The BEST Parkour Systems in Video Games
With Dying Light 2 finally running out and about across store shelves, it’s worth taking a moment to slow down and appreciate the path that its patented parkour traversal mechanics are treading upon.
Simulating the art and science of freerunning in a virtual space is no walk in the park, after all, and not just because a walk in the park is about as far from the definition of freerunning as you can possibly get. Good video game parkour cuts a fine balance between realism and entertainment value, while also giving players a palpable sense of momentum without making them suddenly feel the need to dash to the nearest bathroom.
Many games have jumped at that challenge, and fallen headfirst into total calamity. Others have successfully stuck the landing, but only just, limping and hobbling away from the impact. But sometimes, just sometimes, a video game will reach for the heights of playable parkour and come back down hitting the ground running, and the results are nothing short of spectacular. These are the best parkour systems we’ve had the pleasure of enjoying in video games to date.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Three Assassin’s Creed games have come out since 2015’s Syndicate, all of which have arguably refined the series’ patented parkour systems in one way or another. So why on earth have we chosen Ubisoft’s London-set sandbox as the definitive entry for this list? Simply put, Syndicate was the last open world Assassin’s Creed game before the franchise pivoted hard into RPG territory. That shift in genre has been celebrated by many, but letting players explore entire nations, rather than just one or two condensed urban playgrounds, came at the expense of Assassin’s Creed’s famed freerunning gameplay, which suddenly didn’t feel quite so relevant when gallivanting across the flat sands of Egypt or rolling hills of England.
Syndicate’s London, however, is a parkourist’s paradise, where the city’s gorgeous Victorian architecture proves the perfect stage for showcasing Evie and Jacob’s acrobatic prowess. The game’s heavily revamped parkour system first introduced in Assassin’s Creed Unity was also fixed up and streamlined in Syndicate, resulting in a smooth, stable parkour experience full of grace and style. Not enough can be said about the game’s brilliant grappling hook, either, which allowed you to zip up, down, and across the smoggy skyline of Old Blighty with ease.
Dying Light 2
As with its predecessor, there’s a lot about Dying Light 2 that doesn’t exactly leave a great taste in the mouth, with hokey dialogue and a non-entity of a protagonist that sit at the top of the list of complaints that were levied against the game at launch. But who cares about a game’s drawbacks when it feels so damn cathartic to get from point A to B? There’s nothing quite like making a leap of faith from one rooftop to another, genuinely unsure as to whether you’re going to reach the other side, before catching the edge of a gutter pipe with just one pinkie, the only thing keeping you from falling straight into an infestation of zombies below.
For its open world sequel, Techland created a much more sophisticated and customisable parkour system, too, one that reveals more of its nuances and textures the more you play. Start investing some serious skill points into its progression tree, and Dying Light 2 will eventually have you parachuting, wall-running, and drop-kicking from one undead foe to another with ease.
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst
The sequel to EA’s 2008 cult classic came and went with barely a whisper in 2017, but hidden within its bland open world design, Catalyst featured one of the tightest first-person freerunning systems of its time. That’s largely thanks to the game’s focus on building and maintaining momentum, and turning potential obstacles into opportunities for gaining further speed. There are some jumps that Faith won’t be able to make, for example, unless she’s managed to reach a certain speed in the minutes leading up to it.
These constraints lend a further sense of strategy to your on-the-fly decision making during runs, giving Catalyst a unique pace and rhythm which other freerunning systems have never quite been able to match. Much of the design built around Catalyst’s freerunning falls short of expectations, including its wonky melee combat, but it does at least succeed in delivering a core traversal loop where every jump feels genuinely meaningful.
Uncharted 4
Say what you want about the simplicity of Uncharted’s climbing mechanics, but Naughty Dog brought three games’ worth of experience to A Thief’s End, and refined them to a tee for its 2016 swansong to Nathan Drake. Even now, there’s just something primordially satisfying about jumping off a ledge as Drake, especially if the landing involves a bad guy who’s about to be totalled by a 20 mile-an-hour elbow drop. Naughty Dog also introduced its rope physics system into the mix with Uncharted 4, which allows Drake to chain climbing, swinging, and combat together in a hazy ballet of bullets and brawls.
There’s no doubt that other parkour systems are smarter and more elaborate, but anyone who’s had the thrill of playing Uncharted 4’s Madagascar set piece, in which Drake must descend an ancient clock tower as it collapses before him, will know that Uncharted 4’s cinematic style of free climbing is like nothing else out there.
Titanfall 2
While there’s a strong handful of solid first-person free running games out there, precious few are able to offer equally solid gunplay at the same time. But where other games like Mirror’s Edge and Dying Light have struggled to achieve the best of both worlds between running and gunning, Titanfall 2 found the sweet spot in 2016, and never looked back. Traversing through Respawn’s silky smooth shooter is as satisfying as cutting a knife through butter on a warm summer’s day, giving you the opportunity to wall jump, jet pack, and grapple your way around the battlefield like a true supersoldier.
But crucially, Titanfall 2 also ensures that players can maintain their verticality and momentum without ever losing the target at the other end of their ironsights, thanks to tight, precise gunplay that always feels fair and focused. Throw in giant, anime-style robot battles, and a multiplayer mode that doesn’t compromise on any of the ideas established in the incredible campaign, and Titanfall 2 is a veritable FPS freerunning treat.
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