Rooftops & Alleys review: A dude and their pigeon

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Parkour shares many similarities with video games, as actions such as running, jumping, climbing, sliding, rolling, and tumbling are common verbs used in gaming since its inception. However, unlike video games, there hasn’t been a single game specifically dedicated to parkour, although Mirror’s Edge could be argued as an example. Now, Rooftops & Alleys brings the essence of parkour to life, focusing on the physicality, atmosphere, and thrill of performing parkour or observing it. Even pigeons, a common sight in urban outdoor environments, play a significant role in this game. For parkour enthusiasts who are comfortable with customization and tweaking, Rooftops & Alleys might just be the long-awaited game they’ve been yearning for.

Like those skating games, but feet

Rooftops & Alleys seems to strive for a balance between the intricate simulation elements of Skate or Sessions and the user-friendly, arcade-style feel of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. You might need some practice to get used to using shoulder buttons for running and climbing, as well as the peculiar, predictive timings for moves like jumping over ledges. However, performing tricks and accumulating multipliers is made easier with straightforward directional inputs. Remember to roll at the end, and be cautious, as any collision with the environment will not be forgiven.

In contrast to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (THPS), this game offers an entirely unique structure that sets it apart. Although there are multiple levels offering various items to jump onto, it becomes apparent quite quickly that the enjoyment derived from playing will largely depend on your creativity. While you can find time trial and score challenge areas in each level, Rooftops & Alleys primarily functions as a sandbox. The focus is on mastering the controls, engaging in gameplay for its own sake, and enjoying multiplayer interactions if that’s of interest to you.

Parkour sandbox

If you’re looking for a game that offers clear goals, collectibles, challenges, and a variety of activities, you might find it lacking here. Instead, the experience aligns more with simulator-style urban sports video games, where the charm lies in customizing and mastering the mechanics, or in this case, perfecting digital parkour movements. It’s quite unique in its approach, as such control schemes for on-foot movement are rarely found outside of humorous games like Baby Steps.

This doesn’t imply that everything is strictly serious. There’s also a fun aspect involving pigeons I find quite enjoyable. In this mode, you can transform into a pigeon and freely explore levels at your convenience as the actual bird. When you alight, you can essentially mark a respawn spot, enabling you to create practice routes from bizarre locations such as the tops of structures that would be inaccessible otherwise. The only advancement mechanism, which allows you to unlock cosmetic items for your character, is based on the feathers you collect from time trials and score attacks in each level. It’s a charming addition that injects some character into an otherwise typical simulation game.

Although Rooftops & Alleys grab my attention initially, sandbox games fail to hold it for long. To truly engage me, a game needs more than just intriguing core mechanics; it requires additional motivation. If a game doesn’t offer engaging activities, points of interest, or goals, I find myself enjoying the process of figuring it out, like solving a puzzle or playing with a toy, but eventually move on. A progression system, such as earning points to buy new hats and shoes, doesn’t excite me much. The Tony Hawk game model, which offers a balance of exploration, challenges, and rewards, would have been more appealing to me. In essence, that’s my preference. It is what it is.

A parkour game for parkour diehards

In each level, the obstacles aren’t particularly numerous; instead, they seem geared towards mastery. Obtaining a bronze medal during the first time trial required me to pause, scrutinize the controls more carefully, rehearse individual track sections until I grasped specific maneuvers better, and ultimately gain a deeper comprehension of the control mechanics. This experience was rewarding! However, it also underscored what areas I needed to focus on in order to pursue higher scores.

In a similar fashion, the trick challenges have high scoring limits and confine you to compact areas with minimal room for maneuvering. These challenges focus on mastering score multipliers within tight constraints, which is quite distinct from larger, flashier scoring tasks in action-packed sports simulations that offer more creative freedom.

When you have just two achievable, in-game objectives that repeat, they significantly impact the type of gaming experience you’ll encounter on the table. If I were a parkour enthusiast in real life and could devote time to excelling at this game, aligning perfectly with my single-minded passion for immersion, it would bring me immense enjoyment.

In comparison, Multiplayer provides a wider range of options for players. You can participate in modes such as tag or capture the flag, along with sandbox play, although these may feel like supplementary activities compared to the primary mode. Without additional incentives within the game to encourage continued engagement, multiplayer doesn’t automatically resolve any issues with the gameplay experience.

In summary, I’d rather keep my distance when it comes to this situation, as Rooftops & Alleys doesn’t quite resonate with me, but it excels in its chosen pursuits.

Rooftops & Alleys has just been released for play on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. For this review, I received a PC access code from the publisher.

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2025-07-02 18:58