Big. Offroad. Racing.
- NA release: 10th December 2003
- JP release: N/A
- EU release: N/A
- Developer: UbiSoft Barcelona, Inland Productions
- Publisher: UbiSoft
- NGC Magazine Score: N/A
- Mods Used: None
If I was developing a Monster Truck game, I would focus on one thing in particular: making it a ton of fun to smash stuff. In the various Monster Truck games I’ve played, not a single one has tried to do this and Monster 4×4 is no exception – even cardboard boxes slow you down immensely and knock you off course. Crushing things is the main thing people like about Monster Trucks, and we’ve had plenty of racing games with destruction at this point, so it baffles me that Monster Truck games fail at this so much.
And what is Monster Trucks without destroying things? Well, very slow races in immensely lightweight and floaty vehicles, apparently. The handling is atrocious and even full pelt feels like trying to go as slow as possible in another racing game. The camera also attempts to be “cinematic” by swaying from side to side – it’s quite nauseating. It also loves to get stuck on objects. I think this is the worst camera I’ve encountered in a racing game.
The races themselves are also nothing special. First you have to do a stadium race. You only race one opponent at a time, so no chaos (not that smashing into other racers is satisfying) and you have to do it three times. Then it’s an “open” race where you have to drive around large, empty levels, heading to haphazardly placed checkpoints. Finally, there’s a stunt like doing donuts or a long jump. With the physics of the game, none of this is enjoyable.
There’s also a story of a rookie driver who wants to win, and a cast of forgettable characters who make zero difference to the actual gameplay. I get that having some kind of a tournament for progression, but Destruction Derby has already shown us multiple times that it can be done in a way focusing on smashing.
Poor
If you’re a really, really big fan of monster trucks, this game certainly features them and a lot of events that they’re in. It also has a horrendous camera system, random trucks with no stats, terrible voice acting, badly designed courses, and characters that look so bad they’re funny.
Ed Lewis, IGN
Remake or remaster?
Not for this.
Official Ways to get the game
There is no official way to get Monster 4×4: Masters of Metal
Europe
Japan
North America
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