Quick Look: Thumper

Let's get Thumping!

this game is god damn incredible

The scoring is actually pretty intricate, someone on twitter tried really looked into it and found out some interesting stuff.

Edit: Welcome to level 5 motherfucker. it only gets worse from here

This is probably the best rhythm game I've played in years. It's amazing.

Beating the last level and boss felt like a real achievement. Going for the S ranks now which is pretty fucking intimidating, seeing as there's pretty much no one on the leaderboards with S ranks on the last few levels.

I don't usually like these kinds of games. But there is something about this that makes me really want to play it.

This looks like the Devil Daggers of rhythm games. I should get it (when it's a little cheaper).

This looks amazing.

As Vinny pointed out like 10 minutes in, as a person that hasn't actually played this game, I find the gameplay ..well maybe not "incomprehensible" but certainly really confusing as to when you are pressing or holding what. Like just watching someone play it I'm having a really hard time keeping up with whats going on. Is this a lot simpler when you actually play it because I'm thinking of getting it but if the gameplay is as hard as it appears, from the outside looking in anyway, then maybe I shouldn't bother..

Good fucking lord this game looks intense.

I was pleased to hear that this game is not exclusive to VR because I've yet to give a single shit about VR but am totally in love with everything about this game. It looks awesome and sounds awesome and is probably damn satisfying to play.

Bravo Alex! Impressive performance under pressure.

Not my type of game, but I can appreciate the great slick visuals and industrial soundtrack going well together.

Fuck, Alex is savage at this.

This game looks incredible, and I was all in until Alex jumped ahead... Holy shit I just don't know if I can handle that level of intensity. I was always fairly mediocre at rhythm games so I'll be interested to hear the impressions of others who are only ok at this stuff.

Alex is really good at video games.

I LOVE THIS GAME. i am at the last boss of level 9 and i have been stuck for like a day because it's horrifyingly difficult. the game becomes increasingly more about teaching you the odd intervals in a rhythm (syncopation), and also how other meters intersect with a given rhythm (polyrhythms). it gets pretty musically technical but also i think it does a good job of ramping up in order for it to not be incomprehensible to people who don't already get stuff like polyrhythms. but i can see how someone who isn't a drummer/musician would bounce off it real hard. also something you may not have noticed: the level number corresponds to the number of beats in a bar throughout the track. so level 5 and level 7 are super hard because they're irregular time signatures. pretty vicious game but also very fun

edit: just beat it. hooooooly crap

The metallic quality and intensity of the soundtrack reminds of Gamelan:

Every time they describe this game's visuals as an 80s album cover they pretty much just mean Journey.

Holy psychedelic-epileptic-seizure balls.

Is this a record for least amount of talking in a Quick Look?

at what point does Trent Reznor start singing?

This game is mesmerizing.

Even just watching this I'm holding my breath the whole time. Its incredibly hypnotic and savage

GOD this looks so fucking cool.

This is one of the most unique and satisfying games I have played in years. I hope it's successful, because, well, it flippin' deserves it.

It's really simple from a control perspective, it's just X and the analog stick. The colored squares that are in the lane just require you to press X as they pass to get the points. The turns require you to be holding down X and holding the stick in the correct direction. The orange rods that do damage to you just require you to be holding down X as you go through them. The most complex maneuver is the "flying", which requires you to hold up on the stick as you hit a colored square, as long as you hold X and UP you'll stay flying. There are spikes and sometimes other obstacles to fly over, and the blue rings you see sometime are just bonus points you can only hit by flying. When you're flying you can suddenly put the stick to DOWN and if you time it with one of those colored squares you'll get bonus points (this is the "dropping the bass" maneuver that Alex mentioned).

Really a lot of it is making sure you hit a colored square and holding X until you need to hit the next square, since everything else is just stick movements + holding down X.

Worth mentioning that the developers have said that they intend to implement Rift and Vive VR support as well, it just only has PSVR at launch. Game looks very cool.

This game looks super cool and I'm into it but my life is really stressful right now and I think I would give myself an aneurysm if I actually played it. Might have to buy it and just let it sit for a while.

I don't normally play lane/rhythm game but I'm really liking the styyyle this game is exuding. Liking the Terminator-style beats too.

One of the reasons Level 5 is extra challenging is that it's 5/4 time, unlike the 4/4 of level 4.

Wow! Alex is amazing at this game. I've only played a little bit so far, but even the early levels were fairly difficult for me. The later levels look nearly impossible.

This is like Fear Factory the game

The rythm oozes TOOL!

I was sorta interested in this, and wanted to see if there was anything more to it other than what was shown by the west coast crew. As soon as I saw the lane switching, I had to buy the game.

Also: "Drum addled brain" is such a good phrase.

This game is really great. Also super well optimized considering it was able to run pretty well on my 6+ year old laptop. Got to level 6-9 but at that point the graphical effects become too intense and the frame rate went to shit. This is definitely a game you need a stable 60fps to play.

Sounds like a game for Syd Barett, Vinny.

I enjoyed what I got to play of it in VR last night.

I'd say it's a definite showpiece for the technology.

The proto-sequel to Dyad I always wanted.

Some people have been calling this game a low-key horror game? And I can TOTALLY see that.

Man... let me tell you. I beat all 9 levels a few days after release and you go through a damn spiritual journey. This game is FRIGHTENING, thrilling, frustrating, and sweet all at the same time. I'm not even kidding when I say I want to frame me beating the game and put it on my dang wall. That's how satisfying it was to get through this.

Note: people who are trying to S rank all the courses are machines. Dude...

Double Note: don't be afraid to give this a shot if you're not musically inclined! I'm not a drummer or anything really, I'm just stubborn and quick on the uptake.

This game makes me uncomfortable.

Only starting level 5 myself, but I already think this is one of my top ten games of the year.
Every little sound during my workday has made me aware of the rhythm it makes after starting playing this.
The last time I had such a visceral reaction to movement, rhythm and music in a game was the first tree you flee out of in "Ori and the Blind Forest", which I promptly started playing again after realizing so. Never got much farther than that. I hope playing both of these games mean I keep my rhythm game fresh, so that I'll be able to beat them both.

This game seems great, but I'm worried playing it would mess with my anxiety. It seems super intense constantly.

This game looked so sick in the VR stream. Felt like it was sucking me inside the game.

The way Alex kept referring to his being a drummer is doing this game a disservice, I think. I am not a musician, and I've S ranked every level so far (level 5), and I'm not saying that to brag as I seriously don't think it's that hard to achieve (although I imagine it gets harder). I would say this game has 2 minds, the visual and the musical. You can play it listening to the rhythm, or you can play it visually, kinda like an endless runner of some sort (obviously it's a mix of both, and not so black and white).

I haven't spent a lot of time repeating levels to get the S ranks, I mostly get them on the first try as there is a HUGE delta between getting an S, and actually playing for score (which I am not pursuing at this time). As someone who hasn't played the game a lot, I got the impression that Alex isn't very good at it (judging from his score on previous levels, and not just from this gameplay), and that's not a dig—who cares how good he is, and I suck at other games.

He doesn't seem to be aware of the combo mechanics, and how deep they get (I haven't had time to watch the last 15 minutes of the video, so maybe he mentions them). This game isn't simply about doing what it asks of you, you get a lot of freedom to experiment. For example, you can combo 2 notes by flying up on the first, and slamming down on the second. This gets expanded upon once you realize that you cannot turn while flying, except if you make a "perfect turn" waiting until the last second to start your drift.

My point is that I think this will click for some people, in a way that other rhythm games don't. If you think you're bad at rhythm games, give this one a shot, you might find yourself surprised at how easily you can wrap your head around it, and if you're a drummer, be aware you may still find this game difficult.

This looks rad as hell, but I'm afraid I'll get bored if every single track in the game is driving industrial drum machines and spooky ambient horrorscapes. I love that stuff, but dunno if it's enough to keep me interested for an entire rhythm game.

@themaxmeister: I'm not going to make any claims to me being great at this game or anything, but as I mentioned early on, I haven't really gone back to try and replay any levels since I started on this, so most of those scores you saw were my first attempts at those levels.

I wasn't trying to imply that you needed to be a drummer to get into this game, but that's where my perspective comes from. The polyrhythms this game deals in are definitely hitting at the same parts of my brain that function while I'm playing drums.

i guess i spent too many years listening to einsturzende neubauten, throbbing gristle, laibach and other music kind of like this that I just can't get into the "music" at all although they played a game that sounded like dental drills on the VR stream which was way worse but still not pleasant to my ears.

I also dont get why they call this a "rhythym violence game" and it kind of seems pretentious the way some people are treating this game because it isn't necessarily fun to watch someone play from all of the streams they've shown of it. but I'm sure its fun to play it so to each their own!

Credit to Alex, having played quite a bit of this (love it) I cannot think of a game that would be harder to speak and play at the same time.

BREAKING ALEX!

Loving the game. Feels like a real masterpiece. From what i understand, 2 pepole worked on this for 7 years? Must have been a real passion project and it shows. Mindblowing amounts of depth in the design and scoring system. From the first tutorial the levels are designed with endgame mechanics in mind. Its like the Fez of rythm games.

Edit: Oh yes please lets have a breaking Alex!