Mirror's Edge is a EA published game by DICE(and some other thing was involved aswell I think). I was informed that it was produced in Sweden, and as a swedish girl, this actually gives it some "proud-mother" points right away, also the one singing the theme song is swedish.
This is my first review, and I KNOW Mirror's Edge isnt that new, but I finished it just two weeks ago and then went away for a week, so please keep that in mind if you want to flame me, you have to be more specific of whats wrong.
Gameplay and controls
The first bad thing that I noticed after playing the game for a bit, was that it was an incredibly annoying choice of the ones deciding that jump on the Xbox360 would be the LB button on the controller(the upper button on the left side).
My hands are rather small and my fingers are thin, so this being the most frequently used button, caused my fingers to hurt to the point when I had to strap frozen peas to my left hand.
For you people who doesnt know what you do in the game; you run, climb and jump alot, or if you ask me, I would say that you flee, hide and fall alot.
There are certain moves, like the wallrun move for example, that you have to use to pass things like fences and gasp, or both, with, and they are aswell used frequently. Failing one of these moves when you are in a hurry, and you are always in a hurry, can make you miserably fail at whatever you where doing by either falling down one of the very tall, shiny buildings, or being turned into a cheese by the million bullets chasing after your poor ass, which gets very frustrating after a while.
There was also this one part in the game where you had to take a big jump by using some boxes and grab a ladder that I found incredibly annoying, as Faith, the character you play, was very picky about when she would and would not grab it.
And about the falling, in alot of games, like lets say Tomb Raider, falling and hitting the ground so hard you die, is usually more entertaining than annoying. Mirror's Edge is by my opinion completely turning this around by making it dramatic, and by that, frustrating rather than fun.
Also, it should be great fun to make the moves that you do as you play the game, but as you are constantly being chased and/or being in a big hurry, you dont have time to enjoy it, killing a bit of the fun.
However, alot of parts about being able to do the whole run-jump-climb routine in a big city is actually entertaining a big part of the time, but it could have been more entertaining if there was more freerunning without having SWAT teams shooting up your ass.
Story
But in short I would say the story is bad explained and dull as you only see it from the main characters perspective, as she lacks any sort of contact with people other than the other runners.
Also the game leaves a LOT of loose ends in the face-kick of an ending, and that is probably becuse there is a sequel coming. But by doing this, I felt unsatisfied when I finished the game.
And one other thing...
Mirror's Edge also seems to have a fascination with Portal, as they share some common elements like;
*The scary clean white colors on many of the buildings as Portal has in the test chambers
*Some underground parts reminding of the ones in Portal(see spoiler below if you have played Portal to get my point here)
*Scribbles on the wall giving you an uneasy feeling
*The same title for the theme(which kind of pissed me off)
Conclusion
I must admit I like Mirror's Edge.
But this is becuse I am accpeting all its many many MANY flaws, especially for the gameplay.
Bad things
*Annoying/frustrating controls
*Hidden similarities to the game Portal
*Badly explained and muddy story
*Bad ending
Good things
*Made in Sweden
*Unique game, not a sequel as so many other game releases were
*Good theme song, I recommend you to check it out, but dont yell at me if you dont like it
This is my first review, and I KNOW Mirror's Edge isnt that new, but I finished it just two weeks ago and then went away for a week, so please keep that in mind if you want to flame me, you have to be more specific of whats wrong.
Gameplay and controls
The first bad thing that I noticed after playing the game for a bit, was that it was an incredibly annoying choice of the ones deciding that jump on the Xbox360 would be the LB button on the controller(the upper button on the left side).
My hands are rather small and my fingers are thin, so this being the most frequently used button, caused my fingers to hurt to the point when I had to strap frozen peas to my left hand.
For you people who doesnt know what you do in the game; you run, climb and jump alot, or if you ask me, I would say that you flee, hide and fall alot.
There are certain moves, like the wallrun move for example, that you have to use to pass things like fences and gasp, or both, with, and they are aswell used frequently. Failing one of these moves when you are in a hurry, and you are always in a hurry, can make you miserably fail at whatever you where doing by either falling down one of the very tall, shiny buildings, or being turned into a cheese by the million bullets chasing after your poor ass, which gets very frustrating after a while.
There was also this one part in the game where you had to take a big jump by using some boxes and grab a ladder that I found incredibly annoying, as Faith, the character you play, was very picky about when she would and would not grab it.
And about the falling, in alot of games, like lets say Tomb Raider, falling and hitting the ground so hard you die, is usually more entertaining than annoying. Mirror's Edge is by my opinion completely turning this around by making it dramatic, and by that, frustrating rather than fun.
Also, it should be great fun to make the moves that you do as you play the game, but as you are constantly being chased and/or being in a big hurry, you dont have time to enjoy it, killing a bit of the fun.
However, alot of parts about being able to do the whole run-jump-climb routine in a big city is actually entertaining a big part of the time, but it could have been more entertaining if there was more freerunning without having SWAT teams shooting up your ass.
Story
The government want complete control and perfection, having extreme survelliance, security and alot of restrictions for what to do and not or something. People not wanting to have it that way needs to move information without the government knowing it as they got ass-kicked by the police when they tried with riots, and the Runners apparently deliver this information from one to another of these people, as they probably are afraid to get bullied by the government again if they find out they're all not dead or obeying.
Also the game leaves a LOT of loose ends in the face-kick of an ending, and that is probably becuse there is a sequel coming. But by doing this, I felt unsatisfied when I finished the game.
And one other thing...
Mirror's Edge also seems to have a fascination with Portal, as they share some common elements like;
*The scary clean white colors on many of the buildings as Portal has in the test chambers
*Some underground parts reminding of the ones in Portal(see spoiler below if you have played Portal to get my point here)
after breaking out of the test chambers, with alot of pipes and broken reilings.
*The same title for the theme(which kind of pissed me off)
Conclusion
I must admit I like Mirror's Edge.
But this is becuse I am accpeting all its many many MANY flaws, especially for the gameplay.
Bad things
*Annoying/frustrating controls
*Hidden similarities to the game Portal
*Badly explained and muddy story
*Bad ending
Good things
*Made in Sweden
*Unique game, not a sequel as so many other game releases were
*Good theme song, I recommend you to check it out, but dont yell at me if you dont like it
