Good day, and welcome to my Mirror's Edge review. Some of you may have read this review of mine, some of you may have had better things to do like sew the dishes or water the cat. Nevertheless, I'm here to review another game that has been reviewed to death on this site. Still, you clicked the link, so you knew what you were getting.
Mirror's Edge is a game by developer DICE, published by Electronic Arts. It's been released for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC that I know of, and I will be reviewing the Xbox version. Oh, and while we're on the topic, it ran me about sixty-five dollars Canadian. (Sorry, I don't remember the exact dollar figure.)
Mirror's Edge is a first-person platform game, or better described as first person Parkour. For those of you unfamiliar with Parkour, I might use my newfound knowledge of adding clean URL's in forum code to send you to www.misterparkour.com/faq . Have a nice read, and come back when you're ready.
The game takes place in a city, the name of which isn't mentioned. Temporally, it's set in approximately modern day. As described by the protagonist, Faith, there's been a fair amount of political strife in the recent past, and the government is oppressive. There is an underground of some kind, and to move information from place to place in this city without it being monitored, one hires a Runner to carry it. Faith is one of these Runners. While the setting and storyline is a bit morally ambiguous with respect to who is 'good', or 'bad', or if these terms can be applied at all, it serves to create a setting that I can swallow without requiring any handwaving. Who a runner is and what they do is explained; good enough for me. The game's story doesn't have you running missions for rebels, but rather has Faith uncovering an elaborate setup of her sister Kate, who is framed for the murder of mayoral candidate Robert Pope (referred to as Pope).
Some might have qualms with the story. There exists a bit of ambiguity in whether or not the government is really 'evil' or not, and others have sent some scorn over the fact that you don't have much to do with subversives, but I disagree. From the first mission, you are running a package for someone, when the police show up and start shooting with little explanation. Told through animated cutscenes between games, and cinematics using the game's engine, the story unfolds that someone wanted Pope dead and wanted Kate to take the blame. You, as Faith, are a loose end that needs to be tied up. Two paragraphs is as much as I'm willing to write because I'm lazy, so let me sum up that the story gets us from point A to be, the motivations of the characters are apparent as need be, and that it tells a story without cramming half an hour at a time worth of dialogue.
On to the game playing side of things now. Playing what largely boils down to a platforming game in first person presents unique challenges for people used to being able to see their exact position such as in a third person platform game like Prince of Persia. That said, I didn't find I was having a lot of trouble. The control scheme on the Xbox controller is very different from any other game I've played, but so too is the task I'm accomplishing. After a justifiable tutorial, I felt comfortable with the odd scheme, and after the first mission it felt natural. (For reference to people who haven't played the game, jumping is mapped to the left shoulder button, and ducking to the left trigger on the 360.). While challenging at times, I welcomed the occasional difficult section to liven up my game. I never expected it to be a cakewalk, and pulling off a string of acrobatics is incredibly satisfying after failing it a time or two.
The game plays out largely on rooftops, although there are some indoor segments. The outdoor segments are faster paced, often fleeing from hot pursuit with bullets nipping at your heels. Conversely, the indoor segments are often about looking around in the environment to find a route to where you need to go. The game helps you in the form of 'runner vision', where the nearest object that you should use on the path is highlighted in red. It's a great idea, especially given the game's visual style (more on that later), but on a very few occasions it fails, particularly when you'll have to double back over an area. It also doesn't highlight walls you'll need to run on or up, so one has to bend their mind around the game's way of thinking. I found after a bit of play time, I got used to seeing walls as the new floor, but your mileage may vary.
Visually, the game stands out amongst the many explicable brown environments (post-apocalyptic), and inexplicable brown environments (GTA 4?) of this console generation. The city by and large is clean and white. White concrete, white floors, white walls. Periodically the screen got very, very bright, but I remembered that I was looking in the sun's direction. Anyone else who lives in a snowy clime can appreciate the problem. Interspersed in here is splashes of bold primary and secondary colours, and the bright red of Runner Vision stands out. The areas that aren't bright white seem (and are supposed to be) dirty, like the storm drains, a construction site, or inside of a boat. This also makes a difference to the design of the HUD: there isn't a HUD. Health is indicated by the bold colours dimming, and when you're really hurt, the darkness closing into peripheral vision and red flashes in the edges of that. While some may criticize regenerative health, the game doesn't ask you to suspend disbelief as far as others with regard to injury. Razor wire can hurt you badly, and more than a couple bullets drops you outright. (I think of them as rubber bullets to preserve disbelief farther, but I digress).
Audibly, the game is distinct as well. Subtle touches like Faith's heavier breathing while sprinting, footsteps, and wind rushing by add a great deal of realism and help draw the player in. The soundtrack alternates between pumping beat-heavy techno tracks to the intense action segments, and quieter pieces for the more 'puzzle' segments. The songs are very fitting, and a few of them may or may not be currently on my MP3 player, played when I'm out running.
Once the story mode is complete, the game offers a lot more options to add replay value. Any single chapter of the story is available for timed speed runs, and time trials exist for sections of the map. The difficulty on these is high (I've yet to get more than a single star of three on any given map), but rewarding when you shave so much as a half second off your fastest time. Downloadable content promises even more tracks: the trailer for these presented courses resembling abstract art instead of city chunks, but I've yet to play them.
My inner laziness is taking over, and demanding I sum up and (ironically) get to the gym across the street. The verdict for Mirror's Edge:
BUY IT
The unique gameplay and challenge kept me coming back for more. The visuals are slick and clean, the audio pleasurable to the ear, and the challenges satisfying without being impossible. (Of course, I have completed I Wanna Be The Guy: platform challenges don't scare me off easily). The story drew me in well enough to make me genuinely interested in what was happening to the characters, who I came to like.
Thank you for reading, and once again feel free to educate me on how to put pretty pictures into my review, or to level criticism at my ignorance in forum code, grammar, spelling, or the right opinion.
Mirror's Edge is a game by developer DICE, published by Electronic Arts. It's been released for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC that I know of, and I will be reviewing the Xbox version. Oh, and while we're on the topic, it ran me about sixty-five dollars Canadian. (Sorry, I don't remember the exact dollar figure.)
Mirror's Edge is a first-person platform game, or better described as first person Parkour. For those of you unfamiliar with Parkour, I might use my newfound knowledge of adding clean URL's in forum code to send you to www.misterparkour.com/faq . Have a nice read, and come back when you're ready.
The game takes place in a city, the name of which isn't mentioned. Temporally, it's set in approximately modern day. As described by the protagonist, Faith, there's been a fair amount of political strife in the recent past, and the government is oppressive. There is an underground of some kind, and to move information from place to place in this city without it being monitored, one hires a Runner to carry it. Faith is one of these Runners. While the setting and storyline is a bit morally ambiguous with respect to who is 'good', or 'bad', or if these terms can be applied at all, it serves to create a setting that I can swallow without requiring any handwaving. Who a runner is and what they do is explained; good enough for me. The game's story doesn't have you running missions for rebels, but rather has Faith uncovering an elaborate setup of her sister Kate, who is framed for the murder of mayoral candidate Robert Pope (referred to as Pope).
Some might have qualms with the story. There exists a bit of ambiguity in whether or not the government is really 'evil' or not, and others have sent some scorn over the fact that you don't have much to do with subversives, but I disagree. From the first mission, you are running a package for someone, when the police show up and start shooting with little explanation. Told through animated cutscenes between games, and cinematics using the game's engine, the story unfolds that someone wanted Pope dead and wanted Kate to take the blame. You, as Faith, are a loose end that needs to be tied up. Two paragraphs is as much as I'm willing to write because I'm lazy, so let me sum up that the story gets us from point A to be, the motivations of the characters are apparent as need be, and that it tells a story without cramming half an hour at a time worth of dialogue.
On to the game playing side of things now. Playing what largely boils down to a platforming game in first person presents unique challenges for people used to being able to see their exact position such as in a third person platform game like Prince of Persia. That said, I didn't find I was having a lot of trouble. The control scheme on the Xbox controller is very different from any other game I've played, but so too is the task I'm accomplishing. After a justifiable tutorial, I felt comfortable with the odd scheme, and after the first mission it felt natural. (For reference to people who haven't played the game, jumping is mapped to the left shoulder button, and ducking to the left trigger on the 360.). While challenging at times, I welcomed the occasional difficult section to liven up my game. I never expected it to be a cakewalk, and pulling off a string of acrobatics is incredibly satisfying after failing it a time or two.
The game plays out largely on rooftops, although there are some indoor segments. The outdoor segments are faster paced, often fleeing from hot pursuit with bullets nipping at your heels. Conversely, the indoor segments are often about looking around in the environment to find a route to where you need to go. The game helps you in the form of 'runner vision', where the nearest object that you should use on the path is highlighted in red. It's a great idea, especially given the game's visual style (more on that later), but on a very few occasions it fails, particularly when you'll have to double back over an area. It also doesn't highlight walls you'll need to run on or up, so one has to bend their mind around the game's way of thinking. I found after a bit of play time, I got used to seeing walls as the new floor, but your mileage may vary.
Visually, the game stands out amongst the many explicable brown environments (post-apocalyptic), and inexplicable brown environments (GTA 4?) of this console generation. The city by and large is clean and white. White concrete, white floors, white walls. Periodically the screen got very, very bright, but I remembered that I was looking in the sun's direction. Anyone else who lives in a snowy clime can appreciate the problem. Interspersed in here is splashes of bold primary and secondary colours, and the bright red of Runner Vision stands out. The areas that aren't bright white seem (and are supposed to be) dirty, like the storm drains, a construction site, or inside of a boat. This also makes a difference to the design of the HUD: there isn't a HUD. Health is indicated by the bold colours dimming, and when you're really hurt, the darkness closing into peripheral vision and red flashes in the edges of that. While some may criticize regenerative health, the game doesn't ask you to suspend disbelief as far as others with regard to injury. Razor wire can hurt you badly, and more than a couple bullets drops you outright. (I think of them as rubber bullets to preserve disbelief farther, but I digress).
Audibly, the game is distinct as well. Subtle touches like Faith's heavier breathing while sprinting, footsteps, and wind rushing by add a great deal of realism and help draw the player in. The soundtrack alternates between pumping beat-heavy techno tracks to the intense action segments, and quieter pieces for the more 'puzzle' segments. The songs are very fitting, and a few of them may or may not be currently on my MP3 player, played when I'm out running.
Once the story mode is complete, the game offers a lot more options to add replay value. Any single chapter of the story is available for timed speed runs, and time trials exist for sections of the map. The difficulty on these is high (I've yet to get more than a single star of three on any given map), but rewarding when you shave so much as a half second off your fastest time. Downloadable content promises even more tracks: the trailer for these presented courses resembling abstract art instead of city chunks, but I've yet to play them.
My inner laziness is taking over, and demanding I sum up and (ironically) get to the gym across the street. The verdict for Mirror's Edge:
BUY IT
The unique gameplay and challenge kept me coming back for more. The visuals are slick and clean, the audio pleasurable to the ear, and the challenges satisfying without being impossible. (Of course, I have completed I Wanna Be The Guy: platform challenges don't scare me off easily). The story drew me in well enough to make me genuinely interested in what was happening to the characters, who I came to like.
Thank you for reading, and once again feel free to educate me on how to put pretty pictures into my review, or to level criticism at my ignorance in forum code, grammar, spelling, or the right opinion.
