THRASHER is a rhythm game about evolution from the artist behind THUMPER - first trailer
Pleasantly bizarre and out in 2024
Now we’re cooking. Terrific, demonic rhythm-basher THUMPER is getting a sequel of sorts called THRASHER, created by the first game's artist and composer Brian Gibson. It’s a weirdo racer in which you use gesture controls to evolve the creature you're controlling, in a “breakneck race for survival that begins at the dawn of time”. Which is certainly a concept. Will there be any flying hell triangles in this one? Will my thumbs be able to keep up, seven years after almost breaking them against the sneering face of THUMPER's world 3?
The game blends spatial audio with haptics and features a soundtrack once again created by Gibson (who is also bassist for Lightning Bolt). It sounds like it’ll be a touch more forgiving than THUMPER: according to the Steam page, you can “vibe out and enjoy the crazy journey, or push yourself to the limit by chaining together huge combos to worm your way up the rankings.” Always nice to have options.
In the course of the aforesaid "breakneck race for survival", you will level up from a space eel to a "megabeast". Each evolutionary step seems to involve a different set of mechanics. It's kind of Spore on acid.
"THUMPER is a triumph because it is evil," Alec Meer (RPS in peace) wrote back in 2016. "Its sounds grind and boom and quake, do something to the belly, tweak nerves along the spinal cord, create an overwhelming sensation that I am about to be murdered." Can THRASHER command the same blend of reverence and terror? We'll find out in 2024.
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