When comparing Thumper vs Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, the Slant community recommends Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition for most people. In the question“What are the best PS4 (PlayStation 4) games?” Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is ranked 51st while Thumper is ranked 170th. The most important reason people chose Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is:
You'll immediately notice how nice it feels to attack the enemies with each slash, strike and shot having an impact behind it. Enemies will flinch, get thrown back and get suspended mid-air from your attacks, making it feel like you're always the dominant force. It's especially amusing seeing an enemy flail about and slamming it into the ground with your demonic arm. Some of the stylistic elements add fun as well. The prime example is Nero's greatsword the Red Queen, which is equipped with a motorcycle-like gear shift. You can use the gear shift mid-combo to add a flame effect to your sword. This increases your damage and the range of your combos and also looks very nice. It's especially awesome to see your character ascend in a whirlwind of flames.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Unique blend of rhythm gameplay and racing-like speed
Thumper is a rhythm game mixed with fast-paced action, setting itself apart from other titles in the genre. Your "character" is a vehicle that runs on rails in a track, with certain speedbump-like indicators on the road that show up in sequence. You have to press the button prompts in time with your vehicle driving over the indicators, ideally to the correct rhythm to the beat to rack up points. It can be tough going at full speed and catching all of the button prompts while staying in-sync with the song, but the payoff is incredibly satisfying.
Pro Intense controls and responsive feedback
Other than visual cues, the visceral feedback you get from timing your button presses just right helps keep you on-beat. Getting that timing down rewards you with an addicting rumble, helping you feel the rhythm in your hands. With your vehicle moving at such crazy speeds, pressing the right buttons on-beat simulates the feeling that you're really in the driver's seat, listening to the music playing at full volume all around you. Pressing the buttons correctly with feedback helps keep you glued to the game, motivating you to go after higher and higher scores.
Pro Playing in VR adds a whole new layer to the game
Virtual Reality makes Thumper much more fun and intense. Along with the feeling of the controls putting you in the seat of the vehicle, you're actually put into the game itself, surrounded by the visuals. The lights, the music, and the rumbles all feel more up-close-and-personal, as if you're part of the environment itself. Thumper is compatible with VR on both PlayStation 4 and PC, so anyone with a headset for either platform will be able to try it out for themselves.
Pro Really cool psychedelic visuals
Thumper looks stunning. The futuristic vibe with the flashing blues, purples, and reds everywhere. The road your vehicle travels on jets through a seemingly endless void that changes depending on the stage, such as showing off bosses that appear as large, abstract enemies looming overhead. The trippy visuals are pretty neat, making the game stand out more along with its unique gameplay.
Pro Fun combat
You'll immediately notice how nice it feels to attack the enemies with each slash, strike and shot having an impact behind it. Enemies will flinch, get thrown back and get suspended mid-air from your attacks, making it feel like you're always the dominant force. It's especially amusing seeing an enemy flail about and slamming it into the ground with your demonic arm.
Some of the stylistic elements add fun as well. The prime example is Nero's greatsword the Red Queen, which is equipped with a motorcycle-like gear shift. You can use the gear shift mid-combo to add a flame effect to your sword. This increases your damage and the range of your combos and also looks very nice. It's especially awesome to see your character ascend in a whirlwind of flames.
Pro Great soundtrack
Most of the battle music has the lyrical styling of progressive rock while mixing in dark electronica guitar riffs. It matches the rhythm and speed of the battles really well, spurring on your combos and devastating attacks.
The exploration sections and cutscenes have an entirely different style of music. It ranges from divine vocals accompanied with organ music to eerie pieces with harp and piano sounds creating a bone-chilling ambience.
Pro Highest level of combat depth in any hack and slash game
An open-ended cancelling system (Jump Cancelling) stacked with individual character mechanics (Dante styles and style/weapon switching, Nero ACT and parries, Vergil being Vergil, Lady and Trish are the weakest in terms of combo-ability of the 5 but you can still style with them) and system physics create a combat masterpiece that rewards practice and creativity.
Pro There's a bunch of stuff to do even after beating the game
You can replay the game on higher difficulties, try to find all the hidden missions or collect all the upgrades. You can even try to get the max style rank on all the missions. Doing any of these will award you extra collectibles or unlock new modes.
There's also the The Bloody Palace, which is an arena consisting of 101 levels. Each level contains enemies and bosses found within the main game. The first few levels are quite easy, but each level becomes increasingly more difficult. Only the most skilled players can reach the end, giving you another goal to strive for.
Cons
Con Might be difficult for players who are new to rhythm games
Thumper can be too hard if you've never played a rhythm game before. Because everything moves at such high speeds right from the start, you may miss a lot of the button inputs and get discouraged. Even for experienced players, it takes some practice before getting used to the flow of gameplay.
Con Short playtime
A single playthrough will only take you about seven hours. However, if you go for a completionist playthrough to chase after high scores, then you'll get an extra dozen or so hours out of the game.
Con Occasional difficulty spikes
Upon reaching the first boss you'll encounter the first difficulty spike. The boss attacks a lot faster and stronger than the enemies leading up to it. Messing up means you'll die in a couple of seconds, which can be really frustrating. Especially because you have to switch gears so suddenly and adapt to a new playstyle, where the enemy stands on equal footing.
Con Recycled stage designs and lack of character-specific bosses
Capcom basically just slapped on the 3 new characters (Lady, Trish, and Vergil) and they suffer the same problems that Dante does, and that's lack of bosses designed specifically for their toolset. They run through the same bosses and levels instead of getting unique missions.