Monster Jam: Steel Titans (Switch) Review
Release Date (Switch): November 26, 2019 (physical February 4, 2020)
Publisher/Developer: THQ Nordic/Rainbow Studios
Platform: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One
Price: $29.99 Switch Digital, $39.99 physical/others
Having released last summer for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, Monster Jam: Steel Titans roars it’s way onto Nintendo Switch. Whilst being a great arcade action racer for fans of monster trucks, a few design flaws keep me from literally hearing the roar or feeling the thunder. Whilst enjoyable in it’s own right, there are a few little annoyances that I hope the developers iron out in updates before the official physical release in February that according to my research will end up adding another $10 to the title’s cost. (Side note: as my now 13 year old son has loved monster trucks his whole life and has enjoyed my writings, he was ecstatic to add his own opinions to this article.)
Initially, the game dumps you into a core tutorial that teaches you acceleration, brakes, tight cornering, and how to reset your car. You are then dumped into an open world that my son actually loved. Most of the areas you can race in outdoors are linked in some way. It expands as you unlock more areas, and is generally fun to cruise around as you wish. Opening the pause menu allows you to access the career, quickplay, store, and other options. My personal frustration came with the unlocking procedures: after your tutorial your only progression option is a racing career, and forcing you to earn the right to stadium and arena matches. In racing, the circuits are downright annoying: get a hair too far off the road and you are reset, often taking just enough time and resetting behind the rest of the pack. Waypoint racing is far more fun: you have a dot to get to and you get there any way possible. I’ve come back from far behind by balancing risk and reward.
I think that the hardest part of our review boils down to learning that the developers basically have an order they expect you to unlock in and a way to play the game. When I played, I saw the natural progression: level up your truck and go faster to earn more rewards, but when my son played it and you start out with a training truck and one of the low-tier drivers, all he wanted was Grave Digger. Unlocking him takes so many credits he was far behind when he finally got the car he wanted to drive. Also, the AI is dedicated to getting to the finish line at all costs and doesn’t really take you into consideration. I ran into a tree (that didn’t move at all) and was pinned by another truck who refused to move. Having an accident or going too far off course led to the rest of the pack getting far ahead, and a perfect race led to you smoking everyone. Being in the pack led to an accident, which leads to being behind.
Physics in the game are very arcadey. Most monster trucks don’t lend themselves to hardcore video game races, of course, but physics seem a bit off. You’ll fly 30 feet in the air and land without a bounce, or be flat on your side and spin your tires a certain way that rights you easily. The cars themselves feel small: there are pre-rendered tire tracks on the ground that are far larger than the ones you can make yourself. There is genuine damage to your truck, with side panels falling off, though there is one gameplay mechanic I would prefer be eliminated completely. Random jumps will result in a broken wheel which requires a complete stop and mashing on the B button for a good ten seconds. It doesn’t help when it takes time to stop or you get rammed by other cars simply trying to stop. This or using the manual reset (a good five second hold of A) basically put you at the tail of the pack for one mistake.
There are some audio issues that I hope are going to be ironed out in future updates. The game has a variety of songs that convey different energy but they don’t seem to be placed anywhere in particular. Music starts and stops as it pleases, and no manner of adjusting the volume makes the engine noise reliable. It seems as if you only hear roaring engines when you are near your opponents, or when you angle the camera beside your truck. This turns into a lot of generic rock music blaring randomly while your truck silently cruises across the terrain. With the Switch touting the ultimate “HD Rumble” features, it is sad to see it only used at max vibe on landing with no other options.
I’ve thrown plenty of cons out for Monster Jam: Steel Titans, but in the end I still enjoyed my time with it. The series has improved since my last run in with it, with a lot more options once you get through the initial unlock phase. Graphics are well done (I assume they are better on the other systems), the open world is fun to cruise, and the amount of trucks and upgrades to unlock guarantee plenty of replay value. There’s local multiplayer so a couple gearheads can tool around together. Once you get the basic mechanics down and aren’t crashing constantly, the race modes provide high-speed fun and action. A nitpicking reviewer or a refined racing gamer may have a hard time digging through the rough spots but a monster truck nut or a kid looking for a crushing good time will really enjoy what Monster Jam: Steel Titans has to offer.
Pros:
-Genuinely fun monster truck racing
-Multiple unlocks mean lengthy amount of time to unlock and upgrade everything
-Open world and varied gameplay options
Cons:
-Audio is messed up: no regularly audible roar to the engines
-Trucks feel small with odd arcadey gravity, lack of HD rumble
-Breakdowns, resets, and relentless opponents translate to requiring near perfect runs to succeed
Special thanks to THQ Nordic/Rainbow Studios for providing a code for review!