And the Best-Named Game Of 2025 Award easily goes to Barkour, a parkour stealth-action game where you play as a secret agent doggo.
Barkour was just announced and comes courtesy of Bee Simulator developer Varsav Studios, who are making somewhat of a niche for themselves in the animal sim department, though their stealth-action-parkour hybrid won’t come to PC until sometime next year.
For now, there’s an adorable animated trailer of our secret agent T.H.U.N.D.E.R infiltrating a top-secret base, beating up bad guys in a cartoony puff of smoke, and then enjoying the sunset with a pawful of ear scratches.
We don’t have any glimpses at in-game game footage yet, but its Steam description certainly makes it seem like Splinter Cell and Mirrors Edge had a mutant canine baby. “Glide through missions with exceptional acrobatic skills and nimble, fast-paced movement,” the storefront blurb reads.”Use your speed and agility to traverse the world however you see fit.”
Just like EA’s beloved but overlooked run-and-jumper, Barkour aims to accommodate multiple play styles. The game promises to let you go “full-on guns blazing” with gadgets or take the “stealthy silent approach” – as long as you can resist barking at faraway noises, of course.
And, no doubt about it, there’ll be plenty of barking involved here. “Even though T.H.U.N.D.E.R. is a trained professional, he remains a regular dog at heart,” Varsav Studios explains. “He still needs to chase his tail, scratch an elusive itch behind his ear, and occasionally sniff someone’s behind… even in the heat of battle. Dangerous, and yet undeniably adorable, he’s the perfect mix of agent and man’s best friend.”
The only thing I’m not a massive fan of so far is the sly anti-cat propaganda stalking around. Barkour has us “work for a secret organization where all agents are exceptionally skilled animals.” Nice! Wholesome! It’s Spy Kids but with animals. The problem is that our “one goal” is to “save the world from the forces of evil (and mischievous cats)!” Evil cats? Now it’s the Tobey Maguire, Jeff Goldblum starring Cats & Dogs espionage film. Talk about a cliche that should’ve been left in 2001.
We’ll see how Barkour shakes out when it’s ready to come out sometime in 2025.
For now, check out the new games of 2024 and beyond.
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