STRIDE: Fates (VR)

Airon City turns virtual-reality freerunning into a grimy police thriller, where every rooftop escape and window vault feels like part of a desperate climb out of the slums. STRIDE: Fates expands the original’s arcade-like parkour foundation into a story-driven campaign about corruption, gang pressure, corporate schemes, and a young recruit trying to survive within the elite SkyChase force. Its neon-soaked streets, towering luxury districts, and decaying undercity give the action a sharp dystopian edge. The tone is fast, tense, and physical, with the fantasy of becoming a parkour-trained special-operations officer front and center.

Movement remains the main attraction: players sprint across rooftops, grab ledges, mantle over obstacles, swing through open windows, and ride ziplines while trying to maintain speed and momentum. Missions mix traversal challenges with close-range gunfights, stealthier infiltration, hacking tasks, and gadget use, so success is not solely about reaching the next checkpoint quickly. Enemies such as armed thugs, surveillance drones, and distant snipers force players to think about cover and routes rather than simply charging forward. VR comfort depends heavily on individual tolerance for artificial locomotion and rapid vertical movement, but customizable controls and the deliberate physicality of the parkour make the format far more engaging than a conventional shooter.

What separates Fates from most VR action games is how confidently it treats traversal as both a movement system and a combat tool. A well-timed vault can create an angle on an enemy, while a risky rooftop route can avoid a confrontation entirely; the city often feels like a playground built around momentum. The campaign’s larger cast and conspiracy plot give more purpose to its missions than the score-chasing modes associated with the earlier STRIDE. Fans of Mirror’s Edge, Dying Light, and VR shooters will find an energetic hybrid here, especially if they want demanding movement rather than stationary target practice.