Monster Jam Steel Titans
Real Trucks. Real Action. Monster Jam! Monster Jam Steel Titans delivers the complete Monster Jam experience for everybody to enjoy! All the trucks, stunts, stadiums, racing and massive air in one game! Play in various game modes including Stadium and outdoor Racing, various Stunt Challenges and Destruction modes! Drive a MONSTER! Compete with 25 of the most popular trucks including Grave Digger and Max-D! Total destruction including breaking body panels, deforming junker cars as well as demolishing the environment! Perform your favorite stunts! Bicycles, Stoppies, Moonwalks, Walk Its, Cyclones, Pogos, Power Outs and Back-Flips! Hear the roar of huge crowds inside 12 stadiums packed with fans on your road to the Monster Jam World Finals! Explore and smash through the environment in a Massive Outdoor World! Train just like your favorite Monster Jam pro driver at Monster Jam University!
Steam User 55
So far after a few hours and going through 60%+ of the career I feel like I can give my 2 pennies and will update as I keep playing.
THE GOOD:
+Tons of trucks to choose from and upgrade
+Freestyle is difficult depending on the course
+Trucks are difficult to get your flight right off a jump. Takes time to perfect take offs and cannot correct in air other than gas/brake
+Plenty of races
+Career mode is well paced
+Separation of front and rear steering with the dual analog sticks is a nice touch
THE BAD:
-No online multiplayer (but does have local split screen)
-Sometimes you get stuck in a constant spin and have to restart
-There is a ceiling glitch on every arena map that makes it hard to see
-Difficulty goes from super easy to down right punishing (take this is as a half bad thing)
-Sound glitches galore!
-Wish we could build our own truck
OVERALL:
Really enjoying the game for what it is at the $30 price point. Feels like a mix of old school MX Unleashed trucks with a bit more of a SimCade feel to it. Not as easy to control in the air so it takes time to get the trucks down and learning how to work the front/back steering with both sticks is rewarding. I would recommend this game if you are into Monster Jam or any off road type racing that wants something different than anything else out there.
"MOTOSCORE" 6/10
Steam User 27
This game is a blast to play. It is, in terms of quality and fun, light years ahead of previous games of the same name. Monster Jam games had become a literal joke, as they were so bad, it made me hesitate on purchasing this one. I watched several videos, and read several reviews, and finally decided to pull the trigger and am glad I did. The game still has a lot it can improve upon, but for the first time in the series history, imo, the game has made such tremendous positive advancements compared to all of the others, that it actually gives me hope for the future of the IP.
This game is not perfect, but it looks good, and is no longer so bad as to be laughable, and I am thoroughly enjoying my time with it.
I wanted to add to my review, so as not to come off as misleading or a shill, the physics in the game are really bad, in fact they can be frustrating at times, and may in fact cause you to lose an event. They really do need a tremendous amount of work, and I really hope that the Devs fix it, at least make it a lot more realistic than current. However, I am still enjoying the game due to the leaps in improvement from the previous games, and therefore my vote will remain positive in hopes that the Devs will continue to improve upon the solid foundation that this game rtepresents.
Edit # 2 - Ok, well, after a little more time in the game, I am unable to recommend the game any longer. Now, because I really do want to see this game succeed, because I believe the subject matter can make for a very fun game if done correctly. While this game has moved forward in so many ways compared to the previous entries, as mentioned earlier in my review, and while I did note the some of the issues with the physics earlier as well, I must take those comments even further. The issues with the physics do indeed make the game, in many ways. unplayable. While you might win some of the races, and even those are incredibly difficult if you hit even the slightest bump in the road because your truck will literally begin bouncing uncontrollably, usually ending on it's side, there is very little of the remaining challenges in the career, like the two wheel challenge and the freestyle, that you can complete with a score adequate enough to win. Thus, if the game cannot be won in career mode, in it's current state, there is no way I can recommend it at this time. I will continue to try playing the game, in hopes that some very much needed updates to the physics of the game are updated, so as to make them more realistic. Without this I would say save your money at any cost. If they are able to update the physics and make the game more playable, not to mention actually winnable, that I will absolutely update my review, and gladly recommend it even if at full price. I want this series to succeed, but in it's current state this game is a long way from success.
Edit # 3 - Ok, following today's update, 07-09-19, the physics are much better, and the trucks handle a lot more like you would want them to. Is it perfect, no, but it has made the career such that you might actually be able to win, and made the game immensely more fun to play. I am once again enjoying the game and having a blast. I hope that they continue to fix issues as they arise, and if they make as great of strides with the next game in the series, as they have with this one, they will be hitting it out of the park! This is the best Monster Truck game we have gotten to date, and it is a ton of fun to play!!
If you are a fan of the subject matter, or enjoy this type of racing game, then support these guys, because unlike previous entries in the series, this game is not a simple cash grab using the IP to make a game that sucks badly. This game is seriously fun, looks great, comes in at a great price, and the Devs are clearly taking it very serious this time around, and should be commended for doing so.
Steam User 12
I think this is an incredibly well done Monster Jam game and I'm sad to see that current review averages give off the impression that it's mediocre. (I have many more hours played on a different platform where I played all the way through the career mode. I just started playing again on Steam.)
A game should be judged on its own merits, but starting out, it's hard not to mention the long history of bad to average Monster Jam games. You can't help but feel a little more appreciation for a good game when you know what the other choices were prior to this one existing.
Based on the hours I have played this game, I have not experienced a product that should be sitting with "mixed" reviews on Steam. First of all there's a level of detail present here that lets you know people involved with this title were passionate about Monster Jam. The detail in all the different trucks is amazing. There's a button that lets you control pyrotechnic effects on trucks that have them in real life like El Toro Loco and Dragon. Drive Megalodon around and watch the shark fins flop around and break off, drive Zombie and watch the zombie arms wobble around like they do in real life, the glowing hot differentials under the trucks, the way the body panels break apart and fall off, the interior camera view, the tire tracks in the mud and the colored dye wearing away off the jumps as you perform, the other trucks being parked out-of-bounds once you get to the larger stadium shows like they do at real events, on and on. There are too many things that just wouldn't be in the game if there wasn't a lot of care involved.
The controls seem satisfying and fair to me. Some events can be mildly frustrating and the physics can be goofy in certain situations. But I think anyone familiar with actual Monster Jam will know that these trucks really do flip over when there is one wrong move during a race or when trying to land a stunt. Maybe someone coming into this just generally playing it as a racing game would find the vehicle control to be sloppy and strange. But if you're familiar with monster trucks at all, you'll know that it's mostly accurate. Yes there are some races in career mode where you'll have to be perfect hitting jumps and making your turns, because the AI is pretty flawless. If you're playing through career mode you shouldn't be worried about placing first in every single event though. Slipping up in a few events doesn't mean you can't finish first in points in the series.
Controls and physics in stunt modes (2 wheel tricks & freestyle) seem logical and fun to me. You'll need to upgrade your trucks a bit before you really feel like you can zip around and bust out tricks as easily as you'd like to. The power-out move where you can get your tipped-over truck back on its wheels seems a bit overdone, but it's just the right splash of "video game" where it's something more reasonable to do for player enjoyment versus having the truck shut off or your stunt run end like would happen in real life when a truck isn't recoverable. There is a bit of a learning curve and you will definitely get better at 2 wheel tricks and everything else as you buy some upgrades, get your truck faster and more stable, and keep practicing the controls. There is a lot of nuance to control in the game where you need to be feathering the throttle and doing things very carefully. I see people complaining that the power-out move just makes your truck roll over all over again and it's hard to get back up. Once your truck is upgraded and more powerful you can't just mash the throttle and hope to get back to your wheels, you have to do it carefully. And if you know what "saves" are like in real life where a driver is trying to regain control of their truck or get back up off of two wheels, you know it's definitely tricky. It shouldn't be easy to just mash throttle and steer into a power-out and have it work every time, or stunt modes would be a spam fest where it's impossible to lose.
There are further instances of care and attention to detail. The options menu will let you choose different control options for the rear wheel steering of the trucks. You can play just with the left analog stick, so the rear steering is working automatically as you drive around normally, or you can set it to twin stick control and direct the rear wheels yourself with the right stick, or even control it with the bumper buttons. Yet again, a mediocre game would have one set control scheme with the rear wheels steering themselves. This game allows multiple options and you can significantly change the feel of the game and the level of challenge by choosing one of the options that puts you in control of both sets of wheels.
I really tried to think of where the game is falling short for other people. I'm a such a single-player focused person that the lack of multi-player didn't occur to me until I read other reviews to try to get an idea what people were unhappy about. So that's fair, I suppose this would be a pretty fun game to be able to play online with friends. I initially had my own gripe in the fact that it seemed like you couldn't quit out during long stretches of championship series events and have your progress saved without starting over, but either I was mistaken or that has changed in newer patches of the game, because now you definitely can quit and then pick up where you left off.
I love the open hub world where you can just drive around, practice, and find collectibles. I know one thing for sure, this is going to become my new relaxation game, when there's nothing else in your game library that you feel like playing and you just want to put a podcast on and play something to zone out. I'll be driving around in the hub world doing tricks. The map could be larger but it's right on the line of being decent enough. There are fun areas on the map like a plane graveyard with great jumps, mountains to climb, tricky collectibles to reach, etc. This is another area where a less inspired game could just have a menu where you select your event and nothing else to do. I love games that have a hub world and a practice area where you can just do whatever you want.
There are plenty of presentation touches, pyro at events, a small amount of voice recording during tutorial missions where a lazy game would just have text, different arenas and stadiums to play in, etc.
They've added new camera angles ("Drone" is really cool), higher challenge level events (sure, some of it is repetitious), and some titan challenges that I've yet to fully explore where it seems like there will be different sorts of ramps and challenges than other stuff in the game.
The graphics, while not cutting-edge in a lot of areas, look great where it counts. The trucks all look good, particle and dirt effects, lighting in arenas, environments look decent. I wouldn't choose this game as a tech demo to show off my computer, but there's nothing about the graphics that I find disappointing.
I hope the reception for this game hasn't been too damaging for the devs or that Monster Jam isn't happy with what they got out of Steel Titans. I would love for this development team to have another game, and I think they've teased additional Monster Jam news is forthcoming on social media.
I can't really fathom why this game would get a negative or neutral review. The trucks look, drive, and sound like they should, stunt modes are very fun, the truck roster is large, the graphics are great, all the events you'd expect from real MJ are there. If a Monster Jam fan asked me if Steel Titans is worth getting, there are hardly any negatives I can think of needing to mention. Could they have added fictional tracks and other stuff to pad out the game? Certainly. That doesn't seem like what they were going for here. We get a small amount of that in the hub world, but otherwise it seems like career mode was meant to replicate what a Monster Jam season is really like.
Steam User 13
this game brings so many memories from the 90's...
i used to play hours upon hours in monster truck madness
and this game just capture what it was all about.
game is very well optimized and comfortable,
no issues so far.
gameplay is fun, controls are easy, movement feels great and the damage system is great.
loving every sec of it.
i'll be spending lots of time on it , for sure.
a small compilation of what it was all about, ahh what a childhood-
Steam User 10
Monster Jam Steel Titans for a game itself is not a bad game, however, the physics are really whacky at times and the trucks may not work as they would in real life, however, over all most modes can be beaten with a few tricks here and there and the game is quite entertaining. The overall play is wonderful, it give you a great feel, but as said before, its a game out and out. Many different trucks to unlock via game play and building up points, at the time of writing this review I have 13.1 hours on record already and I just keep rolling through races and freestyles, the two wheel challenges are a little tricky at times, but all in all its not a bad game to have, especially if you can get it and the expansion items on sale, game cost me total under 8 bucks and boy, that felt like money well spent so far. - Dark
P.S. - I play with both a keyboard and an XBox One controller and both a manageable, side note, you cannot configure controls for say an X-Arcade Tankstick.
Steam User 8
A great fun single player game, are the pysics good? nope, is it a arcade monster truck blast? yes, Does it work on Linux with Steam Play? a Monster Yes to that.
Steam User 11
great game! it just needs to be optimized better. i strongly recommend it get optimized.
also crashes every time i disconnect my controller