Sky Rogue

Best Indie Games of 2017 – #7: Sky Rogue

Rogue-lite action flight sim Sky Rogue soars into seventh place.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, rogue-lite is a genre of games that specifically allows you but one life.  Typically, maps and levels in the game will be procedurally generated, created at random to ensure a unique experience each time you play the game.  In Sky Rogue, you aim is simple: to destroy enemy planes, bases and aircraft carriers over land sea, and air.  Unlike most flight sims, there’s no restarting at the previous checkpoint if you get wasted.  You die, you’re done.  This isn’t nearly as frustrating as it might sound, however.

Whilst blowing up baddies with a huge selection of weaponry, you’ll unlock not only new weapons and systems to help you in your current play through, but new planes that can be used after you’ve inevitably perished.  Each time you start up a new game, it’s actually great fun to start over, try new approaches or tactics, or weapons that you’ve not used before.

Sky Rogue offers you the choice of keyboard/mouse or controller set up, and I found both work brilliantly.  Playing with controller I found myself reminiscing of the old Air Combat games and stuck with it.  If you’ve ever played a flight sim, you’ll have no trouble picking up and getting straight in to Sky Rogue.  That doesn’t mean the game doesn’t get challenging though.  On the contrary, the difficulty can rapidly ramp up until you’re more familiar with some of the finer points of the game.  Early missions see you tasked with taking out a couple of fighters, or a single carrier, but soon you’re amidst swarms of jets all gunning for you.

Visually, again I’m reminded of Air Combat, and at first, I’ll admit, I was slightly turned off of Sky Rogue, but it quickly grew on me.  The controllable ships look great, with a variety of skins.  Each weapon type has unique animations, and the landscapes vary greatly as they’re randomly generated.  Though clearly not the most advanced heads up display, you’re provided with everything you need to know at a glance.

Perhaps my favourite aspect of Sky Rogue is the modding capability and community.  Once you’ve unlocked all the craft that developers Fractal Phase created for the game, there are currently well over 200 ship mods that you can download, ranging from real life fighter jets, to a Gundam, a car, or even the ship form G Darius.  This adds a whole lot of fun and silliness to Sky Rogue, and if you’re

You can jump into the action with 40% currently off for Sky Rogue on Steam at £8.99 / $12.

Our countdown continues in surprising fashion with number six tomorrow.  If you feel like you’re missing out on a white Christmas this year, check out our 8th best game, The Long Dark.