Review: THRASHER
THRASHER is the next game from the team behind THUMPER, one of the first games I tried in VR and one that sold me on committing to this medium of gaming. So, when this was announced it instantly became one of my most anticipated upcoming games, however I was worried about all the advertising being hand-tracking gameplay.
Release Date: July 25th 2024
Developer: Puddle
Publisher: Creature
Price: £14.99
Reviewed On: Meta Quest 3
* Access Provided For Review *
Magnificent Space Eel
As with THUMPER the premise of THRASHER’s gameplay is a simple one but, it soon becomes clear its not all as easy as it seems and it is going to be hard to master. In the game you will have control of a space eel, that you will control with the movement of your hand, with the aim of destroying certain objects by flying through them.
However, as you progress further objects you will need to avoid are thrown into the mix, these are highlighted by being red in color. Soon you will getting some power-ups that will help to destroy some of these but, you will need to mix this with swooping through them to get to the power-ups. This all starts to become very fast paced as both what you need to destroy to complete the wave and the red blockers start to speed up.
The aim of the game is to get through each of the waves within the minute you are given and in the fastest time possible, to get your place on the leaderboard. As you start to learn more about the game you can start to stack up combos in order to get time back but, beware if you try to get too smart you can easily hit a blocker and loose you combo and also two-seconds of your time for each collision – hence the aforementioned hard to master comment. After you complete nine-waves you will take on a Leviathan over three-separate encounters for each one you take on, with each encounter increasing in difficulty.
Although all the trailers show the game being played using hand-tracking it can be played with a controller. The way the game works in both modes is the eel will follow either the movement of your hand or the controller. For this review I played the majority of it with the hand-tracking, as this is something I normally try to avoid using as I am not really a fan – but I was left overall impressed with how THRASHER played like this. However, when playing with the controller it seemed much more responsive to me and moving forward this will be my preferred way to play it.
An Assault On Your Senses
If you have played THUMPER, you will be very familiar with the look of THRASHER. With a very striking visual style that offers simplicity while maximising little touches to make it look outstanding and a feast for your eyes at the same time. This is done with matching the effects and visuals you are taking in perfectly with the music, as with THUMPER it is really difficult to explain how well this all comes together and, it really is something you need to see for yourself.
Brian Gibson has also given the game a fantastic soundtrack mixed with perfect sound effects, which is what sold THUMPER to me and even made me buy the soundtrack on Steam. With him managing to make a game that feels just as visceral as THUMPER, although the gameplay is completely different – due his fantastic understanding of how to make a perfect audiovisual experience.
If you have a good pair of headphones, I would strongly recommend ditching the inbuilt Quest speakers for THRASHER, as the experience is only amplified with headphones for this sort of game.
Comfort
The Verdict
The team behind THUMPER have done it again and brought VR another fantastic audiovisual experience with THRASHER. Although, continuing a similar look and sound design as THUMPER, they have changed the gameplay completely – but, with their understanding of mixing visuals and audio it still feels just as visceral. The gameplay will start off simple and soon become a lot more difficult as more elements are thrown into the mix. Once you start to get the hang of the combo system and are swooping, dashing and circling your way through the waves, it really becomes a fast-paced and exhilarating experience. If you enjoyed THUMPER you are certainly going to love THRASHER.