So you just finished Dying Light 2, loved the movement, and now you’re looking for other games to get your parkour and freerunning fix with? I think I can help with that.
Watch Dogs 2
We’re going from one sequel to another with Watch Dogs 2. In Watch Dogs 2, you play a hacker that is a lot more energetic than Aiden Pearce – and mixes in some parkour with his hacking. You’ll hear me say this a lot, but the movement in this game is so fluid, smooth, and really takes advantage of the San Francisco setting. As parkour in games goes, this is one of my favorites – and If you’re like me, you’ll end up just putting on your favorite tunes and just seeing where the city takes you. Remember to invite a friend along if you want to make it a competition.
Sunset Overdrive
A forgotten gem, Sunset Overdrive is the only game to ever make me sad by being an Xbox exclusive. It was released four years later on PlayStation and PC anyway, in what I’m convinced was a delayed birthday gift from Insomniac themselves. It’s stylish, comical, and it features a soundtrack of punk and garage rock which just makes it a top 10 game in my books. On top of all that, it has Insomniac’s signature humor all over it.
Ghostrunner
You’re fast, can dodge people and projectiles like Neo from The Matrix, and you have a sword. The parkour platforming is quick, challenging, and all-around superb. Throw in a little synthwave, add a futuristic sci-fi setting, and make your character a Katana-wielding cyborg ninja and you have yourself a recipe for success my friend. Go play the game.
inFAMOUS (the entire franchise)
The inFAMOUS games are a PlayStation powerhouse and are a literal powertrip in the best way possible (Prototype is great too!) There are superpowers galore, awesome weapons, abilities, and climbing. Lots and lots of climbing. It’s fast, fluid, and stylish – which is what parkour really is. The inFAMOUS games also feature one of my favorite karma systems out there – giving you good and evil choices and changing the world and even your abilities to reflect your alignment. Also, there’s one where you can be a superpowered vampire, enough said.
Titanfall 2
An iconic FPS and precursor to Apex Legends, Titanfall 2 has you play as a pilot named Jack Cooper. Think of pilots as parkour-trained elite soldiers that also just so happen to control giant, combat-specialized mech suits. Parkour is cool. Being a soldier is… well, it depends on your outlook. Being badass is cool, and giant f**king mech suits with custom powers are cool. Titanfall and Titanfall 2 are among some of the best movement shooters out there, and for good reason.
Ibatic
Ibatic is an indie platformer made by Moonfish Studio, showing off a vibrant art style and fast-paced traversal. The game is all about parkour and using your mystical powers in service of parkour. The objective is literally to clear levels as fast as you can. Parkour is literal speedrunning, and this game is all about it. It’s also free, so no, you don’t have a reason not to at least try it.
My Friend Pedro
My Friend Pedro is… well, I’ll let the description speak for itself:
Yeah… it’s kinda cool. The music is great, the premise is simple, and the plot is absolutely off the rails. Aside from all the violence, you get to live out your action hero fantasy by jumping out of windows and firing guns. For real though, this game scratches that itch for freerunning while also letting you be a total badass. There’s slow-motion, parkour, strategy, and drama in this game – which is everything you could need – a bunch of guns. Don’t worry about the banana.
Hover
A lot of comparisons have been drawn between Hover and Jet Set Radio. I’m not even mad, Jet Set Radio was exceptional. Jet Set Radio with TRON light trails and more energetic funky music and a large open world? Yeah, that’s Hover. Count me in every time. Hover is great, Jet Set Radio is great, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk will be great – I will fight you on this.
Assassins Creed Unity
I’m just going to say it: I really liked Assassin’s Creed Unity. Not only was it an AC entry during the French Revolution, but it has one of the most fluid parkour systems you could ask for. I mean it should, because it’s French. Parkour was invented in Paris, and Unity is literally developed by a French studio and takes place in a French historical fiction setting. Being an Assassins Creed game, it’s at least somewhat historically accurate, so it’s great for parkour and history fans alike! Let’s just not talk about the English Frenchmen, OK?
Bonus: Stride
As a bonus, I wanted to include Stride. Stride is a first-person VR game in which you play as a freerunner traversing a city. While doing so, you’re also escaping from armed attackers and feeling really cool. Think about Mirror’s Edge but now you’re actually getting vertigo! Cool, right? Stride also has multiplayer! That’s right, now you and your friends can face off and see who can swing their arms faster and run out of breath slower. Who knows? We may eventually have a whole network of virtual freerunners.
And that’s that! Those are just some of the great parkour and freerunning games out there. Hopefully, as time goes on we’ll get to see more and more of them, and with the popularity of Dying Light, I think we can expect freerunning and parkour movement in many future games.
