Developer: Yeah Us!
Publisher: Curve Digital
Platforms: PC, Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Tested On: PC
Pumped BMX Pro – Review
Three and a half years ago Yeah Us! developed an arcade sports game called Pumped BMX +. For a one man studio, Yeah Us! put out a great game with highly positive reviews. Now, we finally get a sequel to the successful title. Pumped BMX Pro is the next installment in the high adrenaline, fast-paced arcade BMX trickathlon. It’s up to you to prove you’re a pro. But you’re not the only one who’s got something to prove. Let’s see what Pumped BMX Pro has to offer.
Story
Since this a simple stunt-based game, no story is provided. There is no use for one either, so it’s all good. The game is all about completing various stunts and getting through the different levels. You do this by completing individual challenges. These can be to perform certain stunts or to reach a certain score.
As an introduction to Pumped BMX Pro, there is a short tutorial where you have to perform some stunts while the controls are shown. This to get you familiar with the various stunts and their names, and the controls to make them happen. That’s pretty much the flow of the game, and it’s enough.
Graphics
The graphics in Pumped BMX Pro are very simple. Not a lot of detail (or time it seems) was put into designing the riders or the bikes, but especially the riders. The characters are just as basic as they can be and dummy-like. Supposedly this is a good thing since a lot of crashing happens so it’s just dummies crashing to the ground. Still, some more lifelike riders would have been nice.
There are also various backgrounds like the woods and snowy mountains. While these are not the most beautiful and detailed backgrounds, they are still enjoyable to look at. There are some nice, brighter colors and sometimes a little something extra is added. For example, when doing a trail in the woods, a fox might cross your path. It’s things like this that make a rather boring setting a bit more interesting.
Sound
The music provided in the back has a good rhythm. Until it doesn’t. You’ll soon start to notice that the sound isn’t changing during a stage and you’re just listening to the same track over and over again. Chances are you will get annoyed by it. It’s a shame there wasn’t more than one track added per stage because this factor can definitely contribute to getting on your nerves.
Gameplay
Pumped BMX Pro is a sports game. You pick a rider and a bike and you try to make your way through the different levels. There are fifteen characters available and each one comes with their own bike. You can also pick another bike if you wish to.
There is a total of 60 levels in six different worlds. These worlds are just different places like the dark woods, the park and the mountains. Each level comes with a few challenges you have to complete in order to get through that level. It’s your goal to get to the end of each level with the highest score possible. There are two types of scores; Level Scores and Trick Scores. The Level Score takes into account all the stunts you’ve performed. The game offers over 40 stunts! The Trick Score looks at the variation and complexity of the stunts you’re puling off. As a little something extra, every level also comes with a leader board.
As mentioned before, there is a short tutorial that says what trick you need to perform and what controls are needed. There’s a total of four different tutorials to help you learn the basics. You can replay these tutorials whenever you please. But that’s it, there is no image of what a certain trick looks like, making it harder to perform it. Maybe just a simple screenshot or video would’ve made things a little more clear.
Pumped BMX Pro is easy to play but particularly hard to master. Trying to perform tricks and landing back on the ground have to be close to perfect because time and space management is of the essence. You only have a limited amount of space to pump your bike to build momentum for your next jump. You have to find a balance between concentrating on performing tricks and making a good landing to prepare for your next jump.
Luckily, when you die, you can try again (and again, and again, and again) very quickly. The game doesn’t take a lot of time to load and this is a big plus since you’re definitely going to be struggling and crashing a lot.
Conclusion
While Pumped BMX Pro can be fun to enjoy for a little while, it’ll mostly get on your nerves. Levels go from easy to nearly impossible but even the easy challenges can put you to the test already. It’s a shame the levels don’t let you ease into things. Add to that the very mediocre graphics and some repetitive music and the outcome isn’t among your favorite games. The content that is provided simply isn’t worth the 15 bucks you’re paying.
Pumped BMX Pro - Review,
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