Monster Jam Showdown Scratches That MotorStorm Itch

Milestone is best known for making MotoGP games and, more recently, the hugely popular Hot Wheels Unleashed series. This year the Italian developer enters the world of monster trucks with Monster Jam Showdown, the studio’s first officially licensed Monster Jam game. It’s the latest attempt to capture the world of Monster Jam following titles like Rainbow Studio’s Steel Titans series to Team6’s Crush It.

We recently had the opportunity to play an early preview build at a real-life Monster Jam event in Cardiff courtesy of Plaion and Milestone to see how Monster Jam Showdown is shaping up.

Monster Jam makes some noise in Cardiff

Monster Jam originated in the US, but the show is gaining momentum around the world, with a growing following in the UK. It’s hardly surprising. Watching modified trucks on giant wheels perform daring stunts in a massive arena appeals to your inner child.

For the first time in five years, Monster Jam returned to Cardiff with an action-packed show at the Principality Stadium, best known as the home of the Welsh national rugby team.

Credit: RacingGames / Martin Bigg

With the deafening roar of engines filling the air, Monster Jam rocked the stadium louder than the Foo Fighters at times, who performed at the same venue one week earlier. After hosting the Foo Fighters, the stadium was transformed into an elaborate dirt track filled with stunt ramps.

After an opening ceremony featuring fan-favorite trucks like Grave Digger and the shark-shaped Megladon storming around the stadium, each driver competed in head-to-head races.

The final freestyle event was the highlight. Here, drivers showed off their skills and precision in crowd-pleasing stunts, from wheelies to donuts and show-stopping backflips. The latter proved the most difficult, as only one driver successfully landed a backflip.

As you’d expect, controlling these machines at speed takes a lot of skill – it was rare not to see a truck flip onto its roof in each event after a misjudged corner or a rough landing from a jump. Excitable commentary coupled with the cheering crowd created a buzzing atmosphere.

Despite not attempting a backflip during the Freestyle challenge, the event was won by the iconic Grave Digger, a staple of Monster Jam driven by Matt Cody.

Before the main event, we also had access to the pre-show pit party, where we explored the arena and got up close to the trucks. It made you appreciate the size of these monstrous machines, which weigh a whopping 12,000 pounds and generate 1,500 horsepower from a supercharged engine.

There was a family-friendly atmosphere as excited children posed for photos in front of their favorite monster trucks and met the drivers. Overall, Monster Jam put on a thrilling show in Cardiff, and Showdown aims to capture the same thrill and spectacle. 

Hands-on with Monster Jam Showdown

We sampled Showdown’s Freestyle events during a short hands-on with a preview build. Mirroring the real-life show, these events challenge you to perform as many stunts as possible before the time runs out, from smashing billboards to executing wheelies and donuts to get the highest score.

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Monster Jam Showdown feels like it's aimed at younger audiences with its brash, colorful menus, but experienced players can increase the challenge by turning off the assists.

With the ability to independently steer the front and rear wheels, it’s easy to overcorrect and spin out with the assists off, capturing the feeling of driving an unwieldy monster truck. Rear wheel steering can be switched off and applying stability and drift assists makes the trucks easier to drive for younger players and novices. 

In a first for the series, Monster Jam Showdown runs on Unreal Engine 5, providing higher production values than previous Monster Jam games. Trucks are well-detailed, kick up dust and dirt, and accumulate damage, (damage is only visual rather than mechanical), and the environments are destructible. With Showdown also heading to PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, it remains to be seen how well it runs on older hardware, but performance was smooth in the preview build.

Showdown doesn’t restrict you to the official stadiums. Outside the Freestyle, circuit races let you race against seven opponents on fictional off-road tracks. With massive monster trucks battling for position, smashing through scenery, and jumping over huge gaps, Showdown’s chaotic off-road races gave us strong MotorStorm vibes.

Even the environments were reminiscent of Evolution’s off-road racing series as we tore through the Death Valley desert and a tropical jungle. At launch, the final game will feature over 40 tracks including racing circuits and arenas across three environments, with a post-launch expansion set to add an extra environment set in Hawaii.

These modes only scratch the surface. The final game will have ten game modes including survivor, horde, and figure 8 racing, with a non-linear career mode that lets you choose events on a world tour map. Coupled with a roster of 66 official trucks (40 will be in the base game while another 26 will be included in free and premium DLC), Showdown will offer a surprisingly extensive package for monster truck fans.

Overall, Showdown is shaping up to be a fun and surprisingly polished entry in the Monster Jam game series, bolstered by Milestone’s high production values and a chaotic racing mode that evokes memories of MotorStorm.

While the bar admittedly isn’t very high, this could be the best Monster Jam game in a long time, and another arcade racing hit in Milestone’s catalog that builds on Hot Wheels Unleashed's success.

Monster Jam Showdown launches on August 29 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Those who pre-order the Big Air Edition will get three days of early access from August 26.

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