Thumper, End of Level 4, PSVR #1, PS4 Pro, Dualshock Controller
0The view is VR so some of the screen is cut off, sorry.
You're a beetle sliding along a track in a cosmic plane, confronting an evil force. I guess. That's what I think, that makes it cool. But level 4 of the game makes it more apparent that it's very music based and there are a lot of opportunities to grab bonus points. Because just getting through the obstacles is boring.
The controls and rules are simple:
- Press X to stomp, and hold X to gird yourself on the track. Push the analog stick to maneuver (left or right to change tracks or go through turns, up to fly, down to pounce while flying).
- Anything red is a hazard (mostly).
- You can survive one crash into a hazard as long as you have shields. After that, your shield breaks off and you can't survive another crash unless you can restore your shields.
- Hold X to survive breaking through red rods.
- Hold X and press left or right to survive sliding through turns (if you're flying, keep holding X and press left or right, and if you go through the turn perfectly, you'll keep flying).
- Press X to stomp the gems. Stomping them in succession may offer a bonus or power up a gem that you can grab. Powered up blue gems restore your shield, a powered up green gem fires a projectile at a boss. If you miss any green gems, the glowing gem at the end will get cancelled and you'll have to go through the progression again.
- If you stomp a gem and press up, you can fly for a short while. Flying allows you to score on the blue arcs above the track. Pouncing down on the next gem offers bonuses. Do that several times and you can get serious bonuses, I guess. Pouncing a gem also sends a shockwave through the track that will crack shields protecting a boss, if any.
The game helps you by keeping things in a musical beat rhythm. It feels pretty good. But it's also very easy to lose track of things if you let yourself get distracted, especially when you're trying to ready yourself for another stomp by lifting up on the X button and then crashing into something. Cool game.