Inspired by ‘Mirror’s Edge’, ‘Stride’ Looks to Bring Smooth Parkour Action to VR

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In development by studio Joy Way, Stride is a VR parkour action game built atop an impressively smooth and immersive locomotion system. With inspiration from Mirror’s Edge (2008), Stride is an intriguing indie project due to launch this Summer.

Update (July 7th, 2020): Stride developer Joy Way has offered up some additional details on the scope of the game.

While the studio has announced that the game will come to Steam, Oculus PC, and Viveport, it also told us that it has ambitions to bring Stride to both PSVR and Oculus Quest. However, the studio says this isn’t certain yet as the PC launch is the priority and the studio has yet to engage the platform holders about the matter.

Regarding the game’s scope, the studio tells us that it’s targeting “several hours” of story content, plus additional missions. Following the game’s release, the Joy Way plans to add “additional modes that will allow players to spend more time in the game after [completing] it.”

Stride is expected to see a “late Summer” release date for the full game (no Early Access), though the studio has yet to provide a specific date.

Original Article (April 24th, 2020): Locomotion in VR games is still in a state of rapid development and exploration. While ‘standing-only’ games and teleportation are inherently quite comfortable, users still want the freedom of being able to explore large worlds in ways that feel natural. Smooth, stick-based locomotion has become increasingly common, but the best locomotion systems seen in VR so far make much more use of the player’s body than simply tilting a stick with their thumb. Games like Lone Echo (2017), Sprint Vector (2018), and Stormland (2019) are prime examples of immersive VR movement systems which are immersive, freeing, and comfortable.

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Stride is ambitiously attempting to bring parkour in the style of Mirror’s Edge into VR. And while we can’t say how comfortable the movement system will be without trying it for ourselves, it’s encouraging to see how much the game implements physical movements by the player rather than simple stick locomotion. Here’s prototype footage captured by the game’s developer:

Speed running alone looks like it could be plenty of fun, but studio Joy Way released a new teaser trailer today which reveals that the game will incorporate combat, and further shows Stride leaning into the sharp, high-contrast visual style of Mirror’s Edge.

The studio is promising that Stride will also have a story for players to follow. The game is due to launch across Steam, Oculus, and Viveport this Summer (per the teaser art) but the specific combination of platforms and headsets (ie: Rift via Oculus or SteamVR? Quest?) isn’t known yet, though we’ve reached out to the developer to learn more.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Leroy Dörenberg

    First: yeah that’s awesome free running
    After video: pfff again with violence in it, that’s a shame

    • martin

      would prefer it without shooting as well, i thought the original Mirror’s Edge worked best without having to deal with the gunplay.
      maybe they can make shooting optional for this game.

      • Rupert Jung

        It’s like many devs (and in fact: players) just cannot imagine to have fun with a game without shooting someone in the face at all.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          But then again, if they don’t think it’s fun without shooting, that’s their preference, it doesn’t mean they are wrong.

          • brandon9271

            Allowing people to have different opinions?! If only that attitude was universal ! :)

    • silvaring

      You got a problem with violence in video games?

      • brandon9271

        It’s 2020 people have a problem with EVERYTHING! lol

    • Pablo C

      as long as are 1 and 0´s….

  • Minus the hand based locomotion, this is actually remarkably similar to the new climb-dash locomotion style me and Hydraxonn brought to Epic’s Robo Recall with the Smooth Locomotion Mod 7! Can’t wait to see what they do with this style of gameplay!

    • Gonzax

      Is that a new smooth loco mod?? can you play the story normally with it? I could never finish the game because I hated teleport and the first free loco mod while pretty good had its problems since the game would crash after every level.

      • Jonathan Winters III

        me too

  • I liked the locomotion since when I saw the video on reddit… good luck to these indies!

  • Gonzax

    This is looking very interesting, it’s really like Mirror’s Edge which I loved so this could be very good. Also incredibly glad to see a developer that’s not afraid to give you speed and a very fast locomotion system. Not for everyone, I know, but those of us who don’t feel any sickness will certainly appreciate it.

  • Bumpy

    I’ll hold full reservation until I’ve played it but I’m initially very disappointed from the video, all you use are your hand and arms.

    I was hoping for more Boneworks type interactivity. Too hard to do I suppose so they had to dumb it down.

    And agree with others, looks like a puke inducer for sure.

    • NooYawker

      I hope it isn’t janky and wobbly like boneworks, it would be unplayable.

    • Raphael

      Stick to HL Alyx if you can’t handle fast motion and jumping?

    • What else can you use in Boneworks?

    • brandon9271

      Yeah, that should’ve added feet and torso tracking for those extra trackers that NOBODY has.

  • Tommy

    Guns. no guns…I don’t give a rat’s ass. This game looks really cool and I will definitely be getting this.

  • NooYawker

    I’m surprised no one has made a Mirrors edge mod already.

  • Rupert Jung

    If you decide to switch the meaning of “inspired” to “complete rip-off more violence added” then this might be the case…

  • Raphael

    Love the locomotion and it’s nice to see these devs doing what EA will never do.

    Also: Rather than bragging about nausea I’m going to brag about this type of game being no issue at all.

  • CampofMusic Gaming

    Fucking Love it, #MakeAnotherMirrorsEdgeGame

  • Jerald Doerr

    Looks good… I like it… Don’t bow down to the little “ahhh guns!!! Wtf”. Or the other little “This game is definitely going to make my vag vomit” then don’t play it cuz your little lame comments are going to make me vomit or shot myself in the face!! My God!

  • TechPassion

    copy-cats?

  • MountainK1ng

    Doesn’t it look like this is just a mod of Mirror’s Edge they’re running? It looks like Mirror’s Edge assets and even has the bright red pipes and such that can guide you through a level. I sort of wonder if they’re even making a game at all, or if it’s a Kickstarter scam.