After a successful launch on PC and previous-gen titles, Teyon and NACON has released their seriously underrated Monster Truck Championship for next-gen consoles. The game is coming out for both PS5 and Xbox Series X|S with added features that harness the full power of the next-gen consoles. Despite playing it and already reviewing the title earlier, I really wanted to try out the PS5 release of the title so here we are. This is our comparative review of the PS5 version of Monster Truck Championship in which we land some sky wheelies and crush some buses in 4L.
Similar to our other comparative reviews, we will be focusing on the next-gen features of the Monster Truck Championship in this review. For a detailed review of the full game, you can check out our previous review of the PC release of this awesome monster truck sim. With most of the next-gen releases, one of the major improvements in every release is the visual overhaul where the developers aim for 4K and 60 FPS. With these ports being of older-gen titles, touching 60 FPS on 4K is not that difficult since the visuals are pretty-much dated at this point and do not challenge the next-gen consoles’ power too much. The same is the case here with Monster Truck Championship as well.
Normally, while we are comparing two particular titles from their previous-gen release and the next-gen release, we normally have plenty of things to talk however that is not really the case when it comes to Monster Truck Championship. This is because the next-gen version literally just ships with 4K and 60 FPS support. There is nothing extra in the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S release of the game. While this is a major improvement when it comes to visuals of the game, playing with monster trucks at a smooth 60 FPS certainly has its perks when it comes to eye candy. However, this is where the eye candy just stops.
Coming to actual textures, while the resolution is definitely much higher in 4K, the textures are not really upgraded as compared to the previous-gen release and the game somewhat looks like a mix between an old-gen title and a new-gen title. The game looks pretty much like the PC version now however on Pc, you can push the frames even higher than 60 however here the frames are locked at 60 FPS so the visual fidelity is basically just higher resolution and silky smooth 60 FPS. With that said, however, the game sticks to 4K and 60 FPS without any issues. The frames do not drop at any point and the gameplay is smooth in every scenario.
One of the main reasons I requested a PS5 review copy of Monster Truck Championship was that I was looking forward to playing the game with the new Adaptive Controllers of the DualSense controller. However, to my disappointment, after booting the game and driving the truck, I found that there is no additional feedback for the Adaptive Triggers. There was no added friction representing the traction faced by tires or there were no vibrations in particular areas of the controller to represent which tire is catching traction and which one is loose in the dirt.
The Adaptive Triggers work miracles for racing games and I loved playing WRC 9 on them because of their distinct feedback while driving a vehicle. The tension and feedback it offers actually help you understand how the wheels are behaving on the terrain and this would have been perfect in Monster Truck Simulator as well. Since we are mostly jumping here and there, and we also have to spin out the wheels for various stunts such as burnouts so the Adaptive Triggers responding to these and sending back increased tension would have been an amazing feature.
Overall, Monster Truck Championship is personally my favorite monster truck title currently available in the market. It surpasses any monster truck game ever released in the past. True that it lacks officially licensed monster trucks that we all grew up watching in Monster Jam but the level of customization, the control and weight of the truck, stunt variety, and level design just put it at the top of every other monster truck game currently available in the market. If you have finally moved to the next-gen consoles, you can now play Monster Truck Championship on PS5 and Xbox Series S|X as well with its latest release.
Final Verdict:
While the lack of support of the Adaptive Triggers on the DualSense controller is a big disappointment, overall, you can feel the visual difference between the old-gen and the next-gen release of Monster Truck Championship. The game certainly feels smoother in 4K with 60 FPS however the lack of enhanced features on the next-gen consoles especially the PS5 is a somewhat letdown. Overall, Monster Truck Championship is a great title and if you have not previously played it, then you can certainly go for it. If you already own the previous-gen version of the title, if you do not really care about 4K and 60 FPS, then I cannot think of a reason why you should go for the title again. With that being said, Monster Truck Championship is still one of the best monster truck titles out there and if you love monster trucks, no other monster truck game will satisfy your monster truck thirst like Monster Truck Championship
Final Score: 8.5/10
