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Arcade Racing Fun, but Misses the Feel of Monster Trucks

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Monster Jam would have been a better game had it stuck with just being a good arcade-style racer. It has lots of varied tracks, each with lots of interest: destructible elements, wacky stunt jump points, hidden shortcuts, etc. When you're in a full-field race against other monster trucks, the racing is a lot of fun. You'll be bouncing off of other trucks, flying through the air, and crashing through every imaginable object (buildings, boats, parked airplanes, and even the space shuttle!) from the initial green light. Computer AI is pretty slow, so you'll have every opportunity to enjoy your fill of mayhem and then still use some hidden shortcuts to catch back up again. I once won a race flipped upside down riding on the hood of another truck. This amount of unpredictability gives it a decent replay value as an arcade racer; however, it also doesn't distinguish itself from any of the other titles that do the same (and do it better, e.g. the Burnout series).

So the developers tried to pump up the monster truck feel by adding game modes that mimic actual Monster Jam events (I'm guessing - I swear that I've never attended or even seen one of these things!). Unfortunately, this half of the game is where it falls really short. The freestyle events, where you must perform tricks like crushing cars, jumping buses and popping wheelies before an arena audience, are a real chore. The trick is to maximize the judges' scores by stringing together tricks one right after the other. Easier said than done. And the scores seem very arbitrary - you may think that you did pretty well and then you get a low score but also no real feedback on why. So, you don't really ever know how to do any better and these events become sticking points in the career championship mode. There is also a one-on-one stadium racing mode where you and another truck race for the best time through an obstacle course on the arena floor. Unfortunately, the course design is atrocious and oftentimes you get lost among all of the barrels, barricades and flags while your flawless opponent zips through. This mode would benefit greatly from an overhead map of the course in the corner of the heads-up, but there is none.

Finally, there is no online multiplayer capability or any Xbox Live support at all. In 2008, this is simply unacceptable for any game.

PROS
* Well-designed race courses with lots of destructible elements and hidden shortcuts
* Easily-reachable achievements if that's your thing

CONS
* Freestyle and stadium events are the least enjoyable parts of the game
* No online multiplayer or XBL support at all
* Announcer voice acting is annoying after a very short time

Keeps my 4 year old busy!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 6
Date: January 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have not yet played this game but my 4 year old loves it! There are plenty of courses and trucks to choose from. I think this game will last a while because there are a lot of levels.

great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: February 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

bought this game for the boyfriend b/c he played it a friends house and loved it. now in the afternoon before work he takes great pride in how many things he can destroy before he leaves for work. he's loves it he's going to be disappointed when he has to give back his brother in laws xbox 360 lol

Monster Jam Misses the Mark

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I love Monster Jam itself. When Burger King had the promotion for car replicas, I collected them all to put on my desk. I wanted to buy this game at $50, but the reviews were awful, so I waited until the price dropped on Amazon to about $22. After receiving and playing the game, I was very disappointed. While the graphics are good, the game play itself provides very little entertainment. I crashed a few truck, rolled over some cars and did some races. In total I tried for 2 hours to make this game fun, but just couldn't. It is now sitting on a shelf in the don't play section and I wish I wouldn't have spent the $22 for the game, if you want a lower price game with more replay get the Stuntman Ignition game, loads more fun and was able to find it for $10.

My Favorite Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is fun! You can race 20 monster trucks that compete on the Monster Jam circuit. There are a lot of tracks in this game. I especially like the tracks based on stadiums. My favorite truck to drive is Grave Digger, just like Monster Truck Madness. The graphics are great. If you get all of the trophies, you'll unlock clips of your favorite monster trucks.

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