EA Learned From Mirror's Edge Mistakes

[TheKruzdawg]

I think a sequel to Mirror's Edge would be fun. I liked the first game well enough, although I took issue with the slightly frustrating way that you have to hit something in a certain spot to grab it or scale it, the overall shortness of the game, and I wasn't a fan of the between mission cutscene style. They had at least 2 or 3 3D rendered cutscenes in the middle of levels, like the one where you meet Kate, that looked amazing! Why couldn't they have done that for all of them? They wouldn't have seemed so out of place, imo.

And this game doesn't NEED multiplayer, although the idea of the capture the bag game someone suggested could be a fun thing to try, as well as the horse idea. But that's a maybe for me.

 

[Metalrocks]

the game lacked any kind of multiplayer.

GET OVER YOUR STUPID OBSESSION WITH MULTIPLAYER!!!

We don't need it in every single game!

Better to have no multiplayer if it's going to detract from the singleplayer or is just going to be tacked on.

Well, according to people who game developers they need multiplayer to sell units and according to magazine reviewers we all clamor for multiplayer even if it doesn't make sense. There's nothing that multiplayer can't do. Multiplayer can make your teeth whiter, restore lost hair and help you drop 20 pounds. Multiplayer stole your girlfriend, but then replaced her with a hotter girlfriend and a free car. Multiplayer is just that kind of guy. Everyone loves multiplayer.

I mean, it should be obvious right? This is why games released this last year like Fallout New Vegas, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins were such huge commercial failures. No multiplayer!

mass effect 2 etc is a huge success. so far i have never read or heard anyone saying that it failed because it dint had a MP.

@onyx
it not clear yet if a part 2 comes out. at least nothing official has bin said about a part 2. but i surely hope they are working on a part 2.

 

[RoyalWelsh]

I really loved Mirror's Edge. It had flaws sure, but the art style was beautiful, the soundtrack fitted the theme perfectly and the gameplay was overall enjoyable.

Also Mirror's Edge multiplayer? Not really needed is it. But I think it can work, if done right and not just tacked on.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

I really enjoyed Mirror's Edge, I don't really understand all the hate it gets. If a sequel were released I'd be quite happy.

 

[Jonluw]

I loved mirror's edge. I really hope they won't ruin the original's feel when trying to fix some of the issues in the sequel.

 

[unwesen]

One of the best games of the past decade, and now EA intend to learn from that, and not release games until they've fucked them up a bit more?

Yeah... I can see how that helps.

Mirror's Edge had one flaw: it was too short. Everything else was just fine the way it was.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Well let me just say this. A story is not subtle or good in hiding twists if I can tell who is going to turn evil before they do. I like to live in the moment with these things and tend to ignore signs for who is gonna turn evil so if I can figure out who it is something is being done wrong.

 

[Distorted Stu]

I loved ME, in my opinion it stands up their with Portal in terms of Single player experiences.

 

[vivster]

i don't like it at all when the company which published one of my all time favorite games bashes its own product
especially if they link poor sales to stuff like a missing multiplayer
the only "problem" with it was that it's not main stream enough to get the big sales
the few problems in gameplay stem from the concept itself and i couldn't imagine how they would make it so much better while staying true to the concept

Mirror's edge 2 is now since the first came out my most anticipated game for the next years
so hurry up EA and gimme my game so i can give you my moneyz

 

[ethaninja]

Hopefully the next game wont be as white. Seriously I had some Oblivion eye cancer flashbacks playing that game.

 

[ethaninja]

the game lacked any kind of multiplayer.

GET OVER YOUR STUPID OBSESSION WITH MULTIPLAYER!!!

We don't need it in every single game!

Better to have no multiplayer if it's going to detract from the singleplayer or is just going to be tacked on.

While I agree with you, and we don't NEED multiplayer, it wouldn't be too bad to jump roofs with your mates. Of course if they did decide to do one, lets hope like all the other latest releases, they don't ONLY appeal to the multiplayer aspect.

 

[JokerCrowe]

The thing I would like to see in a Mirror's Edge sequel is more open spaces made for parkour like more rooftops and parks (it's even the first part of the word; parkour), not tight train tunnels or corridors. Maybe even free-roaming (to a degree). And even though I thought I had a pretty good idea for Mirror's Edge multiplayer, it would be too difficult to put to practise in a good way.
I liked the "Multiplayer" of the first game, where you could learn new paths on time trial levels by downloading other player's ghosts. But I don't think a "deathmatch" mode would be very applicable to the concept of "The Edge".
I think I would probably, if not buy, atleast play a sequel. And if they keep the time trial the way it is (Only some new maps) I'd definitely think it was a good game. I really liked that part of the original, so if they make the story and setting longer/better and more open, I think I have my GOTY.

 

[Irridium]

Not every game needs damn multiplayer. It didn't sell well not because of multiplayer, but because of screwy game mechanics.

Jesus, not everything needs multiplayer you pricks.

 

[loremazd]

While no one is likely to argue with Gibeau about the importance of polishing a game before it gets shoved out the door, it's a little troubling to hear him say that games which seem better suited to single-player, like first person parkour games, or sci-fi survival horror need a multiplayer option in order to succeed.

I disagree that it's worrying; the guy's a buisnessman and wants to sell games. He can let creative directors and artists concentrate on making the game good and making every aspect work, but what he wants to do it put "now has multiplayer, just like COD!" on the back of the box to maximise sales. Now if it was the creative director of Dead Space saying that what it really needed to be a better game was a Halo style deathmatch (instead of say, sneaky survival multiplayer with weak but respawning bad guys and two or three humans that had to hold off the horde for as long as possible) that would be worrying.

Mirror's edge multiplayer would be nothing like CoD. I imagine it would be a race, and it would be quite fun.

 

[BrotherRool]

The thing about multiplayer is it makes more people buy a game. Not because multiplayer is included but if a couple of friends are playing a game together, they talk about it more and the friends want to get involved too. It's just a fact that the really really big games tend to succeed because of the multiplayer component and the word of mouth it creates. Think CoD, Halo, Borderlands, Starcraft etc. Other games can succeed (Bioshock) but it's harder. Compare quality difference versus the number of people who played Halo compared to Bioshock

 

[Blind Sight]

I really liked Mirror's Edge, I thought the design choices for the environments were excellent. When you've been stuck playing games that go for the gunmetal grey and dirt brown approach too much, seeing a colourful, beautifully rendered world is like stepping out of Detroit and finding yourself in Disneyland.

I wouldn't mind multiplayer in a Mirror's Edge game, mind you, the approach of 'let's just throw together a six hour campaign because everyone will just play multiplayer' isn't going to cut it. Some of us are anti-social gamers, we don't want/have time to waste hours in multiplayer matches.

 

[AngryFrenchCanadian]

That was a rather thoughtful statement on EA's part. Do they have a better PR department, or what?

 

[JediMB]

According to Gibeau, there were problems with pretty much every part of Mirror's Edge. The learning curve and difficulty were all wrong, the story wasn't up to scratch and the game lacked any kind of multiplayer.

[...]

While no one is likely to argue with Gibeau about the importance of polishing a game before it gets shoved out the door, it's a little troubling to hear him say that games that seem better suited to single player, like first person parkour games [...] need a multiplayer option in order to succeed.

While I don't think a multiplayer mode would have made Mirror's Edge a bigger success, I do see the appeal in parkour-competitions in (semi-)randomly generated, or even player-generated, levels.

I'm really not much of a multiplayer gamer, but I think that could be a lot of fun.

 

[random_bars]

Looks like EA has a habit of rushing games... They did the same with Brutal Legend. Although at least there the multiplayer had already been pretty much finished and was the main focus of the game, so the short length of the campaign didn't make much of a difference.

 

[MarsProbe]

It makes me sad that the lack of multiplayer is viewed in this game as a mistake. Seems that the culture of the need for every game to have a multiplayer mode is still very prevalent.

I was delighted that the closest thing resembling multiplayer were the times trials (especially those odd environments made up of floating platforms set high above an ocean, or whatever that was).

Though if we did see a Mirrors Edge 2 with multiplayer, I would probably forgive them (provided the singleplayer was still the primary focus), as it would mean we were getting another Mirrors Edge.