Monster of the Week -- The Prime Producer

The Prime Producer is a series of metallic plates with numerous semi-random triangular patches on its "skin," almost like dazzle-pattern camouflage. It avoids you while spawning various Small and Tiny enemies to attack you, such as flocks of Magpies, squads of Ignitirs and Quivers, a few Neon Trackers, and great collections of Rodents.

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! -- Level Editor Sneak Peek Away!

It is done. Those signed up on the mailing list should now have their level editor links. Thank yoooou!

Get Your Hands on a Sneak Peek of the AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! Level Editor

Oh, that name does get long after a while. Look, here it is, in a nutshell:

1. Sign up for the AWESOME NON-NEWSLETTER. (Visit www.dejobaan.com -- it's on the right.)
   
2. On Monday, October 26th, we're going to send out free copies of the alpha test level editor to everyone. Don't miss the date!
   

That's pretty straightforward. Then, people will say "Hey, why can't I use this in the actual game?," and we'll say "Well, it's an alpha test." Then we'll get that one player who has a bunch of great ideas, and I will reel because they're too good not to implement.



Okay, then!

An Amaaaaaaaaaaaazing Review!

Do you often find yourself pausing in debilitating and unshakable fear when about to fling yourself off a skyscraper, mountaintop, or other monstrously tall structure? Are you made to feel ashamed at this apparent lack of gumption? Don't worry - this reaction is perfectly normal, the voice of natural selection warning you that doing so will most likely result in a brief moment of glory and a sticky puddle at the base where your bones used to be - to the betterment of your species.

Your wild-eyed and twitchy critics who occasionally shout "Deploy parachute fins!" are probably not serious in their abuse - they've just been playing AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! -- A Reckless Disregard for Gravity from indie developer Dejobaan Games.

Here's one of the simpler courses. Good luck!

A cure to your fear lies in the highly stylized graphics of AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! -- A Reckless Disregard for Gravity - guaranteed to induce a high heart rate. The game places you on top of a tall object and instructs you to jump off. You earn points by falling horrifyingly close to buildings to earn hugs and kisses, smashing through point plates, and landing safely, in increasingly complicated aerial landscapes.

This is your menu. Lots of levels and random goodies await!

The exhilarating sense of acceleration often speeds me right to my doom, and short levels make my frequent failures tolerable, inviting both casual and dedicated play. I find myself using spare minutes between classes and naps to jump off some more buildings. Occasionally steering my unfortunate avatar feels like piloting a well-meaning but amazingly un-aerodynamic rhino, but other appeals make up for it.

The setting, in a sort of sci-fi Boston is a little difficult to grasp, but shiny buildings that light up and humorous holographic ads lend a playful atmosphere, which goes great with the energetic music. There are loads of levels with diverse objectives and presentations, and enough challenges that an individual determined to make 4 or 5 stars on every level would confront a fairly brutal opponent. If you need a break from gameplay you can relax with an ... inspiring anti-meditation. I suggest experimenting with listening to different styles of music to create your own perfect soundtrack - I think Aaaa! goes best with chill hip hop or epic metal!

All in all, I have totally fallen for this game.

Operation: Interrogate Ryan!

It took a bit of trekking and getting lost in Boston before we made it to the Dejobaan HQ in Watertown; the mission objective this time? Interrogate team artist Ryan about his favorite prototype idea- Transfigurants- while staying beyond the reach of the attack ferret. Though we breached the first level or security safely...

Ryan already upgraded the attack ferrets to mutated crows! (Slidecrows, to be exact - a genetic mutation of the once noble spices, perhaps not that noble, of crows.) Apparently,the Slidecrows that greeted us were created to depute in this prototype.

Ryan's favorite idea revolves mainly around the Polystructures, which were big geometric things/structures that fell from the sky a few years ago and floated; it was from the Polystructures that the humans learned the technology to make other buildings drift above the surface. Most humans then migrated into the sky, forgetting and leaving the surface to the animals. The prototype Transfigurants will then show what happened to the abandoned civilizations on the surface that had been overrun by the radiation that the Polystructures emit; two noteworthy Infectant (mutated beings that spawned from the crazy genius minds of Ryan and Tam) were Slidecrows (see above) and Wombat-pythons "veeeeeeery long wombats with big teeth and no legs; it slithers!" Because Ryan keeps his wombat-python hidden under his bed, there are sadly no pictures to share about just yet, though fear not! There will be lots of other mutations (including jellyfish!) to fight off and lower floating building ruins for the player to jump around as they venture through the surface world armed with an energy gun and a rocket-propelled jump pack, picking up ancient relics to upgrade that technology.

As the player, you explore the forgotten ruins, encounter mazes littered with traps, endure the surface-dwelling humans that insult you, and survive the Transfigurants (enormous biomechanical creatures programmed to think that humans should be hugged... to death). You will discover the strange rune markings, first seen on the ancient ruins of the surface world, and that have now begun appearing on the Polystructures. It was an interesting idea! Seeing that we have been able to keep most of our limbs intact, and get a great report on the prototype...

Mission Accomplished!