Orion Drift, the much-anticipated follow-up from the creators of the breakout success Gorilla Tag, has launched into early access on Quest. Following the team’s acquisition of numerous key developers from now-defunct studio Ready At Dawn (creators of the incredibly popular Echo VR), there has been buzz about Another Axiom's new game taking on the mantle of 'spiritual successor' to the much loved title. For the legions of Echo aficionados like myself, it might be best to temper those expectations, at least for now.Orion Drift is at its heart a massive social environment that gives players freedom to engage with a large-scale sci-fi hub world brimming with things to do. Players will load into a particular instance of The Orion, a massive floating space station comprised of four distinct districts, connected by a fast-paced orbital zip-line.On entering the game, players arrive at the Drift Ball district and are immediately confronted by the overwhelming ambition of Orion Drift. Stretching out ahead of you is the sprawling hub area dedicated to the new VR sport, Drift Ball. However, glancing upwards and around you will reveal the scale of The Orion, with the other districts looming from their place in the cylindrical space station.Every instance of The Orion can host up to 75 players currently, but Another Axiom has declared ambitions to scale this to 200. Each district is dedicated to a specific activity: Drift Ball, Golf, Parkour and a competitive obstacle course called the 'SCRAPRUN.'Gameplay across all of these zones takes inspiration from both Echo VR and Gorilla Tag. As one might expect, fast, fluid movement is at the heart of every element of Orion Drift. Moving around feels like a smoother, lower gravity version of the famous Gorilla Tag arm swinging locomotion. That includes the ability to slide around the environment or employ wrist mounted thrusters, similar to those available in Echo.For those with the stomach for it, the movement system is truly excellent. It's intuitive, graceful, and challenging in equal parts. This is “easy to learn, hard to master” at its finest. Be warned though, Orion Drift currently has almost no comfort options, so players susceptible to motion sickness should be very cautious approaching the early access release.Of the four districts, the Drift Ball zone feels the most fleshed out at launch. Drift Ball sees players using arm-based locomotion to traverse the arena, hitting a ball towards their opponent’s goal. Essentially, think Gorilla Tag soccer. While the basics are intuitive, there is a steep skill curve here. Watching experienced players darting around the field shows the depth and nuance in the game’s mechanics, and it’s clear that some truly competitive esports moments will be had in these arenas.The Drift Ball district comprises multiple arenas for players to join matches in, some with a clear ceiling that allows great vantage points for spectating. There are also training areas that allow players to practice shooting or goal keeping. I personally enjoyed the goalkeeping challenge so much that I could see that being a successful mini-game in its own right.The other districts feel considerably less refined; however, they still offer enough to be enjoyable and sell Another Axiom’s vision. There are numerous areas in these satellite districts that remain conspicuously ‘under construction’ with limited feature sets or severely rudimentary texture packs.The Golf district is an elaborate, multi-tiered golf course where players will use their drift ball skills to whack their ball towards the hole.The Parkour district, still very much under construction, showcases its potential. There are some tutorial-based courses to learn the basics and a vast skate park inspired area for players to bound about, freely enjoying the game’s signature movement mechanics.Elsewhere, the SCRAPRUN district feels like the furthest from complete, offering what appeared to be a head-to-head obstacle course. With no tutorial or onboarding guidance of any kind, I was left equally confused and intrigued by this area.For all the positives so far in early access, Another Axiom is definitely leaning into its community in terms of assumed knowledge and player led onboarding. Playing Orion Drift without experience of Gorilla Tag or a community guide can be confusing. This is particularly true for those desperately seeking comfort options or assistance with basic navigation.As development continues, the onboarding process urgently needs some refinement for Orion Drift to live up to its enormous potential.Though much has been said about this being a spiritual successor to Echo VR, Orion Drift doesn’t quite live up to the weight of that statement as it currently stands. The scale of the game is impressive, the social hub is great, the movement mechanics are outstanding, and Drift Ball is pretty good. It just doesn't capture the same magic that Echo did.While there are rumors of a zero-gravity area (and perhaps an accompanying disc sport), Orion Drift in its current state feels much more like the natural evolution of Gorilla Tag, albeit with some heavy influence from the Lone Echo universe.Regardless, Orion Drift has made a strong entrance into early access with its well-polished mechanics and a clear statement of intent to the ambitious scope that it intends to deliver. With an enormous community behind it and considerable funding from the studio's past success, I will be eagerly watching Orion Drift as it develops throughout its early access period.