A Mix Of Rez & Rime = Aaero

Aaero is one of those games that has been staring at me from the PlayStation Store for ages. It’s the kind of title that ticks every box on paper — stylish, rhythmic, unique — yet somehow no one ever talks about it, and I’ve never actually seen anyone play it.

With the Summer Sale rolling in, the game finally resurfaced on my radar, and thanks to its low price, I decided it was time to pull the trigger and give it a proper go.

Aaero is yet another music‑driven rail‑shooter shoot ’em up, right? Well… no, not quite. It’s clear where the inspiration comes from — you can definitely feel shades of REZ, Thumper, Amplitude, and a handful of other rhythm‑action classics. But despite those familiar vibes, Aaero brings enough of its own ideas to keep things fresh, stylish, and genuinely exciting.

Gameplay‑wise, Aaero is all about shooting down enemies and dodging whatever the screen throws at you. But the real twist is that the entire experience is driven by riding along a glowing line — the music stream — which is not only stylish but also essential for completing levels and scoring well.

Sounds easy, right? Wrong.

And that brings me to the game’s one real problem: the controls. Everything is mapped logically, but it just doesn’t feel right. The analogue stick input feels off, almost like the dead zones or sensitivity are mis‑tuned. Steering with the left stick and aiming with the right both end up feeling too loose, imprecise, and at times outright broken. It’s not game‑ruining, but it’s definitely frustrating in a game that demands precision.

The problem with the controls is that they offer almost no meaningful feedback. Take a simple example: an enemy appears on screen and fires heat‑seeking missiles at you. These rockets are already hard to spot, and with the thumping soundtrack and the visual spectacle happening everywhere, you often won’t notice them until it’s too late.

To take out a cluster of incoming rockets, you need to move your crosshair with the right analogue stick, tag the missiles (and enemies), and then fire with R2 — all while simultaneously steering your ship with the left analogue stick. On paper, it sounds very REZ‑like, and in many ways it is. But here’s the difference: in REZ, the game gives you crystal‑clear feedback. Sounds, flashes, lock‑on cues — everything tells you when you’ve successfully tagged a target.

Aaero doesn’t deliver that same clarity.

As a player, I want unmistakable signals that I’ve marked a target, especially when the controls already feel loose. Instead, everything blends together in a way that makes it feel as if the background is doing its own thing while the foreground was layered on top afterwards.

The game that this issue reminds me of the most is actually Microcosm from Psygnosis on the Amiga CD32 — visually impressive, but with feedback that never quite connects with the player.

Over to the fantastic part of the game, then: the graphics and the music.

Aaero splits its gameplay into two distinct styles — high‑speed tunnel sections and wide‑open outdoor sequences. Both look stunning in their own way.

Visually, the game is a knockout. Its art style feels unique and surprisingly fresh, with a dreamy, almost ethereal quality that fits perfectly with the soundtrack.

The tunnels manage to stay visually interesting from start to finish, constantly shifting and pulsing with the music, while the open‑landscape sections never stop impressing with their scale, colour, and energy.

Some games are notoriously difficult to capture in screenshots, and Aaero is definitely one of them. Its speed, constant motion, and layered gameplay mechanics make still images feel almost unfair compared to the real experience.

The core mechanics revolve around guiding your ship along glowing lines to generate and sync with the music. Sounds simple enough, but this often happens while the entire screen is rotating, tunnels are collapsing around you, and various obstacles or enemies demand your attention. You’re dodging, shooting, tracking targets, and following the rhythm all at once — it’s chaotic in the best possible way.

The graphics are incredibly clean, and the high frame rate (60fps, from the feel of it) makes the whole experience a genuine visual treat.

Even with its mix of dark and bright environments, Aaero manages to blend everything into a cohesive style that feels perfectly matched from start to finish.

The first boss fight you encounter is a massive sandworm straight out of Dune, and it was during this battle that something clicked for me: Aaero feels like a VR game waiting to happen.

The scale, the movement, the way the world wraps around you — it’s the closest I’ve felt to playing a non‑VR game that genuinely behaves like a VR experience.

At this point, it’s crystal clear to me that Aaero would benefit hugely from a VR update.

With proper head‑tracking for aiming and improved control tuning, the game could reach an entirely new level of immersion.

I’m absolutely planning to let the developer, Mad Fellows Games, know about this — because the potential here is too good to ignore.

Stay on the music line to keep the track playing and your multiplier climbing — that’s the key to earning a high score.

The higher your score, the better your rank at the end of the level (from 1 to 5 stars).

See that blue line? Well, it’s technically white, but that’s where your ship needs to be.

My multiplier bar under the ship is red in the screenshot because I’m drifting off the line — and when that happens, your multiplier drops fast.

Now imagine all of this happening at high speed, with the screen bursting with colour, movement, and gorgeous design work. It’s a sensory overload in the best possible way.

This section actually takes place inside the first boss, and it’s a brilliant idea with fantastic design choices everywhere you look.

But make no mistake — it’s also brutally hard and occasionally downright frustrating.

This is one of the darker levels, sporting a gritty industrial aesthetic that works remarkably well.

Aaero shifts between visual moods with confidence, and even in its bleakest environments, the presentation remains striking.

One thing stays consistent throughout the entire game: its artistic vision.

I haven’t reached the final two levels yet, but I can already say with confidence that every single stage contains at least one frame worthy of being printed and hung on a wall.

The combination of colour, motion, and design is that strong.

The darker‑styled tunnels are incredible as well. There’s something about the colour work in these sections that almost radiates hope, even though the environments themselves are pitch‑black and industrial.

The silky‑smooth transitions, the clever shading, and the way the visuals pulse with the music all come together with a finesse you rarely see in games today.

It’s a perfect example of how to make something dark without making it muddy, gritty, or visually unclear.

A few other games have pulled off this kind of “dark but readable” aesthetic — and by now, I’m sure you can guess exactly which ones I’m thinking of.

No? Well, what if I mention Rime or Journey?

Of course, those games lean heavily into emotion and storytelling, and they operate in a completely different league compared to Aaero.

But visually, there’s a shared DNA — that same deliberate use of colour, contrast, and atmosphere to guide the player’s feelings rather than just their actions.

In many ways, Aaero captures that same artistic spirit, even though it expresses it through speed, rhythm, and intensity instead of quiet narrative moments.

Some reviews out there claim that Aaero is a bit on the short side, with some players finishing it in a single sitting. And yes, the early levels do fly by quickly.

But once you reach the later stages, the difficulty ramps up significantly — I’ve been struggling in a good way — so for me, the length feels perfectly fine so far.

Besides, the real replay value lies in the high‑score tables and ranking system. Chasing those 5‑star runs and climbing the leaderboards is where the game truly sinks its hooks in.

So yes — this is Aaero. A techno‑driven, twin‑stick, audio‑visual shooter extravaganza in the spirit of REZ, wrapped in a striking art style that genuinely stands out.

It’s a game that could have reached the very top of the genre if the controls had been just a bit more refined.

A few tweaks here and there, and this could have been a truly unforgettable experience.

If you enjoy REZ or anything in that rhythm‑action lineage, this is absolutely a game for you — and one you should grab while it’s still on sale.

As for the VR potential… that’s harder to prove without an actual implementation, of course.

But based on what I’ve seen — the scale, the movement, the way the world wraps around you — Aaero practically begs for a VR update. Other games with similar mechanics shine in VR, and everything about Aaero suggests it could do the same, if not better.

My first impression came from the trailer, and honestly, it was hard to shake. The trailer screams pure awesomeness, yet at the same time reveals surprisingly little about the actual gameplay — probably a deliberate choice to avoid scaring off potential buyers. Still, it does its job: it grabs your attention and makes you curious. Trailer below.