One thing I was most excited for about Stride was the campaign mode, but was let down by the hour offering they added. However, then Stride: Fates was announced as a new separate release. With this announcement I was hoping the team had done a good job to justify releasing this a full separate game over DLC.
Release Date: November 9th 2023
Developer: Joy Way
Publisher: Joy Way
Price: £22.99
Reviewed On: Meta Quest 3
* Code Provided For Review *
A NARRATIVE THAT JUST EXISTS
Stride: Fates put you into the shoes of slum dog in Airon City, where you have been recruited as a chaser by SkyChase. A narrative does unfold in the game, but it’s nothing to write home about and seems more just to give context for the setting of the next mission over telling the tale of the chaser.
PARKOUR!
The gameplay is spread across three elements parkour, shooting and sometimes stealth, which was nice to see, as this really keeps that Mirror’s Edge feeling that game offers but in Virtual Reality.
The main element of the gameplay is made up by the parkour, and this has mainly translated over what was offered in Stride in this area. Running, jumping, wall-running, swinging and sliding your way through Airon City can feel so smooth and exhilarating as you start to pull these together as you race towards your next objectives. There is one element I like about Stride: Fates and that is simplified jump, which means no longer needing to swing your arms upwards to get more distance on your jumps (but if you liked this system it is still available in options). For me personally I found the simplified press of button on the controller allowed me to get a better flow in the game, so I used this option for the majority of my playthrough.
Where the issue with the parkour came in for me, was the placing of upgrade packs throughout the city to collect for upgrading your weapons. These are often hidden away somewhere along your path to the next objective, meaning at times you might need to stop a lovely parkour-combo to collect it, which slows it all down a little to often.
As mentioned you will find upgrade packs for your weapons, in the game you have three guns available that you will collect on your way through the missions. You will start with a pistol, and then add a shotgun and sub-machine gun at points in the story. This brings in the shooting element of the gameplay, which when you are making your way across the rooftops and mixing kills in with your parkour it makes you feel badass. However, the team then introduce missions that are mainly about the guns, and in these missions it loses the badass-ery of the parkour and guns coming together perfectly. This is due to these taking place in confined areas, and although the parkour option is there, doing it in the smaller areas and not over rooftops and across buildings it feels a little shallow.
The final element thrown in is stealth, and where this is beneficial in some missions its never made a full on requirement to not be seen. In set missions it is a lot easier to not be spotted, as getting spotted with throw things like drone clouds to contend with, but if you want the fun of fighting off drones and taking on the enemies in the area, you can just ignore the stealth.
THE AIRON CITY TOUR
Airon City is laid out perfectly for the chasers to use it to their advantage of make their way around by jumping and running across the buildings. Although, Airon City is meant the be dystopian and is some sort of disarray, it does look very clean, which seems a bit of an odd choice. But, that being said the game does look good in standalone device, with decent textures, some reflections in surfaces and even puddles on the floor at times.
The sound design is a bit mixed bag and in some areas lacking little things that could have made it a lot better with some minor changes. The strong point of the sound design is the music, this is action packed and keeps you in the mood and the free flowing feeling the game offers. The voice acting is done well, but there is some annoying instances, especially when you die and your handler screams. Then you have the guns, that all seem to be lacking a bit of the punch to the sound, fixing this with something a little more punchy would make a big difference for such a small change.
COMFORT
THE VERDICT
Summary
If you are looking for a Mirror’s Edge in VR, then Stride: Fates is the closet you are going to get to it, and although being shipped as a campaign the story doesn’t quite offer any strong narrative to keep you engaged. However, the games biggest selling point the parkour, is done so well, and you really don’t think about the story anyway. Mixing together a run of parkour moves and some kills along the way feels exhilarating, whilst also making you feel like some sort of badass. There are some areas I think better planning and design would improve it massively, but you will have a fun time in the twelve-missions on offer.
