Thumper (PSVR)

System: PSVR 1
Price at Time Of Review: £15.99
Comfort Rating: Yellow (Mild Movement)
Genre: Music and Rhythm
Input: DualShock Controller
Best Playing Position: Sitting
Multi-Player: No
Age Rating: PG

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Description: Thumper is rhythm violence: classic rhythm-action, blistering speed, and brutal physicality. You are a space beetle. Brave the hellish void and confront a maniacal giant head from the future.

Scream down the endless track and crash through punishing obstacles with simple, airtight controls. Hurtle forward, master new moves, reach overwhelming velocities, and survive adrenalizing boss battles. Every crushing impact is interwoven with a pounding original soundtrack. To reach synesthetic bliss, you must go through rhythm hell.

Review: Thumper is a rhythm action game that sees to racing down trippy neon light tracks as what looks like a chrome coloured space beetle! (Oh, don’t worry it does get stranger), while music is at this game’s core there is also a pretty aggressive rail shooter underneath complete with multiple enemies and even the odd boss battle. But yet the game is also the usual musical affair and consists of pressing a button at the right time. Of course, later on in the 9 levels, things get a lot harder.
This is a game that you need to concentrate on from the start of each level to the end of it. There are things to collect, things to avoid and things to shoot in every level and you just never know when they might all show up. Each level is very much like a song you might play from the charts. There are choruses and verses and the tempo will obviously determine what the track ahead will look like. It is just a shame you can’t play it with your own music instead of their choice.

While the game itself is a trippy, all-action affair, the VR element of it feels rushed and ultimately pointless. Actually, that is a tad harsh because it makes for a trippy experience in VR. My point is that it is just an add-on. While it might be fun and psychedelic to look at it is also nauseating and at times difficult to handle with all the flashes and sparks. Worth seeing, yes it is, but no it is not worth playing. Play this game because it is a great rhythm game that really brings something new to the table for you to look at, but stick to the 2D version on the screen. Trust me, your stomach will thank you for it.