Back in the days when I didn’t have the lazy excuse of hopping in my car every time I needed to make a journey of any more than a mile, I’d inevitably end up completely forgetting when I needed to get somewhere and having to make a rather frantic dash for it. It did occur to me at the time that going over instead of around some of the obstacles I came across would probably be quicker, but the fear of shattered shins and the need to keep my rather natty sixth form uniform clean took precedence and I never really got to fully satisfy my curiosity.

Until now, that is. It’s been left to Rebellion and their capable crew to finally bring the rapidly growing art of Free Running to the world of video games, and in doing so they have produced a game that not only feels rewarding and stylish, but packs in a generous dollop of content along the way. It’s a different experience and one that certainly takes a bit of getting used to, but once mastered it takes on a whole new level of enjoyment and leaves you feeling rather chipper about your exploits.

Featuring Free Running creator and general French bloke Sebastian Foucon (he of James Bond fame), the game focuses itself on allowing the player to interact with a series of indoor and outdoor environments in order to achieve a selection of challenges and objectives. Divided up between a number of varied locations, each level gives the player a number of different challenges to complete in order to unlock new clothing items, tricks, levels, videos and music. Tricking is the name of the game, and creating fluid, flowing moves is the primary objective.

You’d think that this is sounding rather like Tony Hawk without his board, and in some respects you’d be right. The nature in which you are encouraged to explore your surroundings and attempt tricks off everything and anything allows for a whole host of different combinations to be played out, and in the free sessions where time and collection is no object it is more than easy to lose whole hours perfecting your moves. Once done, the variety of challenges on offer for each setting will keep you more than occupied.

Take, for example, the first location the game offers after you complete your training. Offering a smaller, easier challenge for players with a couple of tall buildings and a series of jumping opportunites, the level offers numerous chances to test out moves like the Pharaoh Climb, the Tic Tac and the Horizontal Wall run with a little bit of a safety net in case of errors or mistakes. As you progress through the game unlocking new areas, the premium on getting things right is ramped up and eventually you’ll start practicing your moves in larger areas where one slight slip will leave you in a crumpled, broken heap on the floor. The pacing of the game through these stages feels just right, and the level of challenge always keeps itself just the right side of frustration.

This is helped by the control of your character being intuitive, giving you plenty of chance to use the environments to your advantage. Whilst initially the amount of moves at your command is rather baffling, using them a couple of times will see you storing them in your noodle and using them at future opportunities with not too many problems. As with games of this sort, learning the tricks is one thing, but chaining them together in fluid moves is the real skill and finding out how to do so in different situations is where you really have to start upping your game.

You may, for example, find yourself coming upon a section of a level where you are presented with a jump, a wall, a washing line and a ledge. Experimentation will eventually see you managing to hop the jump, perform a vertical wall run from which you can jump backwards to swing on the pole and then follow this all up by pressing the circle button at just the right moment to propel yourself upwards towards the previously unreachable ledge. It feels fluid and it’s a highly rewarding moment when you put it all together to boot.

Challenges come thick and fast, and are pleasingly varied. Some – such as Free Race and Chase ‘N’ Race – see you having to hurdle obstacles in order or in a route of your own choosing in order to get to a finishing point first, whilst Target Hit sees you having to use every inch of the landscape to collect targets within a certain time limit. The most unique of these is undoubtedly Ground Zero, a challenge which sees you having to traverse the level without once touching the floor, all the while against the clock. Thankfully, slipping up won’t see you failing completely and mistakes instead see you returned to an earlier point in the route.

If you’re up some multiplayer larks, Free Running ably caters for you. Splitting the screen in two, the game gives you and a friend the chance to compete against each other in a number of similar challenges to that of the single player game, as well as a mode called Time Bomb that sees each player collecting targets to lower his time metre in order to finish the challenge with the lowest amount of time left. Visual detail is sacrificed to some degree when it comes to how the game looks, but with a smooth framerate being so necessary for timing and tricking you rarely notice.

What issues there are with Free Running are few, although there are a couple. Initial training in the early part of the game sees you having to learn a whole stack of moves rather quickly, and although each is explained well and reasonably simple to pull off, the sheer number of combinations and scenarios you have to remember will see you often forgetting what the heck you’re supposed to do at points. It does eventually sink in, but early moments with the game can feel a little frustrating at times. Apart from this, you could venture that the lack of a create-a-player option harms the experience slightly, as seeing a digital version of yourself jumping from walls and somersaulting off poles would have been hugely enjoyable, if not a little ironic (in my case especially).

But hey, these are minor quibbles. The simple truth about Free Running is that it is good, addictive fun, with plenty chucked in for gamers to perform. Unlocking new clothing items to add to your chosen character, finding new tricks and performing them in chains and exploring and mastering all of the locations on offer are all thoroughly enjoyable ways to spend your time. Whilst it was never going to be a system-seller and while many gamers will probably be willing to pass it over without having even tried it, the game provides a surprisingly enjoyable and compulsive chunk of gaming that deserves a lot more attention than initial glances may garner.