While Mirror’s Edge may be the most popular first-person parkour/free-running game, Advance is certainly no slouch by comparison. With a minimalistic visual approach and proper challenging design, this game makes bouncing between walls, past saw blades and over large gaps both fast-paced and fun!
With no story whatsoever and only a handful of levels (a case of alpha being alpha, most likely), half of which are old/different versions with slightly modified physics, needless to say, this one’s all about racing the clock. Nothing wrong with that though, seeing how the game does provide a perfectly smooth experience through and through. Heck, after a few attempts, even I – who’s pretty bad at this type of game – managed to set good tolerable lap times (personal ones, anyway).
On top of ensuring that you don’t fall into one of the many gaps, along with dodging the aforementioned saw blades, you’ll also want to steer clear of any and all panels with an orange glow, as these are bad. Really bad. ‘Touch and you’re dead’ bad. But with levels that aren’t overly lengthy and checkpoints at the halfway mark, failing won’t set you back too far; won’t stop the clock either though.
Advance is not for the faint of heart; it’s a challenge, but the payoff is worth the effort. With a little practice you’ll find yourself zipping around the tracks trying to shave those last few seconds off your time.
For someone like me, ‘normal’ difficulty proved plenty challenging, but I’m sure there are those out there who’d rather crank it up to ‘hard’ right away. According to the developer, “Hard Mode removes the ability to adjust acceleration in the air and limits your side-movement while in the air”. Not sure exactly what that means, but after trying the first level on hard difficulty, I can confirm that the difference is certainly noticeable.
Those interested in putting their skills to the test with some neon-bathed first-person free-running fun would do well to take Advance for a spin; alpha or not. Oh and do vote for it in the 2014 Indie Game Maker Contest after playing, eh? Remember, your vote matters!
