pouët.net

So, you control a space beetle speeding on a rail along abstract procedural backgrounds to a genuinely unnerving industrial soundtrack. Your goal is to kill an interdimensional being called Crakhed. Well, shit.

This is basically an indie rhythm game, or as the devs themselves call it, a "rhythm violence" game—either way it certainly sets itself apart from the rest of the genre. And it looks and feels a lot like an extremely well done interactive demo. It received tons of awards for its graphics/music/design aesthetics.

Some videos to see what I'm talking about: trailer 1, trailer 2.

Features of interest:
• A ton of procedural elements, including the majority of graphics and music.
• Rendering to kill for. Looks impeccable and runs flawlessly on old PCs. Supports VR, too. The PS4Pro version runs in native 4K with AA.
• Custom engine made from scratch by a single person (which is half the entire team).
• Music and design by the bassist of a noise rock band Lightning Bolt (another half). None of the stupid pop/rock/dance songs nor typical African rhythms; a fully original, fully awesome soundtrack.
• The most confident sense of style and atmosphere since about Hotline Miami. A game where you can make a screenshot, print it out, and put on a wall in your office without feeling ashamed.
• Surprisingly, for a game as strongly rooted in the concept of audiovisual aesthetics, it's both challenging and fun. How about that.

(And yeah, I'm not affiliated with them, I've just been waiting for this game since early 2015, and finally got it last week.)

ruairi was saying good things about it on twitter a few days ago atleast.

hard to tell how the gameplay works from the trailers but i added it to my wishlist on steam atleast

cue in maali "ease down on those colors man"

looks fantastic, cant wait to play!

Well, the reviews make it seem like you need a certificate from a psychiatrist to say you're in a fit state of mind to play it. Count me in.

Couple of things.

First, can we stop calling things "demoscenish" just because they have glow on? I understand that we must try to force our niche on things outside the realm to have some sort of feeling of validation but I don't see how Thumper looks anything like Debris or Starstruck.

Second, I've been cautiously following this game ever since the announcement but it's been out for a week and I've yet to see someone explain how it's not like Audiosurf, other than the static soundtrack (which I suppose technically makes it Guitar Hero).

Third, let's ease up on the hyperbole - "custom engine" and "fully original" soundtrack are not a selling point, they're an entry level standard at best.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still fairly sure I'm gonna buy it, but at this stage I feel the hype exceeds my interest.

I stay immune to hype by being continuously out of touch.

This.

demoscene confirmed.

Okay you pricks, this better be good.



And if I may seem overly sceptical it's because the last time someone recommended me a "demoish" game on this BBS it ended up being one of the most fingernail-tearingly abysmal gaming experiences I ever had.

What do you guys think of the Nintendo Switch? :P

what does nintendo switch got to do with thumper?!

Okay so imagine playing a Meshuggah song you never heard before on Guitar Hero with the top half of the screen covered up with duct tape. That's how "fun" this game is.

Theres nothing better than some positive vibes. :)

Windows only, because of course it is. :/

wtf..

Makes me want to play Skyroads again !

That's how my grandfather would describe hip-hop, if he were still alive.

Thumper the game has a sweet drumba/drone/darkambient soundtrack, props to the Lightning Bolt bassist guy for the interactive sound design. However, the game is about as much "demoscene" as all those bloody 3D world flyby demos that overtly proliferated after a lot of demosceners got into teh game industry.

I take the opportunity to further promote the band Lightning Bolt. They ROCK. {1} {2}

It looks and sounds very pretty. Shame it's a game.

..so, rock is hiphop and african is american.
ok. thanks for clearing that for me!

Brian Gibson's standalone soundtrack for Thumper is the good news about this game for me. Instabuy.

it's demoscenish because it looks butt ugly and it's made in a weekend?

I find crude but sympathetic imperfections to be more in line with "demoscene-ish" things than games with superficial similarities regarding aesthetics that the scene neither invented nor popularized. Even stuff like SHENZEN I/O is more demoscene related in spirit than the n-th rhythm-based action game with shiny alpha-blended look-at-me-graphics.

Playing it in VR on my psVR ... FUCKING AWESOME.

yes the visuals are very demoscene'ish. screw the haters

just on a sidenote,

REZ's Area X mode in VR looks like you are flying thru a fairlight particle demo.

its even better than thumper =)

shout out to Bonzai and the VR mode on BOUND. very well done. glad i didnt play it until i got my vr headset (only the first level)

Bound also looks very demoscene'ish. guess nobody will talk shit about that one though=)