Thumper PSVR2 Review

thesixthaxis.com:

It’s hard to believe that Thumper originally launched in 2016. The self-professed rhythm-horror game started out on the PS4 and was amongst the first raft of titles for the original PSVR. It subsequently popped up on every single VR platform, spreading its vicious surrealist action into as many eyes as possible, remaining a stone-cold VR classic. It’s gratifying then to find it’s made the jump to Sony’s shiniest new creation, the PSVR2, and that all the wonderful new technology in it makes this absolutely the best way to experience Thumper’s sensory-overloading charms.

There is a mild disappointment at first, as this is a paid upgrade for anyone that owns the PS4/PSVR original. However, it’s a very acceptable £3.99, making it the cheapest of the current paid PSVR2 upgrades – here’s hoping that a few more follow No Man’s Sky free path – but whether you’ve played before or not, it’s an absolute must for anyone looking to expand their early catalogue.

Thumper defines itself as rhythm-horror, and it’s a tagline that makes very little sense until you experience it. The first step towards that horror tag is its unsettling and overwhelming atmosphere, its visuals dripping in psychedelia, surrealism and Lynch-ian weirdness. You take control of an armoured beetle, and it’s careening down an unravelling path that shifts and undulates in the distance. As you ride this rail you’re assaulted with a range of twists and turns that you have to navigate with the correct button presses, each movement or interaction adding further staccato bites to the vicious soundtrack. Having played most rhythm-action games of the last twenty years, I can safely say that Thumper is unlike anything else.

Correctly timing each of these beats, corners or