Thumper | PS4

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The developers at Drool recently announced they were bringing their “rhythm violence” game, Thumper, to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch following a successful launch on PlayStation 4 and PC last year. This news was the perfect excuse to go back and finish what we started in October, which, while tardy, did lead us to encounter a number of new features introduced through excellent (and free) post-launch support.

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​by Sam
​Sant

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​@SlamShotSam

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Developer: Drool
Publisher: Drool
Platforms: PS4, PC
Players: 1

A PS4 Pro patch integrated 4K/HDR at a maintained 60FPS, making for a gorgeous experience when playing Thumper on your television (provided it supports those features), while also boosting resolution in the game’s VR mode to make it all-the-more immersive. Amongst a suite of bug fixes, VR mode’s distracting image drifting issue has also been squashed to ensure you'll have a smoother time regardless of your console's model. Perhaps most significantly, PLAY + is an entirely new mode in which you aim to survive Thumper’s nine levels with the difficulty cranked up and just a single life - which is no mean feat!

Though that’s all well and good, you’re probably still wondering what exactly a “rhythm violence” game is. It’s not too far removed from your average music rhythm game, as it turns out, only a little more hallucinatory. You guide a hurtling metallic beetle around a linear track suspended in neon nothingness, reacting to incoming notes in order to drift, flap, flutter and stomp your way to culminating boss encounters at exhilarating speed.

These behemoths spawn from the abyss and loom in the distance as you try to keep your eyes on the track, instead of them. Completing a perfect pass of the notes the heavy metal monsters send your way allows you to launch a retaliatory shockwave, and, by continuing to complete increasingly difficult loops, eventually defeat them.

You guide a hurtling metallic beetle around a linear track suspended in neon nothingness.

Thumper becomes seriously challenging with the introduction of new note types, lane hopping and frequent breakneck corners in its latter half - especially if you’re looking to land S Ranks for the accompanying achievements/trophies - but frequent checkpoints mean you’ll never lose a great deal of progress. The level of difficulty definitely helps drive engagement, but, as it can’t be tweaked, there’s a very real possibility you might not be able to complete the game if you tend to struggle with rhythm games at higher difficulty settings.

As ever, practice makes perfect, and it’s in persistence that you’ll find yourself achieving flow and losing hours in what feels like the blink of an eye. There’s a Rez-like sense of synaesthesia that drags you into the illusive “zone” as your actions produce the addictive audio track, which, in turn, helps dictate your actions. This beat encourages a thrilling game of chicken that, should you choose to risk leaving actions until the last executable moment, offers rewards both aural and tangible (the latter by dishing out more points).

When it’s so easy to play for long sessions, you’d be forgiven for approaching the VR mode with a degree of trepidation as some are subject to discomfort as a direct result. We didn’t experience any problems on that front, in fact, thumb-ache set in first. With no comfort downsides, sticking a headset on is the best way to play in our minds. The 3D display helps with depth perception to make your timings naturally more accurate, while endlessly sprawling stages and giant bosses inspire a sense of awe that’s lacking on the flat display of a TV screen.

There’s a Rez-like sense of synaesthesia that drags you into the illusive “zone” as your actions produce the addictive audio track.

Whichever way you experience it, Thumper plays like an absolute dream, boasting striking visual and audio design all the while. It's demanding level of challenge will keep you coming back, never failing to recapture that euphoric zen-state you can’t help but linger in. Throw in excellent post-launch support that ironed out issues we had with the original release, as well as introducing some very significant upgrades, and Thumper is an easy recommendation for fans of VR and the rhythm genre alike.

Pros

• Super responsive, even at ridiculous speeds
• Great VR implementation, but not to the detriment of the standard mode
• Places you into a trance as you and the game become in tune
• Fantastic post-launch support from the team at Drool
• Boss battles add some spice to the rhythm game formula

Cons
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• Will be too taxing for some players​

Score 9/10

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​If you're a PlayStation VR fan, enter our giveaway to be in with a chance of winning Double Fine's excellent adventure game, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin.