Monster Jam Steel Titans 2
Monster Jam: Steel Titans 2 Review
Reviewer: Carless Yen
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Developer: Rainbow Studios
Platforms: XBOX, PS, Nintendo, PC
Release Date: 03-02-2021
Price: 39.99
Discription
More Trucks! New Worlds! Monster Jam Steel Titans 2!
Monster Jam Steel Titans 2 features more fan-favorite trucks in brand new Monster Jam worlds!
Brand new online multiplayer modes, 38 trucks to choose from and five new outdoor worlds! Drivers train at Camp Crushmore and compete in authentic stadiums to become the ultimate champion!
More Trucks! Truck roster features 38 of the greatest trucks in Monster Jam history, including Higher Education, Sparkle Smash and Grave Digger!
New Worlds! Five all-new Monster Jam Worlds that expand the Monster Jam universe! Explore and uncover Monster Jam secrets.
Competition! Compete just like the pros in 12 authentic stadiums and game modes inspired by the real-world shows!
Perform your favorite stunts! Bicycles, Stoppies, Moonwalks, Walk Its, Cyclones, Pogos, Power Outs and Back-Flips!
Improved Gameplay! Enjoy a range of improvements in physics, career and exploration!
Screenshots
The REVIEW
So if you follow us you will remember just how much I loved "Monster Jam: Steel Titans" awhile back. I gave it a 8.5 and just kept going on , and playing it forever. So I was so excited when I saw we would be getting the sequel as well as covering it. I just couldn't wait to dive back into once again on the next Gen console. I remembered THQ Nordic sharing our review and getting us a ton of views and adding to our follower count. So i held much respect for them, and Rainbow studio's art. Hoped it would be a repeat of this, and I'd be super excited and posting great things shortly after receiving it. Saddly it didn't take long at all to become very stale, and I was dreading even covering it. I thought about maybe reaching out to them, and asking can I just buy the game, and not cover it this time. I even was dreaming about it that night , and having problems sleeping. I hate to be negative, I do my best to always find good things about something. I feel like every game is a piece of some one. I feel like it's their art, and probably put a lot of their heart into it. So I just struggled both days I was playing it mentally, and wanted to really just make it all go away. I soldiered on though, and kept playing it more hoping to find things to say hey this is new and I like this better. I just couldn't, I couldn't really play it any more either. I'm one of those people who have to finish a game to cover it. I feel I have to give it it's time, and see how it grows on me. I feel every game deserves that. This one to be honest I was done in the first couple of hours. If I had paid for it this is one of the games I would have been requesting a refund. I kept playing longer though, getting like 10 hours in, and my thoughts never changed. I felt the way I felt after 2 hours, after wasting 8 more hours. I felt like I wasted my time, and I hadn't experienced anything different the entire time. It just felt like a repetitive grind. Kids love Monster Jam games, and I don't see how it would appeal to them playing with generic trucks and drivers. I don't see many of them doing what it takes to get more trucks. It's such a hassle. You have to play the same thigns over and over with trucks you really don't care about at all to get the trucks you want. Then you have to grind it all over again to level those ones up. If you just really wanted to spend 40 dollars , and have a game with tons of content and replay value you'd prob enjoy it some what feeling you got your money's worth. I still find that hard to believe really because when you are putting those hours in it just feels lifeless. The events really don't have the excitement they did in the first installment in my opinion. I feel like I could have grinded that game out, but I didn't have to.
So the way it plays this time you have 5 different open worlds. You will spend a lot of time trying to find hidden objects. When you find 5 it will unlock a different truck. There are also a special truck in each area where you have to use a certain truck to access the piece. Finding all these will unlock a legendary truck. This I don't mind as much as the grinding of events and leveling up. It gives you something to do in the open worlds. Yes some of the jumps can be a pain, and you can feel like it's a hassle as well, but not nearly as bad as doing the same events over and over. The areas look really nice especially on the new Series X. They all have a different look and feel as well. The 5 areas are Camp Crushmore, Bark Park, Highlands,Haunted Forest, and Wasteland. They aren't realistic at all though. Like Bark park is pretty much where you'll find all the dog like trucks. There will be giant bones, dog houses, and fire hydrants. It just feels like a joke at times. maybe I take the sport to serious, but this game certainly doesn't. When you aren't hanging out in make believe places, you are playing with real trucks, but generic drivers. I get it you are mean't to be the driver, but why not include some of them with the truck name in competition? They are a big a part of the sport as the trucks. They give it all for their fans and hang out with the kids and sign things after the events why can't some of them be included in the sport in the game as well. Instead we get the same looking driver in a different suit which ever truck we are driving. If it cost to much, why not put some of the favorites in game teaching you, or having you run some missions? To me it would give a lot more to the open world mode. I could be wrong about all of this though. I have seen a lot of people say this one is better. To me I don't see the improvements. I've heard things like better handling. It's a Monster Truck it isn't a sports car. It isn't mean't to handle well. It's meant to be a hluking presence and sound and look powerful. It Doesn't feel that way for me this time around. It looks better I guess in the open world. It looked amazing on my Series X, but the stadiums didn't look better to me, or feel better. There are 17 of them and I'll list them below as well.
[1] Vivint Smart Home Arena (Salt Lake City,Utah) (two separate tracks)
[2] Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaz (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) (two separate tracks)
[3] Pepsi Center (Denver, Colorado)
[4] Intrust Bank Arena (Wichita, Kansas) (two separate tracks)
[5] Moda Center (Portland, Oregon) (two separate tracks)
[6] Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina)
[7] Angel Stadium (Anaheim, California) (two separate tracks)
[8] Sam Boyd Stadium (Las Vegas Nevada) (based off of World Finals 19)
[9] State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona) (two separate tracks)
[10] Mercedes Benz Stadium (Atlanta, Georgia)
[11] RingCentral Coliseum (Oakland, California)
[12] Petco Park (San Diego, California) (two separate tracks)
[13] Rogers Centre (Toronto, Canada)
[14] Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, Indiana)
[15] Ford Field (Detroit, Michigan) (two separate tracks)
[16] AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
[17] Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida) (based off of World Finals 20)
They Don't use the real stadium names either of course, just the names of the city.
I hate bashing this game like I have. It doesn't feel good at all. i'm actually really glad all of this is over. I've already uninstalled it, and I might return to it at a later date. and see what kind of improvements they make. I really suggest thinking of the younger fans out there, and maybe including some more popular starting trucks, or even a code to unlock some. I really think they need to spice up the arenas and events and make it feel more life like. It wouldn't take a lot to make this game better, and maybe my score is so low because my love for the first installment. It could be from playing another Monster Truck game this year that i quite enjoyed as well. I'd recommend it or the first game in this series over this though. It's just missing that spark the first game had. Monster Truck Championships is the other game I'm talking about I played earlier. It isn't even real trucks, and yet it still feels more like the sport of Monster Jam than this. That's not good. When you have all these legendary trucks, and you'd rather play with made up ones it doesn't say much for it if you ask me.
Looks beautiful in the open world modes on modern consoles.
A lot of really great trucks, they didn't miss out on many at all.
Plenty of replay value.
Not a bad price, for the content.
Feels repetitive, to much like grinding, and lifeless.
Could have done so much better with the music choices.
Live events don't live up to the feeling of the real sport.
Feels like they focused more on the fantasy than the reality.
It's time to give some love to the real drivers in the sport.
Just a Boring game overall a big step down from first installment.
Overall Impression:
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