Overcome an alien invasion and get in shape at the same time with BattleSuit Runner Fitness

As much as I enjoy running, I often need help and motivation to get started, and keep going, and Zombies, Run! has been my savior. I’ve mentioned the fitness app several times in the past, but if you’re not familiar, it’s a sort of interactive radio play, in which episodic stories unfold in-between tracks from your playlist as you run, transforming a real-world jog into a journey through the zombie apocalypse.

Season 3 of Zombies, Run! is out next month, but I’ve found a new running app to keep me occupied until then. BattleSuit Runner Fitness is available for both Android and iOS and is quite similar in that the missions unfold in-between your running songs, but in this game you’re DeltaSuit, an exosuit-wearing commando battling against an alien invasion.

When I first encountered the app I’ll be honest, I didn’t have any great expectations. The presentation is lacking, and graphically it’s not very polished. Fortunately, there’s a free trial version so I figured I might as well give it a go anyway. I’m glad I did.

Although the graphics are poor, the audio quality is excellent, and very professional. The cast of characters are all very different and highly memorable.

Where it currently differs from Zombies, Run! is the length of the narration. There’s an awful lot of exposition at the start, and it takes ages before you hear the first song in your playlist. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the developers are considering slicing it up into smaller, more bite sized chunks.

Before each run (or walk, if you prefer) you can select your playlist, and set the approximate workout time. The minimum duration is 30 minutes, so no really quick jogs around the block.

During your run you’ll collect resources and engage in enemy battles which can lead to your battlesuit picking up damage. The battles take place over your playlist, and are actually pretty cool. Every so often, you’ll be prompted to speed up or slow down to achieve a task. You’ll also occasionally have the chance to activate your battlesuit’s "supercharge mode" by sprinting for a short while. You can adjust the supercharge difficulty level, depending on how easy or otherwise you find it.

The resources you collect along the way can be used to repair and upgrade your battlesuit in-between runs in the app’s workshop.

There are only nine missions in the paid version, but more are coming soon, and the developers are keen to keep improving the app. I’m only a short way into the story at the moment, but I’m really enjoying it so far.

Another thing the app has in its favor is the price -- the full version costs just $0.99.