This ain’t my Jam.
Monster Trucks certainly have their audience. It’s been decades since I remember attending events, but as I had family members who actually drove them, not to mention being able to actually sit in one, I certainly have a history of loving them at one point. Part of the appeal of Monster Trucks are in their larger-than-life nature, seeing their massive forms climb over cars, crushing them into heaps of scrap metal, or seeing the insane tricks their drivers are able to pull off in these clunky yet weighty titans. Sadly, that appeal just isn’t anywhere here in Steel Titans 2, a game that just simply lacks the fun of what Monster Trucks should bring to videogames.
Monster Trucks are loud, destructive, but are also a novelty, designed solely for our entertainment. How that entertainment is arranged is crucial to the whole experience. In videogame form, you might think it would be rather difficult to not make a fun Monster Truck game, but somehow, Rainbow Studios has done just that. Now, I can certainly see someone having an ok time here, albeit a brief one, but there is simply not much here to maintain an entirely satisfying experience. The driving is serviceable, sometimes even enjoyable, but it’s largely reserved to areas that have flat surfaces, as any little bump or tilt in the road will send your Truck over on its roof, rolling over like a scared kitten. Sure, you have a reset button to hold down, but the button press can feel like a lifetime during a race.
After a pretty basic tutorial, you’re then placed out into the world, starting within a single location. As you push through the game, you’ll add to that, making the world bigger, with more room to grow. The fairly spacious open world has some secrets to discover, but that exploration is largely for collectibles’ sake and comes at the cost of having to swap to certain vehicles to unlock a new jump or something else that allows you access to the spinning triangle collectibles that are littered about. It’s a shame that you have to access your garage from a certain location, forcing you to drive back, grab the vehicle you need, and then head out into the world to find what vehicle works for what secret. Nothing here in this fashion lends itself to any real fun, but for completionists, it’s a means to an end.
Steel Titans 2 places your progress over two career paths; World Career, and The Arena Championship. Each of these events offers much of the same types of races or challenges, so it feels weird seeing two events that are largely just the exact same series of courses and objectives. There is a tournament-style bracket that has you racing the same courses three times in a row to events where you’ll need to perform a series of two-wheel tricks or destruction as you run over fences, boxes, and porta-potties, instead of you know, cars, which is literally the first thing people think of when it comes to Monster Trucks. These events are largely bland, but it is in the open world events where racing is bordering on fun until you hit the slightest incline and then struggle to maintain balance before you either lose control or have to reset your car or the race in general.
While the indoor courses tend to follow far too familiar aesthetics, the outdoor courses tend to come with a bit more flavor. There are several novelty designs to certain areas, such as a big bone-shaped course next to a huge pink dog house, to shipwrecks, graveyards, and more, all catered to reflect many of the more popular Monster Trucks, several of which are unfortunately locked behind progress, often unlocked well past the point of seeing everything this game has to offer. Still, this outdoor world to explore is often enjoyable, I just wish the handling complimented so much of its design.
Using both analog sticks to turn each set of wheels, handling can feel far too floaty and bouncy for vehicles that should have a greater sense of weight and inertia to them. Several other Monster Truck games have gotten this almost perfect, and it causes Steel Titans 2 to feel like one of those budget games you find in a $10 Wal-Mart bin. Much like many of those games, there is some value to what they offer, but there are usually far better versions of what those games are trying to do elsewhere. While the handling does favor the more shorter or flatter courses, it’s when you need to perform tricks or navigate uneven terrain where it just simply falls apart, making you not only frustrated but questioning why you’re even still playing it.
Throughout each mode and victory, you’ll level up your vehicles, making them faster, better, and while there isn’t any way to create trucks or any sort of progression system for your driver, the better your vehicle does as you move through the game is nice to see, letting you get better with a certain truck, but sometimes having more speed isn’t exactly good for all races, so certain upgrades can often ruin a once good vehicle. Still, it is a system I’d rather see than taking a Truck at face value for the entire run of its use.
Monster Jam: Steel Titans 2 is not a terribly impressive game visually, as you’ll see considerable pop-up outdoors, flickering shadows, lifeless stadium audiences, and oddly enough, no splash trails as you rip through the water, leaving a total lack of presentation in its wake. The Truck detail is ok, but we’ve seen better models in some of the big profile racing games even 4-5 years ago. While the game is playable on Series X/S, there simply isn’t anything here to really take advantage of it. Again, the game is somewhat decent to look at, but it simply is what you’re to expect from a game of this tier, nothing more.
Steel Titans 2 is a passable racing experience that has one foot in its fun novelty, and one set so firmly in a low-production effort. However; when it comes to differences between this and its 2019 offering, honestly, it simply comes down to the vehicles feeling a tiny bit more responsive, with tighter animations as well. Right now, Steel Titans 1 at the time of this review is on sale on a few platforms, and is likely able to purchased far cheaper regardless of any sales, and is frankly, not really much different than what Steel Titans 2 offers for its novelty. Of the two, this sequel is the better game, but can often feel like a remastering or add-on than a full-fledged sequel. Steel Titans 2 is not a horrible game, nor a bad experience, it’s just not a terribly good one that could have been so much better.
Developer - Rainbow Studios. Publisher - THQ Nordic. Released - March 1st, 2021. Available On - Xbox One/Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Windows PC, Stadia. Rated - (E) No Descriptors. Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.