Every once in a while there comes a game that just absolutely floors you. You go into the game expecting one thing and you end up with something completely different in all the right ways. This is what happened to me as I played through Aaaaa! A Reckless Disregard for Gravity.

Aaaaa! is a very weird game wrapped in a very simple concept: falling is fun. It’s not weird so much in it’s actual gameplay as it is in the presentation. While the game is largely about falling from very high places whilst attempting to rack up as many points as possible, it’s presented to you in such a way as to be a real head scratcher. Through out your many, many plummets you’ll be treated to weird sayings and even weirder voice overs as you browse the menu. Underneath all that though is the crisp, satisfying gameplay that makes this game oh so much fun to play.

Gameplay

Aaaaa! is a very simple game. That’s not meant to be a bad thing either. In fact it’s a very good thing. With this game each level is a new jump, a new fall. Each fall has new challenges and new terrain for you to gather as many points as possible with. It makes for very intriguing gameplay and, ultimately, brings just a tiny bit of thrill to those of us who aren’t actual skydivers.

I’ll be blunt about this: there’s a sh*tload of levels in Aaaaa! After playing for a solid couple of hours I was still just barely a third of the way through all the levels. Now, I know that some of the “levels” aren’t actual levels, but it still goes to show that, with Aaaaa!, not only are you getting fun gameplay, but your getting a lot of it as well. Something that can actually be quite rare amongst indie games.

This game is dumb fun. I mean that in the best possible way too. In the short amount of time I have had it I’ve jumped on for just a few minutes more than a few times in order to play a random map here and there. It’s simple, it’s fun, and it doesn’t take a lot of time. This is the perfect game for hardcore gamers looking to kill a few minutes here and there.

Scores, scores, scores! Aaaaa! is not just about falling. It’s about falling with style. That’s not to say you’ll be doing gnarly flips and tricks, but rather you’ll be performing quasi-stunts by getting as close to buildings as possible on your way down. It’s a nice feature that really pushes you to make some daring falls. Oh and did I mention you get to flip off your protesters? Bad ass!

Style

Aaaaa! is a pretty good looking game for a first person perspective. Obviously it won’t look as good as Call of Duty or other such games like that, but for a bold indie game the graphics actually hold up quite well. I was pleasantly surprised.

The only down side I could find for the style was the music. To be honest, sky diving is an adrenaline pumping experience. Now, obviously, I’m not really sky diving here, but I still want to get that rush. Music is usually a great way to induce this sort of feeling and the music just never really got me there. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t really memorable either. In fact, a couple of times I actually pulled out my own music to play in the background…

Story

I absolutely could not find one. There’s some odd chatter in the menu screen, and something about (your?) grandma, but other than that there was nothing.

Everything Else

Aaaaa! was a really smooth game. Normally I don’t like to go into technical stuff, but never once did I see the framerate drop or stutter. This is a fairly fast, first person experience so it was nice not to have to deal with minor graphical and technical hiccups.

I enjoyed Aaaaa! very much. It brought a nice change of pace from the usual indie games that I play, which are usually some combination of 2D platforming and puzzles. Aaaaa! is not about puzzles, or platforming… it’s just about having fun. And that’s definitely something I can appreciate.

The game is currently a mere $14.99 on Steam and, at that price point, I have trouble not recommending it.