The Meta Quest 2 is growing in popular demand and for a good reason. This VR headset brings the convenience of wireless VR but delivers superb VR gaming quality. Joy Way is determined to give all Quest 2 owners a good reason to own this magical platform with some interesting titles. One of which, Stride, is an action parkour game that will give you the thrill of battling enemies on top of city skyscrapers. The time I have spent with Stride did have some entertaining moments but it did prove that the game has major potential to become something great. I think the best of Stride is yet to come.
Story
I almost omitted this section because they is no story to be found here! At least not yet, anyway. Stride Fates was announced last month and will have a fully voiced campaign but this is in the form of downloadable content. There is currently no campaign in Stride, only different game modes. So, as long as you're ok running around rooftops, shooting hooded “bad” guys, and hacking unnamed drones then you won’t have an issue here.
Gameplay
I must say that Stride has some of the best locomotion controls for VR. The parkour is the soul of this game and it needs to feel right. Running, climbing, and wall running all feels great in VR. You can shake the controllers up and down to enter sprint, much similar to how your hands will move when running in real life. Ducking will have your character slide under obstacles, and your wrist has a grappling hook that can help swing you from building to building in a very Spider-Man-esque fashion. The movement in this game feels great.
Jumping requires more effort than just tapping a button. You must swing your arms up in the air, to simulate an actual jump, and release the button at the same time. This took me a little bit to get used to but it made sense to implement it in this way. The movement in this game makes sense and immerses you in that free-running world. The movements do feel realistic and exciting.
The gunplay is very lackluster. Unfortunately, it is just a point-and-shoot mechanic with little depth. Reloads are automatically done by just aiming your gun down toward your feet. Although the focus of this title is clearly on the free-running aspect, it feels like there is a missed opportunity when it comes to combat. More intricate reloads, a wider variety of weapons, and AI all seem to fall short in this department. AI is good for standing still, waiting to be shot, while the weapon selections do feel a bit lackluster.
The game currently consists of 3 modes: Arena, Endless, and Time Run. The Arena mode spawns waves of enemies and objectives in an area that acts as the game’s sandbox. Although I did spend most of my time in this mode, it felt like there needed to be more content to keep my attention for more than just 20 minutes. Players can be tasked with hunting down enemies, hacking drones, or taking out drones. This formula got old pretty quickly and much of my time was spent trying to run through the rooftops as quickly and chaotically as possible.
Endless mode is exactly what it sounds like, an endless labyrinth of level generation for you to test your parkour skills. This mode is clearly for those looking to improve their wall running and climbing skills to the max. The other single-player mode is Time Run. This mode is strictly speed based and will test players on their quickness and agility.
Lastly, we have the multiplayer. Stride now has voice chat, thanks to a recent update, along with full-body avatars. When you join a multiplayer lobby, you can immediately start socializing and begin searching for public matches. Horde, King of the Hill, and deathmatch seem to be the popular 3 modes to play. Horde did throw me off with its title, making me assume that it would be a co-op mode when it is actually an infection mode. Unfortunately, these modes feel ok, but not fully fleshed out. Sure, you can unlock new weapon skins and skins for your avatar, but the progression is nearly nonexistent.
Audio and Visual
The music and sound effects seemed fitting for this title and didn’t intrude on the gameplay. Nothing out of this world but it was acceptable. The voice lines for enemies are a bit generic and make them feel even more two-dimensional. Hopefully, they will become more fleshed out with the campaign update later this year.
As for performance and graphics, the game ran very well on the Meta Quest 2 and I did not notice any frame drops or dip in quality. The graphics are a bit bland with little detail in the environment making the game look more like a simulation as opposed to an actual immersive environment. It’s not terrible but I think Joy Way could do a bit better giving some variety with the environment in future updates.
The only exception to this is the multiplayer. It seems like there is a lot more to see in the multiplayer of this title, but even then, I felt like I was playing inside a laser tag complex as opposed to an intense free-running parkour action title. There needs to be more outdoor maps.
What It Could Have Done Better
Stride does make some strong leaps forward in the VR community but not without misstepping. The game needs a bit more polish to make it feel like a completed product. Right now, it still feels like a beta. I believe the lack of variety for single-player content made me lose interest after many play sessions. Although the game can definitely provide you with that thrill of free running, the lack of variety makes it hard to recommend as a consistent title to jump into.
The multiplayer is a nice addition but it needs more things to do. Some of the modes that are currently included, such as Horde, do not really translate well into a game like this. Hopefully, the massive single-player campaign update will fix many of these concerns when it launches later this year,
Verdict
Stride has the potential to be a massive VR hit, but it is clearly a work in progress. Thankfully, Joy Way is working with the community and implementing fan feedback into the title. I think I am more enticed by the idea that Stride can be great, than what is actually being offered in its current state. I will be looking forward to the free campaign update when it launches this year, but until then, I think I’ve scratched my “free-running itch” for now.
Stride is available now for Meta Quest 2, PlayStation VR, and PC via Steam.
