Thumper Review

"Thump Thump"

Campaign

Thumper is a rhythm violence game where the goal is move across this long streak at blistering speeds while gracefully surviving the obstacles that lay ahead. Split into nine levels and a pile of chapters within them you'll attempt to survive the track in order to tackle the many boss sections that are thrown in. The violent aspect of it comes from the attacks you pull off against the many terrifying monster creatures that come across your path. It plays somewhat like an endless type game moving along a smooth tracking that's calculated and challenging, yet fair in its checkpoints. You're also constantly acquiring new abilities or challenges while moving forward and these are introduced well into play. These include things such as bumps on the ground requiring you to fly or sharp angles that you need to smack against for a directional change. It can get really difficult at times yet the challenge it provides only seems to drive you forward with the feeling of moving ahead being a great one. All chapters are also scored based on your performance in lining up just the rights hits and being right on top of the beats. It's also a very long game as well providing a great level of content, variety and intrigue as you continue to blast down the track.

Gameplay

As mentioned previously it does take the endless game formula and creates a distinct path of gameplay. While simple in concept it's brutal and requires quick input for you to continue forward. The controls are basic though they provide many variations of how you get through spaces and you'll constantly need to pay full attention. It isn't the most forgiving game, but it does give you a fair chance to recover after making a mistake. The world is absolutely stunning being filled with an array of colors and crazy shapes in the backdrop all against an almost magical musical beat. This comes from the rhythm portion of it and I do want to mention that it's not entirely beat focused as some similar games are. It's also a twisted world with some crazy looking bosses attempting to destroy your little metallic beetle and despite the difficulty there's a drive to keep zooming forward.

Thumper Screenshot

The Conclusion

Thumper is an absolute blast providing a nightmarish world filled with a desire for speed and brutal music based obstacles to maneuver through. It packs a great amount of gameplay in across its nine levels and will also challenge you for the best scores. There are some portions that might be quite difficult, but this is where some sort of remembrance comes in and when you do beat them it's a great feeling. I found it to provide a good balance between the sections with some areas being an easy blast through whereas others took a few attempts to nail. Thumper's bosses are also terrifying in design, yet match the dark and colorful world beautifully. It's a very distinct game that provides great content and a solid campaign to battle through.


Thumper for Playstation 4
Review Code Provided by itsgimme.tv


Rating Overall: 9.0

Gamerheadquarters Reviewer Jason Stettner