Vertical Strike Endless Challenge

When it gets good

Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.

before it gets good opening up fully opened up

Based on all 247 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 242 reviews: 1.9h for positive, 0.5h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.

Where players quit

Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (64.5% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.

Story milestones aren't labeled yet; all achievements are listed below.

All achievements (97)

• Enemies on Approach Engage Endless Mode (Anti-Aircraft) 100%
• Missile Carrier Took flight with only missile-related subweapons 95%
• Fire and Forget Used special armament: AAM-120 92%
• The First Step Defeated Wave 1 in Anti-Aircraft combat 87%
• Lightning Speed Shoot down 3 enemy air units within 1 minute 84%
• FOX 3! Shoot down an enemy air unit with Fox 3 84%
• Beyond the Sound Barrier Flew faster than Mach 1 82%
• Today's Ace Shot down 5 enemy air units in 1 sortie 80%
• Heat-seeker Used special armament: AAM-9 75%
• FOX 2! Shoot down an enemy air unit with Fox 2 71%
• Ace Pilot Shot down 15 enemy air units in total 70%
• Tomorrow's Ace Shot down 10 enemy air units in 1 sortie 70%
• Temporary Calm Defeated Wave 5 in Anti-Aircraft combat 67%
• Eternal Ace Shot down 20 enemy air units in total 65%
• No Limits Disabled angle of attack limiter. 63%
• Guardian of the Sea Engage Endless Mode (Anti-Ship) 54%
• Mach Speed Defeated 5 waves in Anti-Aircraft combat within 5 minutes 52%
• Surf of Hope Defeated Wave 1 in Anti-Ship combat 48%
• Missile Charm Used special armament: NM-44 43%
• Speed Star Sunk 2 ships within 3 minutes 42%
• Ten-time Ace Shot down 50 enemy air units in total 41%
• Caged Bird Defeated 15 total waves in Anti-Aircraft combat 41%
• The Trial Begins Defeated Wave 10 in Anti-Aircraft combat 40%
• Missile Guider Used special armament: Rb. 163 39%
• Missile Hero Shot down 50 enemy air units with missiles 39%
• Godlike Speed Defeated 10 waves in Anti-Aircraft combat within 15 minutes 39%
• FOX 1 Used all type of missiles assigned to Fox 1 call 38%
• FOX 2 Used all type of missiles assigned to Fox 2 call 36%
• Full Payload Equip weapons to all weapons bays and use all at least once 35%
• FOX 1! Shoot down an enemy air unit with Fox 1 33%
• Fowl Defeated 20 total waves in Anti-Aircraft combat 33%
• The UFO leaves at 18:47:32 Cut the limiter total 152 second 32%
• Ship-eater Used special armament: ASM-2 28%
• Battleship Killer Defeated Wave 5 in Anti-Ship combat 27%
• 20mm Bullets Rain Used special armament: GAU-22 27%
• Sea Blockade Defeated 30 total waves in Anti-Aircraft and Anti-Ship combat 27%
• Sink Them All! Sunk 15 total ships 26%
• Super Ace Shot down 100 enemy air units in total 26%
• Survivor Survived 15 minutes in Anti-Aircraft combat 25%
• Big Gun Used special armament: BK-372 25%
• A Ship's Worst Enemy Sunk 20 total ships 24%
• Head Shot Used special armament: ATM-65 24%
• 100% Explosive Used special armament: MK. 181 24%
• Super Cruising Flew above Mach 2 for more than 10 seconds 23%
• Not a Rookie Anymore. Flight time exceeds 1 hour 23%
• A Close Call Recover from stall at less than 200 meters high 22%
• One-Shot Magnum Used special armament: ARM-88 21%
• 100,000 Tons of Scrap Defeated 15 total waves in Anti-Ship combat 20%
• Air Dominance Defeated 50 total waves in Anti-Aircraft and Anti-Ship combat 20%
• No One Can Catch Me! Survived more than 45 minutes in Anti-Aircraft combat 20%
• FOX 3 Used all type of missiles assigned to Fox 3 call 19%
• Sky Knight Shot down 150 enemy air units in total 19%
• An Impossible Escape Evade a missile while disabling the Alpha limiter 18%
• High-speed Squadron Defeated 5 waves in Anti-Ship combat within 5 minutes 18%
• The Smell of Gunpowder Used all type of machine-guns at least once 18%
• Fleet Devastator Defeated Wave 10 in Anti-Ship combat 18%
• Mountains of Scrap Defeated 20 total waves in Anti-Ship combat 18%
• Trigger Happy Awakening Fired 3 machine-guns simultaneously. 17%
• Flames on the Water Sunk 50 total ships 16%
• Supersonic Squadron Defeated 10 waves in Anti-Ship combat within 15 minutes 16%
• We Succeed in Assault Survived 15 minutes in Anti-Ship combat 16%
• The Hard Part Begins Defeated Wave 15 in Anti-Aircraft combat 16%
• Sea Bird Survived more than 45 cumulative minutes in Anti-Ship combat 16%
• Raven Defeated 50 total waves in Anti-Aircraft combat 16%
• Scenic Route Survived more than 60 minutes in Anti-Aircraft combat 15%
• Sky King Shot down 200 enemy air units in total 15%
• Who Needs Lock-on? Used special armament: ARA-72 15%
• Higher and Higher Fly over 10,000 meters for the first time 15%
• Rocket Training Complete Used all rocket-type sub-weapons at least once. 15%
• All or Nothing Shot down 10 enemies with semi-active missiles 14%
• Death from Above Used special armament: DWS-49 13%
• Air Supremacy Defeated Wave 15 in Anti-Ship combat 13%
• Controlling the Skies Above Survived more than 60 cumulative minutes in Anti-Ship combat 13%
• Survivor's Call Survived more than 120 minutes in Anti-Aircraft and/or Anti-Ship combat 13%
• 10,000,000 Tons of Scrap Sunk 100 total ships 11%
• Trigger Happy Beast Fired a fixed machine-gun until it was empty 11%
• Bomber Training Complete Used all type of bombs at least once 11%
• Missile Training Complete Used all missile-type sub-weapons at least once. (Lock-on required) 11%
• The True Hell Begins Defeated Wave 20 in Anti-Aircraft combat 10%
• Launching Fireworks Isn't Easy Flew while using manual flares 10%
• Ruler of Sea and Sky Defeated 128 total waves in Anti-Aircraft and Anti-Ship combat 10%
• Sunken Ship Collector Defeated 50 total waves in Anti-Ship combat 10%
• High Cycle Shot down 50 enemy air units with guns or the GAU-22 10%
• Maritime Power Defeated Wave 20 in Anti-Ship combat 9.0%
• Raptor Defeated 100 total waves in Anti-Aircraft combat 9.0%
• Hunting with the Big Guns Shot down 10 enemy air units with the BK-372 8.8%
• The Power of Mankind Shot down an enemy without auto aim-assist 8.5%
• They're On My Tail! Survived 30 minutes in Anti-Ship combat 8.2%
• Sub-weapon Training Complete Obtained results from using all types of sub-weapons 7.4%
• Immortal Survived 30 minutes in Anti-Aircraft combat 7.3%
• Assault Aircraft Took flight with only rocket, gunner, and bomb-type subweapons 7.3%
• Shipbuster Defeated 100 total waves in Anti-Ship combat 6.7%
• Gunfighter Took flight with only gunner-type subweapons 6.4%
• Good Enough Took flight without a sub-weapon equipped 6.0%
• Supersonic Bombers Took flight with only bomb-type subweapons 5.6%
• Rocketeer Took flight with only rocket-related subweapons 5.3%
• “All Clear” Congratulations! Obtained all other achievements! 3.6%