‘Skydive’ Is Exactly How It Sounds, Free Playable Version Available

One of the most stale gaming genres to work within is that of sports, but that needn’t be the case. There’s plenty of room for experimentation or at least something just a little different to the norm. While Skydive might not entirely be the answer to that, it’s still different enough to warrant some interest if only briefly. As you should have predicted, Skydive involves…actually isn’t this base jumping? Throwing yourself out of a helicopter over some cliffs is all you need to know – it’s extreme and dangerous and you’re probably not crazy enough to do it in real life, so try this instead.

That’s nailed it. The game is more of an arcade game really though. The goal is to retain as many points as possible as they continually countdown. That and make it down to the bottom of the cliffs without crashing of course. The conflict between those two interests is what really drives the excitement in the game as it forces you to take risks. The countdown on your precious points slows down the closer you are to the mountain (read: certain death), you can also add points to your tally by doing stunts.

Created in the UDK engine, Skydive looks fairly pretty and the landscape certainly helps with the illusion of the height from which you’re falling and the real danger of the jagged rocks below. An avoidance of too much blur ensures that you can pick your route, preferably the most risky one. Wind whistling also helps along with the experience, though in the gameplay all you’ll be able to hear is the suited thumping music.

Skydive is actually a student project, 17 of them in fact and the game in its current form took 10 weeks to create. Alongside the mode we’ve outlined, there are others to play, including splitscreen support for up to four players. Now that the school work is over, they’re actually looking into taking the game further, perhaps trying the Cry Engine to make better use of the scale they’re working with.

You can download Skydive for free by clicking on this link and just to warn you, you’ll need an Xbox controller to play it on your PC.