Thumper
Released: Oct 10, 2016
Game Length: 8 Hours
Grade: C
Expectations: Do you remember that rhythm game a long time ago back in 2008 called Audiosurf where you could plug in any song and ride along with the rhythm? Well while perusing the indie game recommendations from other people, this one game that looked quite similar came across my view. It had awesome reviews and people kept talking about how it was the best rhythm game ever made. What could go wrong?
Reality: Come to find out, much can go wrong. There are roughly 9 levels with around 25 stages each. Each stage introduces a new concept. Levels 1 and 2 were pretty straight forward. You react to your typical bumps in the road, slant to the left or right when a turn comes your way, and listen to drums in the deep. Everything happening around you is pretty surreal like you are taking a power trip through Space Odyssey. There are no prompts other than what you get from the introductory stages. I tried with and without a headset, but I found little difference between the two. At one point I realized that the intensity of the environment and focus required for playing was tearing my thumbs apart.
Moves: When I reached level 3, something wasn't working right. They introduced the ability to send shockwaves down the path to blow up the enemy's shields by pressing down on the joystick, but nothing was happening as I passed the same circuit twenty times. Even the manual wasn't helpful. Come to find out, I was supposed to go against reacting to the bump and "hold down the A button" through the whole procedure. Things only got more complicated from there when the music was becoming less noticeable in the background from all the off-beat maneuvers. I had to react faster and longer during the stages in level 4 since you are only allowed one mistake before it costing your life. Forget trying to get a good score, I was trying to survive at that point. After reaching level 5 with at the most 4 hours of gameplay behind me, I decided to call it quits. Despite the massive wave of positive reviews it received, I'd have to agree with the few negative reviewers like Nebu and Andreas for pointing out why this game most certainly did not feel like a rhythm game to me.
11-14-2020