While the game has been out since last year on the last-gen machines, we didn't touch it until 2021 when the new-gen versions came monstering out of the gate. Did the wait change anything? It depends on what you want from a game purporting to be simulator first in a sport that relies heavily on a fun OTT style of exhibition.

Which is to say, we found the whole thing a mixed bag and one that maybe suffers from identity crisis. Here's a snippet:

Out of the gate, while not a series expert, I’ve run my fair share of racing games and extreme and action sports oriented titles, as well as games of a simulation nature. I have, of course, also seen plenty of monster truck action both IRL and on a passive screen. But it’s the videogame version that brings all of the above together in both a fun and frustrating way. However, like that first time experiencing the literal stadium seat vibration of multiplied horsepower on display out in the muddy playground in front of you, in a real life setting, you’re more easily grabbed with the fun and aforementioned spectacle than by its linear nuance that borders on repetition and trolling.

Click here for our full Monster Truck Championship review.