Cloudbuilt (2014)

First-person games are often dominated by a theme of shooting, but Cloudbuilt is one of the few games to place a low emphasis on combat. The game would work perfectly well without any confrontation and it is possible to complete the majority of it as a pacifist. Cloudbuilt's strengths lie in its amazing platforming elements, which are in abundance throughout the game. Whether it is running along walls, boost jumping between platforms or scaling high walls, the game creates a rush of adrenaline that makes it one of the most enjoyable experiences available.

Cloudbuilt is frustrating. It's frustrating to play and frustrating to recommend. I like the style, I like the parkour mechanics overall, but there's a lot of junk to contend with. The antagonistic design (minefields everywhere) is one thing, but the unforgiving checkpoints and limited lives lead to a lot of repetition. Meanwhile, the combat ends up about as unsatisfying as Mirror's Edge, with worse enemies that either absorb too many bullets or deflect them with shields anyway. If you want something that is going to fight you every step of the way as you shave seconds off of run times (and you have a strong pinky finger), this is for you.

Cloudbuilt is fun once you get the hang of things. A good challenge for those that do not frustrate easily.

Cloudbuilt is in no way a bad game, but it does have its flaws; the worst of which are the controls and difficulty curve.  If you can get past those, though, you'll find a fairly decent and fun game in a genre that doesn't see a lot of entries. If speed running is your thing, definitely give this one a shot.

It's very smooth and nice to look at, but loading times are quite long and made the wait for constant death quite boring. It seems unable to decide whether it is a parkour game or a third-person shooter, and that hampers what could be a much better game had it decided between the two.