Monster 4X4: World Circuit

"How can a game based on monster trucks be this bad?"

I had high expectations when I bought this game. I loved the idea of being able to use the Wii remote as a steering wheel, and experiencing something other than the usual collection of minigames. Unfortunately, things started to fall apart soon after I started up the game.

Graphics: 4/10
What can I say? The graphics are plain bad. The trucks that you drive look very blocky and unrealistic, the textures are bland and the backgrounds are hardly astounding in any way. The animation is alright, but that does not make up for the rest of the game in the graphics department.

Sound: 4/10
The first thing you will notice is the lack of music. There is a tune playing on the menu screen, which is OK I guess, but in the actual game, there is no music whatsoever. It just makes the game feel too quiet. On the other hand, I really liked the sound effects. The trucks make a really cool noise when you turbo boost, and make engine noises you would expect from a car. But unfortunately I cannot score this section very high due to the lack of music.

Gameplay: 3/10
This is where it really starts to crumble. The first thing you will notice when you start this game is the sluggish control. Specifically, it is much too sensitive. You can turn the remote about 10 degrees, and then it does a complete U-turn. After a while you start to pick it up and get used to it, but when you first start, it gets very annoying.

The game is like many other racing games: get round in a set number of laps before anyone else. As you ‘speed' (I will tell you why it is in inverted commas later) around the track, you can do tricks and pick up turbo boosts to use. Admittedly doing tricks is actually quite cool. Seeing a monster truck do a somersault can be quite funny.

Things soon start to go wrong, however. For a start, the A.I. is much too easy to beat. You get into the lead once, and then they will more or less stop trying. Basically, all they do is step on the gas pedal and nothing else. They may fire a weapon at you, but it almost always misses. No challenge there then. Another problem is the lack of courses in the game. Once you have unlocked them all, there are ten in total, but the game pretends there are twenty by reversing them. Sorry, but I do not think that is anywhere near enough courses. Look how many there are in other racing games such as Gran Turismo. It is not good enough. The third major flaw is the career mode. Essentially, you go through each and every race, and then you are done. It can easily be completed in a day, and leaves a lot to be desired. Finally, the game simply goes much too slowly. The game may tell you that you are going at ninety miles per hour or something like that, but it feels like you are going at about five at the most. One of the things I like about racing games is speeding along the track, yet here the trucks move far too slowly to feel that thrill.

Amidst all of these flaws, there are a few good things about the game. The first is the large amount of cars you can unlock. There are nowhere near as many as Gran Turismo, but there are still quite a lot, which you can customise to your liking, with many different colours and attachments. The multiplayer minigames are sort of novel the first two or three times you play them. However, once the novelty wears off, you realise that it is just a bunch of trucks driving to a certain point and doing tricks just like in a normal race, except that it is given a different skin.

When all is said and done, this is just another poor quality racing game that pales in comparison to many other far superior racing games. But what really takes the cake is that it manages to make a game involving monster trucks not cool.

Replay Value: 3/10
As I have already said, you can complete the career mode within a day, after which there is little incentive to play again. You can play with your friends if you want, but the slow speed of the game and lack of courses will almost certainly bore you within a couple of hours as well.

Pros:
Lots of trucks.
Good customisation.
Cool sound effects.
The tricks look pretty cool.

Cons:
Bad graphics.
No music during races.
Moves very slowly.
Controls take a while to get used to.
Ridiculously stupid A.I.
Flat career mode.
Limited amount of courses.
Just plain not fun.
Can be completed in a day or two.

Buy, rent or avoid: Avoid. There are many other much better racing games out there which are much more worthy of both your time and money. They might be a bit more expensive, but trust me, if you buy this game, you will regret it later.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/10/08

Game Release: Monster 4X4: World Circuit (EU, 12/08/06)