Every year in gaming there is always a boatload of great titles, okay titles, bad titles and a few, so terrible, you need a minute to contemplate why they even got published. When the PlayStation redefined how many people own game systems, this rule of gaming increased tenfold. Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction is a product of this rule. Its clear to see Ubi Soft acquired the Monster Truck license, put their WORST developer to work on its game, and let the rest be history. In no way, shape or form should Monster Jam EVER have been released, as it is clearly an insult to the gaming communitys intelligence.

Graphically, Monster Jam is so ugly, I was taken aback at first. Im talking second-generation PSone ugly! Everything is rendered in the lowest resolution possible and the detail in the environments is disgustingly scarce at best. Id have a little empathy if the Trucks themselves were detailed decently, yet they suffer from the same artistry as the environments. Lets not forget poor texturing across the board and aliasing as far the eye can see. What irked me most though, is the cars you can crush consist of just two sprites; one where the car is fine, and another where its crushed. Instantly, the fun of crushing cars is ruined by the sloppy sprite-swapping technique the developers chose to use. Graphics dont get any worse on the PS2.

Gameplay-wise, Jam only gets worse. The main mode has you battling other Monster Trucks in different arenas, Twisted Metal-style. The problem is the game is about as deep as a pre-school splash pool. The stages are much too confined for the size of the trucks, and the camera doesnt help matters either. Especially apparent in the Stadium stage (which is WAY too small) the camera continually gets hung up and always seems to obstruct rather than assist. A season mode is included, but is basically just a few normal battles strung together. Best part though is that when you die, just once, during the season, at any time, its game over (note that was sarcasm). There are 6 mini-games included too, but they either consist of race others, or kill others. One (slightly) good aspect is the large amount of Monster Trucks to choose from, however they all handle exactly the same. During season mode, you can upgrade the Trucks with money won from the battles, but the difference is totally nonexistent. During each battle, an optional boss truck is included in a hidden room, but his insane difficulty outweighs any benefits of destroying him. I would have enjoyed a Stunt mode (similar to the one in Stuntman) where you just crush cars and flip your truck. Sadly, any innovation with this game will likely be from the players imagination.

The developers didnt even make an effort with Jams sound, they simply settled with mediocrity. The sound effects are very poor quality and dont do these huge trucks justice. The announcer only says about five different lines and his voice is muffled almost incoherently. Worst though, is the god-awful music, some of the most generic crap rock Ive heard in a long, long time. There is no saving grace in the sound department for Jam.

The main problem with Jam is that all of its modes are painfully similar, not to mention devoid of any real value. Ive only gotten less than three hours total out of all of the games modes and yet, I have no desire to go back. The Exhibition and Season modes are the same, aside from Seasons ability to let you upgrade the Trucks, and the mini-games are simply not fun. Had the upgrades made a difference or the unlockable trucks been worthwhile, I probably would have played more. But theyre not.

Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction is so far the worst quality game Ive had to play for the PS2. I really cant think of anything worse than that to say. The game is just bad, and has no worthwhile redeeming qualities. Had some of the aspects I mentioned earlier even been included, the game still would have been really low quality. There really is nothing else to say. This game is bad dont play it. Thats it.