam Showdown is scheduled to be released on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC as of August 29, 2024, with Early Access available from August 26, 2024.
