The sport of parkour has captivated onlookers and enticed athletes to push their bodies to the limits since it was founded in the late 1980s. Parkour has blossomed in popularity thanks in large part to videos about the sport going viral online. VR games are also helping draw more attention to parkour. Many VR titles available today feature incredible parkour obstacles. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the best parkour challenges currently featured in VR games.
1. Slippery Surfaces
When practicing parkour in real life, you quickly learn to avoid certain surfaces simply because they pose too much risk. Chief among those are the slippery surfaces that offer little to no traction. Jump onto a slippery surface, and your feet may quickly go out from under you. Try to tackle those surfaces while in the middle of a parkour run, and you could end up with some nasty injuries.
Although traceurs are generally advised to steer clear of slick surfaces in the real world, you don’t have to follow those same restrictions in a VR game. Slippery surfaces are some of the best parkour obstacles in VR titles. Upon seeing flat steel panels or diagonal wall segments covered in rain, you can leap to them and try your hand at conquering those surfaces.
Taking on those obstacles in a VR game is an enjoyable experience. Thanks to VR, you can attempt something you couldn’t responsibly do in the real world. At the same time, you’re still getting a somewhat realistic approximation of the experience due to how sophisticated VR technology has become. Slip and slide as much as you want until you get the hang of things.
2. Buildings Under Construction
The best parkour obstacles in VR games aren’t limited to surfaces or single objects. Instead, they are blown out and bombard players with one challenge after another. Game developers have become very creative when it comes to creating challenges with parkour twists, and you’ll often see that on full display inside unfinished building levels.
Buildings under construction are fairly common levels in VR titles. It’s not hard to see why those levels have become so popular, given the sheer variety of challenges they present to players and parkour enthusiasts. You can ascend a construction security tower and navigate its exposed inner workings until you reach the top. From there, even more fun and challenging obstacles await.
The building elements are the most challenging aspects of those levels, but there’s a lot for players to experience if they are willing to explore. Developers may introduce vehicles and small housing areas to make the aforementioned levels more intriguing. You’ll have to use your parkour skills and instincts to traverse those irregular obstacles. Moving targets are often found in building levels, and understanding how they should be conquered is also a great challenge.
3. Textured Walls
Scaling walls is something that most traceurs know how to do. They can grab a nearby ledge and use their strength and dexterity to scale that surface. The challenge of scaling a wall depends on what type of texture it has. Smooth walls can be tough to climb, while textured walls provide more interesting experiences.
Common examples of textured walls include comb, popcorn, and sand swirl. Although those textured walls are easy to find and scale in the real world for traceurs, they are not particularly common in video games. Even so, there are fun wall obstacles for you to tackle in the latest VR games.
Climbing commercial masonry walls in video games can be a stimulating experience. You can find notches in the wall to assist with your climb. Running up a masonry wall is also possible because you get more traction on the way up.
Textured video game walls will become even more compelling parkour obstacles in the years to come. VR technology is fast evolving, and more games will likely allow players to feel those surfaces. The introduction of that new textural element can make your time in the VR world even more enjoyable.
4. Industrial Equipment
In the real world, running through a factory and treating its contents as parkour obstacles is out of the question. A factory setting is too dangerous for parkour as one slip could lead to a fatal encounter with a piece of heavy machinery. On top of that, the factory owner may be able to press legal charges if they find you running inside their property. They could cite you for trespassing if you attempt that foolish stunt.
Still, we cannot blame you for being intrigued by the idea of exploring factories and scaling their industrial equipment. Thankfully, you don’t have to enter actual factories to do that. VR games have given us the opportunity to attempt those obstacles without risking serious bodily injury or legal troubles.
Factories and other industrial settings in VR titles have some impressive obstacles. Navigate pieces of heavy machinery without activating them to steer clear of trouble. Industrial generators present the danger of electrocution along with being difficult to climb. Play around with all the industrial equipment in the VR games and devise creative ways to conquer them.
5. A Variety of Fencing Styles
Fences are not exactly the best parkour obstacles. That’s because you cannot do much with most of the fences you encounter. You can climb a fence and run across for a while, and that’s it. Other obstacles you’ll find in the city offer greater difficulty and enjoyment.
The fences you can find in VR titles are different. Those game elements can present unique challenges to players. Even someone evaluating them from the perspective of parkour play will find them interesting.
Chainlink fences are commonly used in video games, and you can scale them pretty easily. If you want greater challenges, you should seek out wood and wrought iron fences in those games. The height of the fence you find in the game can also affect the experience of scaling it.
Some of the fences that double as parkour challenges in VR titles are even designed to harm the player. Examples of those fences include barbed wire and electric fences. Ordinarily, you would just walk by those fences and not even consider scaling them. Inside the world of your VR game, climbing those dangerous fences is an option, albeit a very dangerous one.
6. Ropes and Other Items to Swing On
If you’re familiar with older platforming games, you likely know all about rope-swinging obstacles. These are among the most annoying obstacles you’ll find in any video game because they force players to nail specific timings if they want to succeed. Miss your timing window by a tenth of a second, and you’ll end up plummeting to the ground below.
Swinging obstacles in video games have only become more sophisticated since those days. Chains, LED commercial grade Christmas lights, and even animal tails are among the swinging obstacles that you can find in video games. Developers have come up with all kinds of ways to make swinging fun, and players are the beneficiaries of that.
Using a rope or a similar object to swing from one platform to the next is even more enjoyable in VR games. The experience of clinging to that rope goes to the next level because you’re wearing a VR headset. Trying to swing on objects is also safer in the VR world because there’s no risk of injury if the rope comes loose. Feel free to swing on those parkour obstacles as much as you want!
7. Dumpsters
Dumpsters can be surprisingly enjoyable parkour obstacles. They provide plenty of space to use for vaulting from one obstacle to another. They’re also wide enough to compensate for your misjudged leaps. You won’t crash to the ground because of the dumpster’s wide surface area.
Even a roll off dumpster can be a fun obstacle to play around with for traceurs. The fact that the roll-off dumpster may move around when you put your weight on it can make it a more challenging object to use for parkour purposes. You can also take advantage of where dumpsters are typically located to reach difficult-to-access areas.
The only real downside to using dumpsters during parkour is the possibility that you may fall into one. No one wants to take an accidental dumpster dive, so it would be understandable if you just steered clear of those obstacles. Even the smell of those dumpsters can keep parkour enthusiasts away.
You don’t have to worry about those unpleasant odors if you’re using dumpsters for parkour in VR games. The dumpsters in those video games are fun to play around with and don’t present any downsides. Discover the joys of using dumpsters as obstacles by checking them out in the virtual world.
8. Window Air Conditioners
One of the most enjoyable aspects of playing a parkour VR game is climbing skyscrapers. You can keep climbing the side of a skyscraper without worrying about slipping and falling. Go ahead and take risks while scaling those virtual skyscrapers so you can elevate your gaming experience.
In many VR games that feature parkour mechanics, the challenge of climbing a skyscraper involves more than maintaining the stamina to reach the top. You must also identify the best path to the top of the building. After evaluating the potential paths, you may determine that using window air conditioners is necessary to complete your climb.
Carefully inspect any air conditioner system you encounter during your ascent. Search for any spots you can use for your hands or feet so you can safely go higher. The air conditioning systems placed in VR titles are also very detailed. Approach them with caution because you may get injured otherwise.
The window air conditioners used as parkour obstacles in video games may also double as stepping stones. You may be able to hop from one unit to the next to reach your destination. There may be other ways to use those window air conditioners, so feel free to experiment while playing.
9. Large Trees
Natural parkour obstacles can also be found in modern VR games. Expect to see large trees while exploring those in-game environments. You can tell that local tree companies have never serviced these natural skyscrapers.
Climbing large trees in VR games can be quite challenging, mainly because they have numerous elements that can get in your way. Branches and leaves can obstruct your view and render you incapable of moving forward. Those branches may also break off while you’re climbing.
VR trees may also differ based on which VR games they are used in. The VR trees in virtual city settings will vary wildly from those in jungles and forests. Seeing how those trees differ is well worth your time as a parkour and video game enthusiast. The video game trees found in forests and jungles are also fun to explore because you can quickly move from one to the next.
10. Construction Equipment
Last but not least, many VR games also allow players to use construction equipment as parkour obstacles. You can have a lot of fun using pieces of construction equipment for traversal. Take a moment to see how the construction equipment is laid out and use the path hidden in plain sight.
The great thing about using construction equipment for parkour is you can use it to create a new path. Position the pieces of construction equipment in such a way that they can lead you to your desired destination. Depending on how interactive the VR game is, you may even be able to use certain items on the construction site to alter the layout of a level.
Don’t worry about equipment rental companies while playing around inside the construction site. You don’t even need to wear a hard hat to avoid injury. Enjoy the VR construction site however you want and unlock the true potential of parkour.
Modern VR games come with some incredible parkour obstacles. Check them out whenever you have the time and develop new ways to practice parkour in the real world. Drop by our website to learn more about parkour and VR games!