What makes a “Monster Truck” truly a monster truck? Is it enough to simply slap some massive tires onto a souped-up frame and go crush some cars? Does it require a custom-built tubular frame and a hot-rodded engine before a truck is truly monstrous? Is it the province of Feld Entertainment (owners of the Monster Jam brand) to determine what is or is not a monster truck? Why do any of these questions matter? Because despite a preponderance of “monster truck” racing games dating back to the 1996’s Monster Truck Madness, Monster Truck Championship makes the bold claim of being the very first monster truck driving simulator. To further muddy the waters, the game features no licensed Monster Jam trucks, although there a certainly a number of near look-alikes playable in the game. In many ways, this is the “monster trucks at home” part of the “Mom can we have…” meme.
Freestyle stunts are the highlight of the game’s limited event choices.
The Gameplay
Store brand monster trucks or not, Monster Truck Championship does make an effort to be an engaging sim. Like most of publisher Nacon’s other racing simulation titles, the game features a career mode, quick play races, and multiplayer (assuming that someone else is available to play the game). The meat of the game is in the career mode, where players take on the challenge of managing a team and working their way from the National (rookie) League to the top of the Major League circuit. Each circuit features a number of different events, with each event comprising between two to five stages. The stages are different events, which include Drag Racing, Freestyle, Destruction (Freestyle with extra obstacles to demolish), and straight-up eight-truck circuit racing.
Of the four options, Freestyle and Destruction are clearly the hands-down winners for the most fun. Despite some difficulty in managing the fine control required to execute some tricks, launching a massive Gravedigger look-alike off a huge jump and triggering a set piece of fireworks never gets old. Likewise, smashing through trailers and outhouses makes for a hilarious fun time, time after time.
Stadiums look suitably gorgeous
Gameplay Downfalls
Unfortunately, the game falls down in the other two modes. Drag Racing isn’t bad, but a head-to-head race with a turn or two that takes less than twenty seconds to complete isn’t exciting. Repeating the race four times (because the event is in an eight-truck bracket format) does not improve the experience. The actual races are even worse. Tearing around a custom-designed track in a herd of monsters should be the highlight of the game. However, the game’s poor AI tends to cause trucks to crash into each other quite a lot. Most races devolve into a sprint to try and get the lead by the end of the first lap, then trying to avoid a major crash until the race is over. Even The Crew 2, which only featured monster trucks as one of its many vehicle types, did these races better. Races also lack a replay feature, an unfortunate omission for anyone wanting to see a re-run of some late lap heroics, or a particularly impressive Freestyle run.
Graphics
In-game graphics are pretty enough. Certainly, up to the general standards of Xbox One/PS4 games, but nothing especially outstanding. Performance is acceptable, with some scenery pop-ins on some of the racing venues, but since most of the events are in pre-loaded stadiums, this tends to be an issue limited to racing.
Driving views include the standard 3rd-person views, a front bumper cam, and a cool, if nearly useless, cockpit view.
Sound
The sound design seems to be an area where the developer should have invested additional resources. While the truck engine noises sound great, the same dull thud landing noise plays every time a truck hits the ground. Announcer banter is limited to a slim set of phrases, and the soundtrack generically fades into the background.
Verdict
In a world where licensed Monster Jam games didn’t exist, Monster Truck Championship would probably reign supreme. Despite its flaws, it’s an engaging attempt at an under-served racing segment, and it features full racing wheel support. However, other, better titles do exist, leaving this game looking like a bag of “Tasty Os” cereal that’s been unceremoniously dumped next to the boxes of Cheerios in the cereal aisle. It’s not bad, but there are better racing titles on which to expend ten or fifteen single-player hours.
A Steam copy of Monster Truck Championship was provided by the publisher for review.
