Monster Jam Showdown Game Review: A Nitro-Fueled Frenzy Of Mayhem & Madness

If you’re a gearhead who loves large 6-ton methanol-powered beastly rides that can perform deathly backflips and tower over everything in their way, Monster Jam Showdown, the latest title from veteran racing game studio Milestone, the company behind Moto GP, Ride, and Hot Wheels Unleashed, is a game you’ll probably want to park in your library for sure. Given the current junkyard of low-quality monster truck games out there, it’s a really good surprise to see a developer who’s finally crushed it, delivering a racer packed with all the high-octane thrills that keep fans revving for more.

Monster Jam Showdown Is All About The Beautiful Monster Trucks

From the moment you stomp on the gas and feel the bouncy suspension of the large 12,000-pound beasts (which come shaped in dogs, dinos, sharks and all sorts of other badass creatures) in your hands, it’s crystal clear that Monster Jam Showdown is a turbocharged tribute to monster trucks and their passionate fanbase. Sure, the packaging and the presentation is decent too, but the real stars of the show are the vehicles themselves – as you’d expect, they’re massive, flashy, deafening, and roar with unstoppable power. Being in the driver’s seat of the action as these colossal beasts (which include famous trucks like Grave Digger and Max-D) drift around corners or crash hard to the floor is exhilarating and fun.

Each vehicle comes with dual-steering action. This means each set of wheels is controlled by a separate thumbstick. The left controls the front wheels and the direction, while the right thumbstick handles the rear wheels, which you need to master to do perfect 180-degree turns and drifts. Using them together at the same time allows your truck to spin in place, racking up style trick points.

All this means you’ll feel every rumble and shake of these monster trucks. They’re built to be heavy and powerful, making racing them a thunderous experience.

Fun & Easy Gameplay

The good news is that, depending on your vehicle setup and the gameplay settings you choose, racing can be simple and fun, too. There’s no need to tinker with engines and tyres and all that greasy stuff if you don’t want to. Using the game’s assists, anyone can grab and a controller and start racing. This isn’t one of those merciless racers where you’re required to know the vehicle’s manual back to front. Monster Jam Showdown shifts gears between arcade thrills and a more realistic simulation, satisfying both the seasoned pros and those just looking to smash some metal on the dirt track.

Set against different backdrops or maps – like the desert, woodlands or an indoor arena – the game is primarily designed to reward players for epic destruction, precision, air tricks, thrilling drifts and coming in at pole position during races. However, there’s an element of fantasy here. See, some of the death-defying tricks you’re able to get away with in Monster Jam Showdown couldn’t possibly be real. Gravity just wouldn’t allow it. But, thankfully, this all adds to the fun of the game.

Is Monster Jam Showdown Worth Purchasing?

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine plummeting through the air and crashing into surrounding props or other vehicles on a figure-eight track during a desert sandstorm as the panels of your truck peel off until it’s just a frame perched on massive wheels. Imagine performing donuts and huge front and backflip stunts as mud, dust, water and ice splash across your screen. What’s not to like?

While Monster Jam Showdown has some downfalls – like the repetitiveness of tracks, its boring music, and its annoying progression system (which requires you to complete challenges to unlock new tracks and vehicles), Milestone mostly created the perfect monster truck game. It looks great. It plays well. And it delivers on mayhem.

Monster Jam Showdown
Monster Jam Showdown is a Monster Jam racing game.


Release Date: August 29th, 2024
Platforms: Playstation 5, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Steam (PC), Epic Games (PC), Nintendo Switch
Developer: Milestone S.r.l.
Genre: Racing