XBOX REVIEW | Aaero2

Aaero2 is the follow-up to the 2017 hit Aaero, developed by Mad Fellows, a two-man studio consisting of Paul Norris and Dan Horbury. Both Paul and Dan have worked on games such as Guitar Hero and DJ Hero. I lost so many hours playing DJ Hero, and I still have my DJ Hero game deck lying around somewhere. There is just something so special about playing music rhythm games, especially when you hit that zone. I was very excited when I was given the opportunity to play and review Aaero2 a week ago, and it’s pretty much all I have been playing. Much like Aaero, which is a rhythm music twin-stick shooter (think along the lines of Rez meets Star Fox), Aaero2 continues the legacy. Mad Fellows have said they have listened to all the feedback from their first game, Aaero, and have rebuilt everything from the ground up to make Aaero2 more adaptable and expandable. Mad Fellows have added a two-player mode that can be played on the same screen in both co-op and PvP, as well as online, where you can invite friends and try matchmaking to play with other players.

Things I liked!

• Gameplay | When you first load up Aaero2, you must complete the short tutorial before you can advance any further. Once you have completed the tutorial, you are ready to try your first track. For each track, you earn a star rating: 5 stars for the best and 1 star for the worst. As you earn more stars, you will be able to unlock more tracks. 45 stars are needed to unlock Advanced Difficulty, and 80 stars for Master Difficulty. There are a total of 18 tracks to master, and 3 of these include boss fight tracks, which work much the same as regular tracks except you have a big boss to try and defeat. Although you can still complete these tracks by staying alive until the end of the song, bonus points are awarded for killing the boss. The idea in Aaero2 is to trace the ribbon that appears on the screen as closely as possible to score the most points, while at the same time shooting any enemies that appear. Shooting enemies in time with the music will score you even more points, and after a few hours of playing, this becomes second nature. Some levels have obstacles that you must shoot and destroy before you fly straight into them, such as snowballs blocking an exit on one track. Each track also has three hidden secret orbs for you to find. If you find a secret orb, you must complete that run in order to save the progress. Once that orb has been found, it will not appear again, even on different difficulties. Gameplay is often very challenging and intense, but also very addictive, as one mistake can cost you one of your three lives with no way to get more. Should you die too soon, you may want to hit the restart button.

• Controls | The first thing I noticed after playing the tutorial was the controls. To play Aaero2, you only use both sticks and the left and right triggers. You use the left stick to control your ship, trying to stay as close to the ribbon as possible, manoeuvre around obstacles, and get into better positions to destroy targets. You use the right stick to aim both of your weapons. The left trigger fires your cannon, and the right trigger fires your missiles. Accurately targeting your enemy will score you more points. If you hold down the left trigger for too long, it will overheat, and you will have to wait a few seconds for it to cool down. Holding down the right trigger will lock onto the target. Once this happens, you need to stop the moving bar in the center for a perfect hit. If you miss this a little, you will still do some damage, but mistime it completely, and you will miss your target and do no damage. Mistiming on a higher difficulty can prove to be very costly. The score multiplier increases as you play, with a maximum multiplier of X8. When you make mistakes, the multiplier will decrease, and if you die and lose a ship, it will reset to zero.
  
  
• Music | The electronic music in Aaero2 is absolutely incredible. All 18 tracks are supplied by the leading independent record label Monstercat, and there is a great variety of tunes, with some more chilled than others. Personally, I love all the drum and bass tunes in Aaero2. There’s nothing better than playing Aaero2 with the volume up as loud as possible!
  
  
• Graphics | Aaero2 runs very smoothly in 4K Ultra HD. Everything is very clean and very smooth. I never noticed any frame rate drops, even when playing in two-player mode. I adore the stunning visuals used in Aaero2. The lighting and effects are like nothing I’ve seen before, and it’s clear a lot of work has gone into making it look this impressive. It’s like you’re flying on some alien planet, with some of the enemies you face looking like giant mechanical insects. Gameplay is very fast and frantic and looks like a real treat, even if you are just watching someone else play.
  
  
• Replayability | Trying to better your total scores on each track and each of the difficulty levels will keep me coming back. I can already see how much I have improved since I first started playing a few days ago. On top of that, there are also global and friends leaderboards for bragging rights. Newly added in Aaero2 are weekly and daily challenges where you earn points to level up. By doing this, you can earn different titles, backgrounds, and frames for your profile badge along with any medals and stats you wish to show off. The new two-player mode will also add to the huge replayability.
  
  
• Multiplayer Mode | I was really happy to see the addition of multiplayer. While I was unable to test online multiplayer for this review, every time I tried matchmaking it failed to find anyone, but this is due to only a handful of other players playing before the official launch. However, I did get to play through all the tracks in couch co-op with my brother, and we had a blast. In versus mode, all tracks are available minus the boss tracks. Versus mode works on a scoring system. You both still earn points, but each player can also earn a crown, which is shown at the top of the screen. The maximum number of crowns available is five. At the end of the track, the player with the most crowns wins. All difficulties are available to play in versus co-op, and some of the ribbons for each track are also different than they are in singleplayer. In PvP mode, all tracks are available, and the player with the most points wins. In both modes, player one has a bright blue ribbon to trace, and player two has a bright orange ribbon.
  

Mixed & disliked!

• Lacking any kind of a story | There is no story to be found in Aaero2; it’s all about each separate track and trying to achieve the best score possible to earn the highest star rating. While I don’t mind this at all, it would have been fun if Mad Fellows had added some kind of story mode.

How long did I play the review before publishing? 15 Hours
How long to beat the story? 1 hour on Normal Difficulty, but so much replay value
How many Achievements did I earn before publishing? 48/100 or 320/1000G
How long to achieve 1000G | 25 hours plus depending on skill
You’ll love this game if you like these | Aaero and Invector Rhythm Galaxy

CONCLUSION

Score: 95/100 – I have really enjoyed my time playing Aaero2, and I can see myself playing this for a long time. It’s great to play if you only have a few minutes spare or a few hours. Each track takes you on a journey musically and visually, which is very unique to Aaero2 and Mad Fellows’ first game, Aaero. I can’t wait for my friends to start playing too so I can try to beat their scores and vice versa. The addition of local and online two-player modes is huge and adds lots of replayability. Plus, it’s great when a friend pops over. The daily and weekly challenges will always give you a good reason to come back. I am already looking forward to seeing what DLC will look like when it’s added in the future.

Anyone who wants to see the game in action can check this video: