Diving into my backlog to try to slice away a sliver of it, I ran across a game I'd picked up some years back, Monster Trucks Nitro. It's a racing/puzzle game (or is that puzzle/racing?) that, if you're familiar with the Trials series of games, it's the same gameplay premise, by the same team, but with monster trucks. And less skill required. And less polish. Less fun. Worse graphics. Worse controls. Less character. It's basically a poor man's Trials (except it costs on par with MUCH better Trials games).
For those unfamiliar with Trials (you should really try the series, later releases at least), you're put into a side-scrolling level and premise is simply to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible (to progress in MTN, you'll need to meet at least the bronze medal time) by maneuvering over or under (and occasionally through) obstacles. This is where the puzzle aspect comes into play. Trying to figure out what to do and when to do it. Sometimes, you may need to stop briefly while an elevator raises you up, but start JUST before the top to have momentum to carry forward before the elevator drops again. Other times you may need to stop and softly drop off a ledge, to gain speed you wouldn't have had if you'd have just let gravity pull you down by falling. It's a VERY simple concept that done right (a lot of the levels in Trials games) can be super fun and challenging.
Controls are quite simple. You have buttons for rolling (essentially pitch, but given the 2D gameplay nature, we'll go with roll) left & right, as in forward or backwards. Then you'll have accelerate, brake and for speed boosts, a nitro. The nitro is ONLY available when picking up nitro bottles on certain tracks to complete areas of it. There is also a change view option, which to be honest, I never even thought to try. There is no controller support, which is kinda pathetic given this type of game SCREAMS controller...and it was released well after Xbox 360 controllers had began to become the standard for PC gamepads, but Steam has you covered with built in controller configuration.
As you probably gathered from the opening paragraph, I wasn't too thrilled with Monster Trucks Nitro. It's not a bad game. It's just a bland one. On its own, it's not bad. But given that the Trials series exists, this pales in comparison. That being said, if you can snag it for a buck or two, it's probably worth that. But the issue is that they are still charging the outrageous price of $20 on Steam for it. This means even at 75% off sale, it’s still $5. It is, without question, severely overpriced even at $5. So if you grab it in a bundle, it will probably be worth redeeming to your account. There is some mild enjoyment to be had. Otherwise, if you're buying straight up, if you get it for 95% off ($1) then it's a maybe pick it up. If it's 90% ($2), then ONLY if you're a huge fan of the genre. But for $20? Avoid this like the plague as there is ZERO chance that the short length (25 levels) is worth your money.
