Sky Rogue

While it lacks any storyline and the randomised nature of the missions may strike some as lazy, Sky Rogue has plenty of gameplay where it counts. The dogfighting action is superb, aided by excellent controls, a wide range of weapons and plenty of stuff to unlock. The 12-stage campaign mode will keep you coming back for quite some time – thanks largely to the unique roguelike approach where death means losing everything, but the experience gained means a better chance of success next time around – and the ability to rope in a friend in co-op adds even more longevity. Granted, when you do eventually complete the game there's not a great deal to bring you back, but it will take quite some time and effort to reach that point – and you'll have had such a blast you won't feel short-changed anyway.

93%Game Brain Score

story, graphics

grinding

93% User Score Based on 1,496 reviews

Critic Score 90%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

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About

Sky Rogue is a single player and multiplayer arcade shooter game. It was developed by Fractal Phase and was released on January 31, 2020. It received positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

Sky Rogue is a rogue-lite action flight simulator where you can customize your aircraft with various weapons and engage in combat over procedurally-generated islands. The game offers a challenging experience with enemy aces and giant flying aircraft carriers, while its fun and accessible arcade-style gameplay makes it immediately welcoming. You can follow progress, share your experiences and find animated GIFs in the official subreddit, r/skyrogue.

Genres & Tags

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93%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,496 reviews

story36 positive mentions

grinding12 negative mentions

Sky Rogue offers a fun and engaging arcade-style flight experience reminiscent of classic games like Ace Combat and Star Fox.
The game features a variety of aircraft and weapons, allowing for extensive customization and replayability.
The procedurally generated missions keep gameplay fresh and exciting, with a satisfying sense of progression through unlockable tech.

The difficulty spikes significantly after the early levels, which can lead to frustration for players.
The game lacks a comprehensive tutorial, making it challenging for new players to understand all mechanics.
There is no online multiplayer mode, limiting cooperative play to local split-screen only.

story
482 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
88%
5%
The game's story aspect is minimal, with no overarching narrative or character development; players engage in a series of procedurally generated missions primarily focused on "destroy x" objectives. While the missions are designed to be replayable and offer a variety of aircraft and upgrades, the lack of a compelling plot or mission variety leads to a repetitive experience. Players often express a desire for more structured campaigns or story elements to enhance the gameplay beyond the basic combat mechanics.
- “You’ve been put on a series of missions to take down key opposition targets on your way to some nebulous secret weapon that could spell doom for your faction.”
- “The combination of perfect arcade flying controls and rogue-lite finishings is unique in itself, but just how easy it is to get lost in the game and spend hours just flying around, doing missions is noteworthy as well.”
- “No matter how many times I play the same three missions over and over again, trying to better my score while staying alive (because if you die, you have to start from the beginning) never gets boring, thanks to the procedurally generated landscapes and enemy placements.”
- “Sky Rogue has just 13 short levels with no story or plot (at least besides 'destroy x').”
- “As far as a story or lore, it's present-ish, but not really.”
- “Unfortunately, the missions get repetitive after a bit, as does the music.”
graphics
242 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
58%
2%
The graphics of "Sky Rogue" are characterized by a charming low-poly aesthetic that evokes nostalgia for classic arcade games, reminiscent of titles like Star Fox and early 90s air combat games. While not photorealistic, the visuals are clean, colorful, and well-suited for the gameplay, making it accessible on lower-end systems. Players appreciate the simplistic yet appealing art style, which enhances the overall fun and addictive nature of the game, despite some wishing for more graphical variety and polish.
- “And it did so with great stylized graphics, butter smooth frame rates, and a fantastic soundtrack to wrap it all up.”
- “The graphics feel like this would be right at home on something like a Dreamcast, and has a clean, retro look to them.”
- “While polygonal shapes and seemingly solid-colored textures can be unappealing by today's high definition/high resolution standards, Sky Rogue adorns this kind of aesthetic beautifully, and in a way that makes the objects easy to discern from one another, and the game generally easy to look at.”
- “The graphics aren't ultra realistic and it has a bit of a goofy charm to it, but it is really fun to just play over and over again without getting stale.”
- “The graphics are about on par with late 80s / early 90s.”
- “My main complaint, however, is that the aesthetics need to be improved.”
gameplay
230 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
55%
4%
The gameplay of Sky Rogue is characterized by a simple yet engaging loop that involves taking off, completing missions, and upgrading planes, with a mix of arcade-style controls and roguelike elements that encourage replayability. While the mechanics are generally praised for their depth and fun, some players express frustration with the lack of progression after death and the simplistic nature of the missions. Overall, the game offers satisfying flight and combat mechanics, appealing visuals, and a rewarding experience, though it could benefit from more content and improved level design.
- “Very rewarding gameplay, simple to learn with its arcade style controls and difficulty feels like the best 'curve' I've ever seen, levels get harder but at a very smooth rate, with a final boss that is very balanced and gives a fair fight, mixing air to ground and air to air combat.”
- “The gameplay seems simple, but hides a lot of depth; you can fiddle with the loadouts for many different playstyles.”
- “Once you get good at this game, it can be really addicting and the beautiful graphics and fun gameplay mechanics make it an absolute indulgence.”
- “I'm just not wild about its pseudo RPG mechanics where you can upgrade equipment, but it only lasts for that playthrough.”
- “The checkpoint system is also meh with saving progress every five waves, but after a while, I just feel stuck because the RPG mechanics don't scale with enemies all that well.”
- “More or less, the issue I have is not that this game is in early access and that so many parts of what I didn't like would change, my issue is that the core gameplay mechanic was not fun, it was not satisfying and importantly wasn't rewarding enough.”
music
136 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
60%
6%
The music in the game is generally praised for its nostalgic 80's/90's synthwave style, which enhances the overall experience and keeps players engaged. However, some users noted that the soundtrack can become repetitive over time, with limited variety in tracks for different gameplay scenarios. Despite these criticisms, many players find the music enjoyable and fitting for the game's retro aesthetic.
- “The music is also a lot of fun and very energizing.”
- “It's 80's/90's style synthwave music that is beyond words for how pumped up it makes me.”
- “The visuals and soundtrack add so much to it and the roguelite gameplay really entice you to keep coming back and see how far you'll get next time.”
- “The soundtrack stops sometimes.”
- “The music is too repetitive.”
- “Unfortunately, the missions get repetitive after a bit, as does the music.”
replayability
68 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
49%
4%
The game is praised for its high replayability, offering a variety of aircraft, customization options, and procedurally generated missions that keep gameplay fresh. Community-created content and cooperative play further enhance its replay value, making it a worthwhile purchase, especially during sales. While some players note a lack of new content after completing the main missions, the overall consensus is that the game provides ample opportunities for repeated enjoyment.
- “The customization and procedural generation makes this game infinitely replayable and fun.”
- “Great arcade shooter with great aircraft design, great workshop support, and endless replayability; would recommend to anyone.”
- “Different planes and weapon systems offer hours of replayable content, finishing missions in different ways and feeling more like a badass while doing it; randomly generated terrain adds to that.”
- “I'd get it on sale as there isn't a ton of replayability once you've finished the fairly short sequence of missions (i.e. more random levels but nothing new to see or do).”
- “Although it's limited to one set of play, the different types of 'aeros' and weaponry allow for a lot of replayability.”
- “-replayability.”
stability
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
38%
Overall, the game demonstrates strong stability, running smoothly on various systems, including lower-end PCs and the Steam Deck. However, players have reported significant bugs in the split-screen mode, which may require some troubleshooting to resolve. Minor glitches are noted, but they do not detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- “Runs great on Steam Deck.”
- “Runs great, even on my potato of a PC.”
- “Fun, not buggy or crashy.”
- “Split-screen is very buggy.”
- “My only complaints were that the enemy variety is somewhat lacking as you progress through the days, and how split-screen was a tad buggy at first, though through trial and error, we got it working after like 20 minutes (with no problems since).”
- “Minor glitches aside, it's just pure fun to fly around and you'll feel like an ace right away.”
optimization
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
24%
13%
Overall, the game's optimization is commendable, allowing it to run smoothly at 60 fps even on lower-end hardware, with minimal performance issues. However, it suffers from a Unity physics tick issue that causes stuttering at frame rates above 60 fps, although it maintains stability under 144 fps. Despite some initial launch troubles, the game has been well-optimized and performs efficiently, making it a lightweight option for players.
- “Regardless of the mod support, added content, increased challenge, and insane optimization that allows this game to run at a smooth 60 fps on a $60 hunk of scrap is astounding.”
- “Normally, Unity games kick the fan on your machine quite hard, but this has been coded well to run smoothly.”
- “I initially had trouble launching the game, but due to aid from the developer, the game runs smoothly now.”
- “When you inevitably die, you gain XP based on your performance.”
- “Once you do finally meet your fiery end, you gain tech points based on your progress and performance, which can then be used to unlock new weapons and planes.”
grinding
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, players find the grinding in the game to be somewhat tedious but manageable, with progression not feeling excessively long or frustrating. While some enjoy the steady progress, others may be put off by the need to grind for aircraft upgrades, especially when progress can be lost due to in-game mishaps. Despite these concerns, the combat remains enjoyable, and the game is considered fun overall.
- “Also, if you don't like the idea of grinding to upgrade your aircraft, and then lose that progress when you are shot down, or in my case kamikaze into a blimp, then this game may be a little frustrating since that's a part of the game.”
- “This game is super fun, I wish there was some story for it, but as it stands the combat is good and the progression is solid if not a little grindy.”
- “Last boss is a bit tedious.”
atmosphere
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
33%
17%
The game's atmosphere is a nostalgic throwback to the 90s, enhanced by fluid framerate, excellent controls, and immersive audio that evoke the feel of classic 16-bit titles. While the gameplay can be unforgiving, particularly during bombing runs, the overall flight mechanics feel realistic and engaging, allowing players to fully immerse themselves in aerial battles across diverse environments. Despite minor quirks, such as unrealistic landings, the experience remains captivating and rewarding.
- “The 16-bit throwback made me feel like a child again playing a SNES Ace Combat game that I never had... and boy... they hit every note right... it is atmospheric of a time where these kinds of graphics using the Mode 7 chip were top of the line... it's like I am in the 90s again.”
- “The fluid framerate, excellent controls, and atmospheric audio all combine to make this a game that you will be coming back to again and again.”
- “The atmosphere is very unforgiving at times - if you've spent ten levels meticulously blowing up all kinds of stuff to get cash, upgrading like crazy, and then while you're going in for a bombing run against, say, a boat or something, and you simply fail to pull up fast enough... you're going to blow up, no questions asked.”
- “Battles are restricted to the atmosphere, and take place on islands, which allows enemies to defend in the land, sea, and air.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its lighthearted and whimsical tone, with players enjoying the amusing design of planes and the playful nature of the arcade flight simulator. The modding community adds to this humor by creating quirky and entertaining aircraft, enhancing the overall fun experience.
- “Funny little arcade flight simulator for fights between bigger games :)”
- “Sky Rogue has a modding community that seems fairly talented and dedicated to making up some ridiculously cool or funny looking planes.”
- “That is do you, the reader with the funny eyebrows and the tendency to rudely throw a writer off his train of thought, like to blow stuff up?”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game emotionally nostalgic, evoking feelings of childhood and reminiscent of classic 16-bit titles. The atmospheric graphics and gameplay transport them back to the 90s, creating a wholesome and enjoyable experience that many recommend highly.
- “The 16-bit throwback made me feel like a child again playing a SNES Ace Combat game that I never had... and boy... they hit every note right... it is atmospheric of a time where these kinds of graphics using the Mode 7 chip were top of the line... it's like I am in the 90's again.”