Thumper Review (Some Foreign Guy Named Jeff)
One of the most unique takes on a "rhythm game" I have yet to see. Thumper hones in on being intense and fast-paced, with near split-second reactions that prove challenging, but entirely doable; leading to an incredibly gratifying experience to both play and view.
The game offers frequent checkpoints throughout each level and allows you to pause and jump between levels at any point if you so choose, however greatly rewards commitment and truly tests the player's ability with some more drawn out parts scattered in each level.
Thumper makes a clear point even in the earliest levels, to try and seemingly trick the player by throwing a series of obstacles out of beat or that are barely noticeable. But as of passing some of the later levels, it became apparent that the obstacles themselves were being used as part of the soundtrack; often the level demanding for you to interact with the soundtrack rather than simply copy the beat, creating a unique and all the more satisfying experience as your success is shown both visually and audibly.
If I were to truly critique it on one thing, it is that some obstacles and visual / audio queue's are lost at points to an occasional overload of the games extremely flashy visual style; making these obstacles virtually impossible to notice unless you had prior knowledge of them.
With all that said, Thumper is an incredibly challenging and sometimes taxing game, I would not recommend expecting to complete this game in a single sitting as it also proves taxing even after just a single level. However I would be lying if I didn't say that it has thus far been one of the most enjoyable games i've played from this genre, and that I would highly recommend it to anyone who can handle it.