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Monster Trucks: Reviews

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Game Score: 6/10

Game: Monster Truck DS
Developer: Skywork Technologies
Distributer: Majesco
Platform: DS
Country: Europe
Review by: Maximusje

''Monstrious graphics, but no monstrious monster trucks''

[b]
Monster Truck DS is the first DS game that features the Monster Truck, a vehicle with giant wheels and an impressive body on top of it. Normally people crush wrecked cars with this beast, but in Monster Truck DS you take part in a race competition over the rougher landscapes found in the world.
[b]

[b]Gameplay[/b]
Every race in this game starts a little abrupt. After the menu a fast 3 second countdown starts and that's all there is to keep you from racing. Since there is an RPG system in this game, the car with which you begin is a little hard to control, not very fast and very unstable. The opponents are very slow in this game, so the early races are perfectly balanced with your crappy truck, but later on you outrun them with your upgraded engine, tires, supsension and turbo (which is not nitro, it's just a part on your car that upgrades your acceleration). Though this is a big downside, the fun in races still remain a while, because there is a wide array of available tracks to keep you going. Jumping and falling is always fun. The Monster Trucks are not really fast in this game, but this makes the bumps and jumps in the tracks a lot more controlable and fun. There is a multi-cartridge multiplayer mode which is always fun to do with friends. Unfortunatly there is no downloadplay or online wi-fi mode. A major mistake by the developers in gameplay is that whenever you crash, you respawn in the state of your car just before the crash. Therefore it might happen that you crash one or two times more. Another problem in the game is that the draw distance is very short, thus you may get lost a couple of times. Solution to this is that the game has a navigation system consisting of an arrowguide. For more depth, also read Realism and Replay value.

[b]Realism[/b]
Your Monster Truck is not really realistic. First of all you don't get the feeling riding a heavy truck. The effects of the truck make it sound more like a Quad, which is not really a surprise since this game is almost the same as ATV Quad Frenzy. Besides, there is no dirt, mud, water or anything that splashes up when your big wheels touch it, not even after a big jump. The cars themselves look okay and they are even decorated a little like some famous Monster Trucks like Gravedigger. The signposts in this game are not solid, so it looks pretty stupid when you just drive through it.

[b]Graphics[/b]
The graphics in this game are pretty nice for the DS. Dirt looks like dirt, water looks like water, swamp like swamp and dune looks like dune. The non-solid view on the horizon is not very well-looking, but it's not really disturbing. Thus this game scores points on graphics.

[b]Sound & music[/b]
Like I already mentioned, the sound of the monster truck is not realistic at all. You get the feeling of driving a small motorvehicle like a quad or even smaller. You do get a little sound from dirt and water so the game is not plain, which is good. The music is not good, not bad. Thus you won't be surprised nor irritated by it.

[b]Design[/b]
This is were the game loses points, big time. The design of the menu is terrible and very outdated. You have to press A a dozen of times to do the various selections of gameplay, vehicle (which really doesnt matter, except for the looks, the performence of all cars is the same since the upgrades count for every car), character (only the colour of the characters is different), enviroment and track. Every time when you press A, a curtain closes and opens to reveal the next screen. This is a very slow and irritating proces. Fortunatly you can also just press start after you've selected a mode to begin racing. The design of all four enviroments, lakes, swamp, desert and arena are nice and variated though. Only bad thing is that every track in one of the enviroments is nearly the same. Another bad thing is that the save function in this game is also very outdated. It can be found in that slow and irritating menu and there is no autosave function. Shame on Skyworks Technologies for such a bad interface.

[b]Replay value and game length[b]
The game itself was very short and easy. Though there are 20 tracks and four enviroments, you can play it two-three hours straight to complete season mode. Because multiplayer only consists of muli-cartridge play, you won't have an easy time finding other players but the computercontroled opponents. Replay Value is little since the RPG system is small, the unlockables are only 16 of the 20 tracks. Yet it is fun to sometimes play a race or two in this average racing game.

[b]Conclusion[/b]
The game itself was very short, but fun enough to score a little 6/10. The terrible design of interface and bad realism count for the -4. Sound scores nor loses points. Graphics and Gameplay count for the +6. The game itself is a little short, but that doesn't score nor loses any points.

Now is this game worth the money?
Yes, if you are a fan of Monster Trucks and you like to do a race now and then, but don't have the time to play a race of 10 minutes.
No, if you are not a fan of Monster Trucks and if you've already got a few racegames on the computer or DS that you enjoy playing, since this game doesn't bring anything new but the Monster Trucks.

Written by: Max Brouwer
Date: 27 September 2008
Rated: 6/10.