Parkour has been a sport that many have witnessed being performed on social media and perhaps even on television. It’s truly art in motion as these courageous and daring men and women take to the streets to perform acrobatic maneuvers to get over crazy, oftentimes very dangerous obstacles. It’s not too often that you find that same daring display portrayed in a video game but in Super Cloudbuilt, you totally feel the adrenaline rush as you dash from platform to platform and pray that you don’t fall to your death. Super Cloudbuilt is an indie action title from UK based developer and publisher, Double Eleven and while many may not know of their name, this title will certainly have you remembering them. Hopefully in a good way. If you enjoy a very daring challenge with plenty of replay value to keep you coming back for more, then we suggest giving Super Cloudbuilt a spin.

With over 170 challenges in game along with 3 game modes to choose from, Super Cloudbuilt is full of wonderfully designed stages that will all test your ability to stay focused at all times. Being able to jump from wall to wall seems like a moderate task but once you start getting into the more difficult stages, you start to realize what type of challenge you’re in for. It’s certainly no walk in the park and will require a lot of patience and planning to execute consistently, but that’s perhaps where the charm of the game really stands out. Everything happens at lightning fast speed and so your reflexes and timing are put to the test at every turn. Once you start to get the hang of it all though, then traversing through each stage’s platforms will be a little easier but still nowhere near simple. There’s a lot of free running that you’ll be doing as well, which is a cool thing since it gives you time to explore each stage meticulously and really measure the distance at which you’ll need to jump off every platform to stay alive. Enemies will stand in your way at times to make the challenges a little crazy and so you’ll need to deal with them before you proceed any further. We’ll dive more into the gameplay aspects of the game later in the review, but for now there’s plenty of good things to expect along with some drawbacks which we’ll cover later as well.

The story starts off with Demi, a young female soldier who finds herself in a new world as she awakens to her disconnected physical form and her old life. This strange new world is something she must discover in order to find the truth behind everything, and so with every challenge that stands in her way she must uncover the missing pieces to understand the future that lies ahead.

Super Cloudbuilt is a very daring game in itself since not too many titles these days place their attention on parkour elements, while implementing a third person shooting type of experience. Double Eleven delivers all of that in a very stylistic way, incorporating cell shading to give off a very futuristic appeal. Of course, you can jump off of walls and do cool moves in other games, but this game places a heavy emphasis on being able to successfully overcome each obstacle that lies ahead of you in a very creative manner. Platforms are scattered yet very organized in their positioning and you’ll need to determine the right course of action in order to reach the end goal of each stage, which isn’t very easy. Some stages will incorporate traps that will prevent you from using your dash powers, and so, coming up with new strategies is the fun aspect. The story mode is sort of your entry way into all the madness as it guides you through on how to play the game, while still incorporating the fast action. Each stage is numbered according to their difficulty level, with 10 being the maximum but the rare occasion you may find one over that number is where the game truly makes you want to lose your marbles.

Sadly we weren’t able to make it that far in rank but the fact remains that Super Cloudbuilt is a game that’s truly meant to push you beyond your limits and encourage you to come up with concrete solutions to clear every stage. Mind you there are also collectibles that you’ll need to gather as well which also adds the extra depth throughout each stage. Often times, an item that you’ll need is placed on top of this obscure platform that you’ll need to position your character in such a way in order to grab it, and so having a mastery of the movement in this game is paramount. You have 2 ways of maneuvering around screen, the LB button is used to jump on and off of walls while the LT button is used to dash and being able to use both simultaneously can be frustrating not in a bad way, but because as you try and get used to things you’ll die quite frequently. Since we’re on the topic of controls the game does come with full controller support and we’ll be honest with you, using a controller is your best bet. Anyone who dares to race through each stage with keyboard and mouse, will be in for an even crazier ride.

There are a few drawbacks though and as we mentioned earlier in the article, we’d touch base on them. While Super Cloudbuilt’s design and forward thinking ideas are truly fitting, the camera controls at times were not very friendly and caused a lot of very unhappy moments for us. As we mentioned just recently pertaining to controls and movement, a lot of your momentum comes from being able to run and boost yourself off of platforms in order to reach the next one. With the camera functionality having stiff controls at times, it became increasingly more difficult to tackle stages because we weren’t able to turn around fast enough to hop onto the next ledge. It’s for that very reason that Super Cloudbuilt suffers in ways because so much emphasis is placed around careful and precise movement, and yet the camera prevents that from happening at times which makes things frustrating. There’s a practice stage called The Playground where you can pretty much learn the mechanics of the game freely and not worry about dying, which is a great addition to the gameplay. However, everything matters so much when playing the story mode or even the Rush Mode that when we run into camera problems the tension only grows bigger but not in a very good way. It’s certainly very cool to be able to hop from platform to platform, that we can’t take away from the game, but because doing so requires that you must always keep the camera aligned correctly can be taxing on the fingers.

Overall Super Cloudbuilt provides a very unique and thrilling experience once you can get over the stiff camera controls and learn to master maneuvering around stages like Spiderman. It’s very rewarding when you’re able to tackle crazy levels (anything higher than 5 is nuts) and obtain your rewards, but because of this challenge, not many people may find it to be endearing and may give up. It’s certainly not a game that will cater to everyone’s needs but for those that want a very methodical game about using your reflexes and speed to win, then Super Cloudbuilt is totally worth the cash. At only $19.99, the price point is decent and for what you’re getting in the package, it’s an adventure you’ll enjoy. The story mode is certainly worth playing through and once you complete that, the very wild rush mode is where you’ll truly be tested. There’s plenty to collect and unlock such as costume color variants, which can be unlocked through completing specific tasks or grabbing certain items. You can also grab some costume colors by simply signing up and creating a Double Eleven account, which is also nice too.

We hope this review provided you with enough information to help you make a better purchasing decision. We of course don’t speak for everyone so please use your own judgement when deciding to grab any title, not just Super Cloudbuilt. This game is totally fun once you get over the humps and the voice acting within the game adds a nice touch to the very frantic action that happens on screen. Be sure to check out Super Cloudbuilt when it drops July 25th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Steam. Let us know what you think in the comments below, and as always be sure to follow us on social media to stay up to date with what’s happening in the gaming world!

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