When Flat2VR decides to back your game, you know that you must be doing something right. Flat2VR have proved time and time again to be one of the best in the business, so it’s quite the seal of approval having them take on your property. Sky Runner is the rebranded name for Bomber Drone that released back in the summer. Whilst I didn’t play it myself, it certainly seemed like an interesting premise, so I was happy to give this revised version a shot to see what it’s all about.

Many thanks to the publisher for the review code.

DRONING ON
Whilst Sky Runner does have a campaign mode in the works, it’s currently unavailable at the time of this review, thus leaving the game with three modes to play around with: the original Bomber Drone, a course editor, and the new – albeit temporary Gift Drift mode, which will be available to play until the 28th January. Even though I have to admit that the current lack of a campaign mode is certainly felt, there’s still plenty here to be going on with.

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Using the Quest’s mixed reality and spatial mapping technology, Sky Runner turns your gaming room into a drone playground. The drone controls are pretty simple, using a mix of the two analogues to move in various directions, but the naturally unwieldy nature of the craft makes it far harder to use than you may expect. Despite the difficulty though, it still feels like an authentic drone experience, and feels rewarding as a result.

The main game mode (presently) is Bomber Drone, which places various anti-aircraft missile turrets about your room as you fly around and try to destroy them whilst picking up any hostages that need saving. It’s pretty tough to do whilst you’re still learning the ropes, but is also pretty enjoyable. Each element has rather striking detail, which is always welcome in mixed reality, and I particularly like the giant metal chain that dangles from your craft. Gift Drift tests a lot of the same skills as Bomber Drone, as you use precision to collect falling presents before ‘bombing’ them into the appropriate chimney. I personally found this mode to be even more enjoyable than the main one, which is why it’s a bit of a shame that it’ll disappear very soon.

Probably the biggest highlight though is the course creator, where you can put together your own challenges by placing rings to fly through, missile turrets, and more. It’s a great little creator as it’s incredibly easy to use, although I was rather disappointed to find out that it’s (currently) restricted to local only, as being able to share your courses online would add a hell of a lot more content to the game – even if certain courses had to be restricted due to play area size.

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But, as mentioned before, the game is still in in active development. Despite not actually being listed as early access (for some reason), the game is a work in progress. There’s the campaign mode, which hopefully isn’t too far off completion, and no doubt plenty more extra content too. At the moment it’s a nice little app to mess around with for a short while, but I hope that future updates help encourage people to come back for more.

VERDICT
Sky Runner may be limited in what it has on offer at the moment, but it certainly shows off the potential to be a great little drone app. Let’s just hope that the upcoming campaign mode really shows off just what you can do with your flying friend!