Game review: Rooftops & Alleys: The Parkour Game (Xbox Series X)

I have played several games where parkour makes an appearance. The most famous game series with parkour in it has to be Assassin's Creed, although Mirror's Edge is another franchise that has it frequently, too. 

That being said, both Assassin's Creed and Mirror's Edge are adventure games that happen to have parkour in them. Rooftops & Alleys: The Parkour Game might be the first game I have ever played where parkour is the main focus. It's similar to a Tony Hawk game, but it's doing parkour tricks instead of skateboarding tricks. 

Rooftops & Alleys: The Parkour Game has a fairly simple premise because there is no dedicated career mode or any type of story. You just pretty much pick any stage you wish and find challenges to finish. 

Before you step inside any of the levels, it's highly recommended that you try to finish the game's helpful tutorial mode. It is here that you should familiarise yourself with the game's controls, as well as its ragdoll-like physics engine.

Probably the first thing you need to know is that holding the right trigger allows you to sprint. Sprinting is important in this game because you need enough speed to jump and do tricks. You can even press down on the R stick button to initiate your adrenaline to sprint even faster if you need to clear a large gap. 

Another important button you need to remember in this game is the A button on Xbox consoles. The A button allows you to jump. Tapping it does a little jump, while holding the button charges your jump for a further gap.

To grab onto ledges, you use the left trigger, while the Y button allows you to flip forward or backward while holding it. Using the X button while jumping does other cool tricks, and the B button and right bumper activate a cool-looking slide. 

This is just the basics of the game's controls, as there is an entire move list that you can check out in the pause menu. I have to admit, though, the game takes a lot of time to master because I kept bailing the first time I played the game. I did not have enough speed to height in order to do the best tricks in the game. 

Speaking of tricks, Rooftops & Alleys: The Parkour Game only has two types of missions in each level. The first type of mission you have to find is the Trick Rush icons. Trick Rush is a mode where you have to get enough points in a specific amount of time while a Fortnite-like barrier closes in on your area. 

There is a medal system in order to complete Trick Rush events. For example, 50,000 points give you bronze, 75,000 points are for silver, and 100,000 points are for gold. Some events have fewer or more points, but this is the general number of points you need to be on the podium. 

The only other type of quest in this game is Time Trials. It is here where you have to run or jump through orange hoops to get the best time. A combination of sprinting, jumping, and vaulting is the best way to get the best times in the game. 

I have to admit, though, getting the medals in Time Trials can be a hard thing to do. 

This is because you can easily jump too early and fall to your death many times. I also found it hard to land on ledges sometimes because my character would not react in time to use their hands to grab onto objects. 

When you complete enough objectives, you can earn items to customise your character. The character wears a mask, so you won't know what they look like. However, you can still choose their type of mask, the clothes they'll wear, and even if they have a backpack or headphones. 

The only thing I did not like about this game is the lack of content. There are only six levels available at launch, but only five of them are good. The Container Ship level is horrible because there's not enough space for you to do tricks, because there are too many shipping containers in the way!

I also think the game would have benefitted if there were more types of quests or game modes available. The Tony Hawk games are always fun because there are tons of wacky quests to complete and tons of other game modes to experience. There's sadly not much else to do in this game outside of just Trick Rush and Time Trials. 

Aside from a lack of content, Rooftop & Alleys: The Parkour Game is a great game about the sport of parkour. Once you master the game's controls, you can have a lot of fun improving your runs. This is worth checking out for any parkour fans out there. 

Verdict: 7.5/10