Monster Jam was actually released late last year in America and has only just landed on Australian shores, so if anything the game has certainly taken its time in getting to Australia. In fact, so much time has passed that Activision has already announced plans for a sequel, which will be released towards the end of the year. For those who are unfamiliar with the game, Monster Jam (like the popular events) is a racing game.
The game is unique on the Wii in that the controls are a little bit different. The game doesn't utilise the Wii nunchuk at all and is played entirely with the Wii Remote flipped sideways, much like Excitetruck. The 2 button is used to accelerate, 1 is used to brake and the directional pad is used for boosting and looking behind; steering is done by tilting the Wii remote left and right.
Now we know the exact reason that teenagers now need to wear Green P's. That drive should be restricted.
We have launched straight into the controls for two reasons. Firstly because it means Monster Jam is quite a different title on the Wii and secondly because the controls are where we had the most issues with the game. We're happy enough with accelerating with 2 and braking with 1, but controlling the monster trucks with the Wii Remote sideways gave us a lot of trouble. Several other Wii Racing games include this kind of controller support and we have no issues with it, but with Monster Jam we had a great deal of difficulty actually keeping control of the monster trucks. It was like we were picking up the Wii remote for the very first time. This isn't to say we didn't get used to the controls, as after a few hours we had adjusted - it just didn't feel very natural at all.
Those who are looking for value will be happy to know that Monster Jam includes quite a few gameplay options. The main single player mode is the championship mode. The championship mode takes players throughout the Monster Jam World Finals. As races are won, more and more events are unlocked. As events are won they can also be replayed at any time. The championship mode is surprisingly solid and should last players quite awhile. The game also includes a single event option, for those who want to just have a quick race. The single event option features quite a few options, such as eliminator, circuit, freestyle, stadium racing, stadium circuit, time trial and cross country.
Hey Boris, we've got another grave here for you to dig up mate, drive in slowly.
Graphically, Monster Jam looks only mediocre. While some of the track designs are decent and the game does feature damage, it doesn't look to us like the Wii is being pushed by Monster Jam, however we did encounter some frame rate drops occasionally, which was a little bit worrying. The AI is also not entirely up to scratch, the trucks have a tendency to bunch up and even if you're not paying full attention to the game and only start 'trying' in the last lap you'll have a pretty good chance at winning. One of the more questionable game development decisions is the decision made to omit a map from the heads up display. Now, we understand Torus probably wanted to hide some of the shortcuts, but the main course could have at least been mapped out, at least then there could have been a bit of strategy to the braking and accelerating. At times when the pace gets frenetic we also would have appreciated a map, just to make sure we were headed in the right direction. The soundtrack is okay, the music suits the game well but does become repetitive, but the engine noises aren't anything spectacular at all.
Monster Jam also includes a few unlockables. Monster Points are awarded as you perform stunts and these points will unlock monster trucks, as well as videos of monster trucks. In fact, the game does have a decent amount of content in it, with twenty monster trucks, nine stadium racing tracks, nine stadium freestyle events, twelve outdoor circuit tracks and multiplayer. Unfortunately the game doesn't include online multiplayer, but does support split screen multiplayer for up to four players, which is a solid inclusion.
We just want to know why they didn't go around all of the rubble and then get a nice clean getaway. We guess the screenshot wouldn't have been nearly as good then.
Monster Jam isn't an overly bad game, it's just not a game that actually stands out. It can be a bit of fun driving around smashing into objects and racking up points, but the game also contains quite a few flaws that will frustrate players. With a sequel on the way only the most die hard of Monster Jam fans should even consider picking this game up. Sure, Monster Jam is available at a budget price point, but we did wait nearly six months for the game to make it to our shores and no improvements were made in the meantime.
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