Wall running
A traversal ability letting the player run along vertical surfaces for a limited duration, chaining momentum from a horizontal sprint into a temporary vertical or diagonal path across walls. Titanfall 2's fluid wall-running (woven seamlessly into double jumps and slides for its signature parkour-shooter movement) and Mirror's Edge's momentum-focused free-running both make wall-running a core expressive movement tool rather than an occasional gimmick. Designers use wall-running to add verticality and flow to level traversal, to reward spatial mastery and momentum-chaining as a distinct skill ceiling, and to open up level design possibilities (routes that only make sense once wall-running exists as an option). Key decisions: duration limits (unlimited wall-running removes the risk/timing element; too brief feels frustratingly restrictive), which surfaces support it and how that's visually signposted, momentum preservation into subsequent moves (jumps, slides), and camera behavior during the tilted perspective. Pitfall: wall-running that isn't clearly telegraphed (which walls are runnable?) turns exploration into trial-and-error against invisible rules — a consistent, learnable visual language for runnable surfaces is essential, echoing the same lesson from climbing and breakable-wall design.
- Dev effort: Medium
- Timing: Real-time
- Common in: shooter, platformer
Seen in
- Titanfall 2
- Mirror's Edge