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INTERVIEW WITH MONSTER JAM: URBAN ASSAULT PRODUCER AARON THOMPSON

Just under a year ago, Monster Jam made its return to video game consoles with great success. Activision's Monster Jam captured all the high flying, car crushing excitement of the live stadium and arena based Monster Jam events and brought that excitement home. Insane freestyle competitions, incredible indoor and outdoor races, and even the Monster Jam World Finals were captured in all their destructive glory.

With the next version of the game due in only a few months, we spoke to Activision game producer Aaron Thompson to get all the dirt (no pun intended) on the upcoming game titled Monster Jam: Urban Assault.

The original Activision Monster Jam game featured action inside stadiums and also in rural areas, like quarries and canyons. Just from the title, we know that Monster Jam: Urban Assault is taking us in whole new direction. Can you give us more information on exactly where we'll be wreaking havoc?

When we were thinking of what to do for a new Monster Jam game, we felt we had to make this one completely different from the first. We chose not to make "the sequel" or "Monster Jam 2". We chose to go a totally different direction and create a totally different video game. This left us with only one choice: throw the rules out the window and go for total destruction outside the normal Monster Jam environments. Wouldn't it be cool to wreak total havoc on city streets around the world? In Monster Jam: Urban Assault, players can unleash the raw power of the world's biggest and baddest monster trucks on the streets of New York, catch massive air down the streets of San Francisco or race through the back yards of London towns and the streets of Sydney, Australia!

What new stuff is out there just begging to be crushed? And will these new obstacles be specific to the setting?

That's the other thing that went hand and hand with cool places to race a monster truck ? cool things to crush! So in New York, for example, you get to run over taxi cabs. You can smash through double-decker buses in London, destroy trolley cars in San Francisco and much more. A major improvement in this game is also the sheer number of objects you get to destroy.

There were a number of different events in the last game, but I hear you have even more planned for Urban Assault. What are they?

More? Absolutely! We wanted to build the series by having completely new game modes with each new version so the player always has something to look forward to with the next game. With Monster Jam: Urban Assault, we have a game mode called "Head-to-Head". It's a 4-player race of three laps but two of the opponent trucks are racing in the opposite direction. So, now the player has to watch out for the other trucks, or maybe try to knock them off course. We also have a game mode called "Devastator", which lets the player run loose in a city setting, trying to destroy and crush as many things as they can. The damage bill is tallied at the end of the game and you win by having the highest destruction bill!

And this version will feature some insane Monster Jam-inspired mini-games, correct?

Correct! Again, we wanted to give the player a lot to look forward to and putting in fun and quick mini-games was the perfect fit. 4 mini-games have been added including "Air Strike", where you're challenged to destroy as much as you can off of five different ramps. In "Trickster" the goal is to perform as many tricks as you can - think of this one as a skateboard park for monster trucks.

So far, which mini-game is shaping up to be the craziest?

For sure, that would be "Skill Jump"! We have a monster-sized "skee ball"-like score board with different holes, each one netting you a certain amount of points. The object is to jump your monster truck though the highest-valued holes, and the one with the most points at the end wins.

But, for the Monster Jam purists, there'll still be plenty of traditional stadium action, correct?

Absolutely, we actually lengthened the run at Sam Boyd Stadium for the Monster Jam World Finals over the last game. We've also doubled the number of freestyle events the player gets to compete in and packed the stadiums to the brim with obstacles to crush - so many, in fact, that we couldn't fit them all in!

There were twenty trucks in the previous game ? is that number increasing?

You bet. We are now up to the world's top 27 trucks, including the hottest new trucks that debuted over the past 8 months on the Monster Jam tour.

Can you let any of the new trucks out of the bag yet, or is that info top secret?

For now, its top secret - but if you're signed up for the Monster Jam Weekly newsletter, you're in luck. That's where you'll find out about the new trucks and game features before everyone else. In addition, the Monster Jam website has a section solely dedicated to releasing features of Monster Jam: Urban Assault over the next two months as we lead up to the October 28th ship date.

I've heard there's a surprise truck in the game. Can you give us any hints about that?

Again, nice try - but you'll need to keep reading the Monster Jam newsletter to find out! We'll be announcing this truck at the end of October, just before the game gets shipped to retail. But rest assured, it's pretty cool.

Fair enough! We know you guys are sticklers for getting all the details of each individual truck correct. What did you have to do to get these new trucks in the game?

We took thousands of photos of each truck from every angle. We also asked the drivers of the trucks to give us feedback on how we can make them look better. We also went to as many events as we could, including the Monster Jam World Finals in Las Vegas, to see the trucks in action and take even more pictures.

The controls in the original Monster Jam game did a great job of capturing the feel of driving these huge beasts. What's new about the controls this time around, and how will that affect the game play?

In this version, we wanted to let the player do more tricks that would get them more points. So when you catch massive air off a jump and time it right you can perform a front flip, back flip, or flat spin, depending on how you turn the truck.

Last year, Jordan Rager won the inaugural Monster Jam Video Game National Tournament at the Monster Jam World Finals in Las Vegas.  Will you be running the National Tournament again?  What details can you provide?

Last year's tournament was a huge success and we're working on making this year's tournament even bigger and better. We'll have some very exciting news regarding the Monster Jam: Urban Assault National Tournament in the upcoming weeks.

And most importantly - when is the game available, and where can we get it?

The game will ship to all major retailers that carry video games on October 28th, 2008. Look for Monster Jam Urban Assault at Wal*Mart, GameStop, Best Buy, Toys R Us and Target.

Thanks Aaron, can't wait for October 28th!