Mirror's Edge Catalyst Closed Beta Begins Next Week

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Mirror's Edge Catalyst Closed Beta Begins Next Week


A five-day closed beta for Mirror's Edge Catalyst begins on April 22.

From April 22 through April 26, select players will be able to participate in the closed beta for Mirror's Edge Catalyst. The beta was originally announced in February [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/166285-Mirrors-Edge-Catalyst-Closed-Beta-Announced], although no details - or dates - were given at the time other than that the beta will run for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via EA's Origin digital distribution platform.

In a post today [http://www.mirrorsedge.com/news/beta-date-announce], Design Director Erik Odeldahl detailed what will be included in the upcoming beta. Several main missions, side missions, and "other optional content" will be available to test, with the goal of testing the Social Play and online systems prior to launch.

"Mirror's Edge Catalyst is not only about the story of Faith and her fight against oppression. We've also designed the city of Glass as an opportunity for you to connect with friends and compare skills with other Runners," the post reads. "Detailed in the developer diary video above, these Social Play features are there to make your time in Glass even more entertaining and memorable."

Mirror's Edge Catalyst is slated to release on May 24.

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[Neurotic Void Melody]

One of these days, developers and publishers are finally going to realise that no one gives piddly piss poo about "online leaderboards" and "social connections" or "friends." in their full priced games. Just good gameplay and story...try to stop acting like social networking is the newest, most amazing innovation for all modern games. Very Immminent Spoiler Alert...it isn't! Using those features for an advertisement hook are like describing your bowel movements under the "hobbies" section in your dating profile.

Edit: Wait, this isn't going to be "always online" like the latest method Need for speed employed for suicide, is it? I am almost certain that "social connectivity" was the sole excuse for that farce. From burnout to the burnout of the poor man's burnout, entropy in artistic vision right before our very eyes.

 

[Jburton9]

I liked the first game, the graphics were very refreshing vs the grey brown pallets we usually got at that time. Also loved the music by Solar Winds, great stuff : )

Bleh, more surface areas for them to gather metrics through their "social environment", you are not the customer you are the product. I can't run EA's Origin system so will wait to see if it is actually offered on PC vs being behind an EA wall.

 

[fix-the-spade]

I can't run EA's Origin system so will wait to see if it is actually offered on PC vs being behind an EA wall.

EA hasn't released a single game on PC without Origin integration since 2011. Even games bought through other sellers will require activation on Origin.

So I wouldn't be holding my breath.

 

[Metalrocks]

I liked the first game, the graphics were very refreshing vs the grey brown pallets we usually got at that time. Also loved the music by Solar Winds, great stuff : )

thats why im really looking forward to it because of that. its bright, more cheerful than these dark themed, grey filtered titles that look all the same and are tedious as well. and agree about the music as well. suited so well to the surroundings and its theme. and he is back as well for catalyst. looking forward to the soundtrack too.

Bleh, more surface areas for them to gather metrics through their "social environment", you are not the customer you are the product. I can't run EA's Origin system so will wait to see if it is actually offered on PC vs being behind an EA wall.

well, i guess your out of luck because every single EA titles requires origin. just like every ubisoft title requires uplay. thats not going to go away. regardless if disc version or digitally. when was the last time you have purchased a disc version that did not require steam? witcher 2 and 3 you say? but thats pretty much it. every title i have purchased always required steam to play it. even indie titles.

and origin is not bad. actually i find it at times better than steam. i had origin when it was in its beta stage and even then i never had a problem with it. ran smoother than steam, downloaded faster as well. never caused any interference with my computer or other programs. and they have changed their policy as well after they outcry of being a spyware. if thats what you are referring to. now its just like steam. only checking its own folders.

 

[Living_Brain]

... ran smoother than steam, downloaded faster as well. never caused any interference...

No, it doesn't download faster. The speed you see on the dialog box is the rate at which the uncompressed files are being written to disk, not the rate at which the compressed files are downloaded.

OT: As soon as I saw them promoting social aspects of this game, a red flag went up for me. I'm glad others have similar opinions. What we all wanted was basically a longer Mirror's Edge, so this kind of fluff might detract from the experience. I'm just really hoping it's not shoved down everyone's throat; something like leaderboards comparing speedrunning times would be enough social integration for me [sort of like an autolog system in new NFS games (I have no idea how Battlefield's works)].

 

[Metalrocks]

... ran smoother than steam, downloaded faster as well. never caused any interference...

No, it doesn't download faster. The speed you see on the dialog box is the rate at which the uncompressed files are being written to disk, not the rate at which the compressed files are downloaded.

i know what you mean, i was referring to that time when it was released. because it was just weird that, for example, for a GB, steam downloaded at 800kb/s (yes, back then my connection wasnt good) and on origin it downloaded the same amount over 1MB/s.
now i have a must better connection so both get downloaded at nearly 3MB/s.

 

[Living_Brain]

snip

i know what you mean, i was referring to that time when it was released. because it was just weird that, for example, for a GB, steam downloaded at 800kb/s (yes, back then my connection wasnt good) and on origin it downloaded the same amount over 1MB/s.
now i have a must better connection so both get downloaded at nearly 3MB/s.

Well it looks like it ended up the same, I guess the best thing to say is "your mileage may vary". With Steam, I would often get higher speeds than what I was paying for (only slightly) and it was the only app that would do that, as not even speedtest.net would get a better result.
You might be living in a place that had an EA server closer, or your ISP routed your Steam traffic badly, but main point is that they are the same.

 

[EHKOS]

Well, I signed up pretty early so I hope I get a spot. Couldn't care less about their online bullshit but I'm sure as heck gonna hit up those story missions. It starts a day after my birthday so hopefully Bday luck will have something to do with it.

 

[Cryselle]

Something to keep in mind is that even the original Mirror's Edge had speedrun leaderboards and challenges, though they were tucked off in a way that if you didn't care about them you really never even had to know they were there. Hopefully Catalyst will handle it the same way, something that is there for the people who like that kind of thing, but not annoying for the people who don't (I'm looking at you Just Cause 3, I really don't care that some person I don't know did a thing...)

 

[snave]

Uhh... a 'dash' is one of the core types of vault. If you're going to make a game essentially about parkour, you might not want to redefine core lingo.

 

[flying_whimsy]

I've been boycotting ea stuff since about the time they switched over to origin, and I have to admit this is the first game that's actually made me rethink my no ea post-origin purchasing policy. I signed up for the beta to see if it was worth it, and it turns out I got picked. Man, just installing origin and running the game took about an hour; first one thing wouldn't work, then another, then it made me update my video drivers... blech. This experience definitely hasn't changed my mind about origin; only reason I have an account was from when I bought the dlc for the first mirror's edge back in the ea download manager days.

I played the beta a bit earlier today, but I want to give it a fair chance and play some more before I talk about it. I was a huge fan of the first one (warts and all), so I'm pretty sure I won't be able to give an unbiased opinion in those regards.

 

[Metalrocks]

I've been boycotting ea stuff since about the time they switched over to origin, and I have to admit this is the first game that's actually made me rethink my no ea post-origin purchasing policy. I signed up for the beta to see if it was worth it, and it turns out I got picked. Man, just installing origin and running the game took about an hour; first one thing wouldn't work, then another, then it made me update my video drivers... blech. This experience definitely hasn't changed my mind about origin; only reason I have an account was from when I bought the dlc for the first mirror's edge back in the ea download manager days.

I played the beta a bit earlier today, but I want to give it a fair chance and play some more before I talk about it. I was a huge fan of the first one (warts and all), so I'm pretty sure I won't be able to give an unbiased opinion in those regards.

cant recall that origin ever asked mt update my drivers. generally i cant recall any issues with origin since day 1. and i got it since its beta stage.

i certainly enjoy the game a lot. it has its issues which many point out as well in the forum. origin is not that bad many think. its a solid system that works surprisingly well. at least you give the game a chance. maybe you may like it like i do.

 

[flying_whimsy]

cant recall that origin ever asked mt update my drivers. generally i cant recall any issues with origin since day 1. and i got it since its beta stage.

i certainly enjoy the game a lot. it has its issues which many point out as well in the forum. origin is not that bad many think. its a solid system that works surprisingly well. at least you give the game a chance. maybe you may like it like i do.

The game made me update the drivers, but you know, one more thing to do before I can actually play it...

I'm not thrilled I have to make another account just to give feedback for the game on their forums, but fortunately it looks like the bulk of the posts manage to sum up most of my feedback. I'll still probably toss my two cents in at some point, though.

 

[Metalrocks]

cant recall that origin ever asked mt update my drivers. generally i cant recall any issues with origin since day 1. and i got it since its beta stage.

i certainly enjoy the game a lot. it has its issues which many point out as well in the forum. origin is not that bad many think. its a solid system that works surprisingly well. at least you give the game a chance. maybe you may like it like i do.

The game made me update the drivers, but you know, one more thing to do before I can actually play it...

I'm not thrilled I have to make another account just to give feedback for the game on their forums, but fortunately it looks like the bulk of the posts manage to sum up most of my feedback. I'll still probably toss my two cents in at some point, though.

wow, the game forced you to? not for me. i guess i have already the latest drivers on.

but wait a minute. why you are asked to create another account for their forum? i used my EA credentials. the same i already had when i have created it back then when mass effect came out. used the same to sign in to origin and the very same to comment in the mirrors edge forum. never had to create one again just for it.
you mena one here, right?
https://forums.mirrorsedge.com/categories/closed-beta-feedback

i used the same as for origin.

 

[OverEZ]

If I yawned any harder I'd be licking my feet. Pass.