Monster Garage

Based on the popular TV show of the same name, Monster Garage promises hours of fun for gearheads. If you’ve always dreamed of customizing your car, but don’t want to risk hopelessly falling into debt, perhaps this is the game for you.

As cool as the concept of Monster Garage sounds on paper, the execution of this game is as unfinished as humanly possible. The result is a disappointing, disjointed mess of concepts that never reach their full potential. Not even the best team of mechanics could fix this mess, even though there’s a lot of promise under the hood.

Construction Challenges

If you’ve ever watched the Discovery Channel TV show, you pretty much know what Monster Garage is about. Motorcycle guru Jesse James and his team of mechanics receive a barely functional vehicle and turn it into some kind of over-the-top hotrod.

That same formula applies to this game. Each level is represented as challenges, which are then split into four different phases: design, construction, decoration, and trial. The name of each phase is pretty much self-explanatory, but the lack of any real thought put into the gameplay kills most of the fun that the game could possibly deliver.

If you were expecting Need for Speed Underground levels of customization, don’t keep your hopes up. While players will get to order custom parts for their vehicles, and manufacture specialized gear for each vehicle, the overall gameplay is too shallow for most racing games enthusiasts.

Minigames and Handling

Most of the customization parts are done via minigames. These activities usually involve following some dotted lines or simply mashing a button as fast as you can. While it might be fun to actually work on your customized machines, the results always look the same, no matter how good or bad you do at the minigames.

As we mentioned before, once your car is done, there’s usually a small test to see if every part is working properly. These trials are never too complicated and are usually there just as an added bonus to see your vehicle in action. While they might look downright ugly, there’s no denying the satisfaction of seeing your car working after all the hard work you’ve poured into it.

The handling during these test segments is functional enough. You won’t get real-life simulations like those you’ll see in Gran Turismo, but that was never Monster Garage’s intention. For what they are, these trials are undoubtedly the best part of the game, and make every excruciating moment spent in the garage mode worth your while.

Also, there’s a limited selection of heavy metal tracks to accompany both your work and the test runs. If you’re a fan of the genre, then you’ll definitely appreciate the soundtrack. If you’re not too keen on heavy metal, though, the audio quality is more than serviceable, especially when it comes to the sound of the power tools and other garage sounds.

Pros

• Nicely detailed parts in the garage mode
• Good soundtrack
• Great sound design
• Many cars to customize

Cons

• Downright ugly visuals
• Messy UI
• Gameplay lacks some real depth and variety