Have you ever dreamed about what it’s like to be a parkour expert? Fantasize no more, Electric Hat Games has bridged the gap between dream – okay, the sheer lack of desire to commit the effort real parkour takes – and virtual reality with their new hit title, To The Top.
This fast paced VR experience, currently available on the HTC Vive and scheduled to release for the Oculus Rift later this year, brings players into a minimalistic world or skyscraping proportions that can feel like a Spiderman game at times. Your objective? Get from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Utilizing motion controllers, players will leap and swing their way through the various obstacles to reach their goal. The environment of each level is color-coded so it’s easy to distinguish between grabbable surfaces and those that will surely lead to death – but that doesn’t mean it’s a cakewalk.
The controls have a relatively easy learning curve that will have players feeling like parkour masters in no time. After jumping and grappling onto a surface by pulling the motion controller triggers, the direction you go once released is decided by the direction the player is looking. Surprisingly, there’s not too much motion sickness to go along with this game and users can find themselves playing for 30min at a time without a break.
Each of the 30 levels has a unique design that will keep players interested and challenged throughout the game. As you progress deeper, more difficult obstacles will present themselves and call for high-speed creative problem-solving. The crumbling platforms to be specific can quickly lead to a starting point respawn if not timed perfectly.
To The Top gameplay is designed to be fast paced by nature. As the player successfully chains together multiple grapples and leaps, their speed will increase as well. However, this mechanic can act as a bit of a double-edged sword due to the fact that timing, as mentioned above, is also important to master.
Level progression is determined by the number of medals a player has collected from previous courses – a standard characteristic of games in this genre. In order to obtain the coveted gold medals, you must navigate through each course impeccably and beat the top time. But don’t worry, you’re not just trying to beat some preset gold medal time, you can also compete for the top spot against players all over the world with the in-game leaderboard system. And for the “collectible junkies”, each level incorporates hidden gems that require you to stray from the beaten path.
It’s also worth mentioning the game’s character customization component. Even though you can only ever see the characters gloves, players get the option to stylize their magical grappling hands and even put on some funky masks. Might as well climb with some style.
To The Top is a unique VR title that plays smooth and brings an experience that will be hard to find anywhere else. While there’s not currently a multiplayer aspect to the game, developers have mentioned its inevitable arrival on a future update. Until then, put your gloves on and take a literal leap of faith into this strangely beautiful world.
