Eidos
announces Free Running, the world's first ever video game based on the
urban phenomenon of parkour. Developed by Core Design, Free
Running will be released worldwide on PSP handheld in Fall 2005.
Parkour,
the art of movement, is less a sport and more a way of life. Its
participants, known as Free Runners or Traceurs, view the environment
and its obstacles, urban or natural, as a series of challenges to be
overcome. To the Traceurs, parkour has a philosophical appeal:
they feel transformed by the experience, free from the grind of city
life. Since its inception in Paris during the mid-1980s, it has
spread across the globe and now has an international army of exponents
and enthusiasts.
In
Free Running, the concrete jungle becomes your urban playground as you
run, vault, jump or climb over obstacles in the most fluid and flowing
manner possible. Test the boundaries of human ability as you
perform death-defying leaps and jaw-dropping trips across inner-city
rooftops. To be crowned King of Parkour, you must master over 50
moves, tricks and stunts
including
Kong Vaults, Pharaoh Climbs, Rail Split Vaults and Vertical Wall Runs in
a variety of game modes while racing against human or
computer-controlled competitors.
Free
Running has been developed in association with Sebastien Foucan, one of
the French founders of the movement, and the UK's foremost Parkour
collection, Urban Freeflow. To aid your progress, Sébastien appears in
the game as your mentor, teaching you new moves and tricks.
Members of Urban Freeflow also make an appearance as unlockable playable
characters.
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Matt
Sansom, executive producer at Core Design says,"After seeing these
guys perform their
amazing
moves, we just knew we had to make it into a game. Working with Sébastien,
Urban Freeflow and the other traceurs has been an amazing experience and
hopefully people will feel the same buzz when playing the game.
Free Running offers authentic, intense excitement which is true to the
spirit and art of parkour."