[360/PS3] - Mirror's Edge Review

[AgtFox]

Mirror’s Edge Review

Title: Mirror’s Edge
Platform: 360/PS3
Developer: DICE
Publisher: Electronic Arts
ESRB: Teen
MSRP: $59.99 (360/PS3)
Editor: Loren 'AgtFox' Halek

What's Hot: The pure sense of running, jumping and hurting along with your character; story isn’t too shabby; anime-like cutscenes

What's Not: Physical confrontations clash with running/jumping gameplay; jaggies on edges, some really bright white; trial and error gameplay can frustrate

Early on while playing Mirror’s Edge I found myself thinking about how much this game was like last year’s Assassin’s Creed (reviewed over at Evil Avatar) in my feelings toward it. I sat there thinking this is a good and innovative game, but it just doesn’t have that extra piece in it that pushes it into the great category. For Assassin’s Creed it was the repetition after the third assassination that kept it from ascending to those heights, for Mirror’s Edge the whole “trial and error” may become frustrating especially early on, but then you reach the second half of the game and things start to just fall in place. You find yourself looking for lines and trying to get away from trouble any way you can at breakneck speeds. Had I not finished Mirror’s Edge I probably never would have put it above Assassin’s Creed, but after finishing it there is no doubt this is the better original IP game.

Much like the recently released Dead Space this is a new IP for Electronic Arts. This time it comes from the gang at DICE, best known for the Battlefield games. The two new IPs from Electronic Arts couldn’t be more different from each other. Where Dead Space was a more claustrophobic and serious action game with sci-fi elements, Mirror’s Edge is a first person point of view action game where the thrill comes from the pure exhilaration of basically running free and doing whatever you want. Now, the game isn’t as open as Assassin’s Creed since the levels themselves are rather linear with some options of taking a slightly different way to the same end. In many ways the path is laid out for you, you just have to find and execute the motions correctly. Although it feels as if you can go anywhere, you’re honestly tied down to that path.

You play as Faith, an apropos name since you will be making leaps of faith throughout the game. She is a runner who uses parkour style moves to get from place to place and through things any normal person would find impossible. You work with a group of underground runners and have an overall “eyes and ears” guy named Mercury (or Merc for short) that speaks to you through an earpiece. The police obviously don’t like runners in this city and you spend most of the game getting away from them, trying to avoid actual physical confrontation with them whenever possible. Early on there is a murder of a high powered man in the city and Faith’s sister Kate, a cop herself, is framed for the death. Faith takes some info from the murder scene and starts running away from “the blues” (the cops). Soon enough her escapades are plastered over the television stations as you run through buildings. It seems this murder is tied to a whole conspiracy of epic proportions that is spelled out as you go through the game. Faith spends the rest of the game trying to stay away from the cops, find out more information about who is behind the murder and ultimately free her sister. She gets some help from a cop, Miller, who believes Kate did not kill the man, but the trust between Miller and Faith is very thin. Between chapters there are well done animated cutscenes done in an almost Japanes anime style. I’ve heard people wonder why these weren’t done in the first person engine that you play the game in, but I think the story is told better with these stylized cutscenes.

The graphics and sound in the game is top notch, although you will notice a lot of pixilation on edges and low-resolution textures here and there. You will also find areas that are almost a whiteout like situation with all the buildings around you being bright white. These do somewhat mar the graphics a bit, but overall this bright city’s graphics are well done. The character graphics and animation are also well done, although I did notice a slight delay early on in the voiceovers and actual lip movement when using the engine, but later on they seemed to sync again. There aren’t a whole lot of load times, but there is one roughly halfway through each chapter that is a bit jarring simply because you may have Faith running at a fast rate of speed only to have the game pause as it loads. There are also loads between each chapter that happen at the beginning of the animated cutscene (and you can skip if you want once the level is loaded) and on the fly loads as the game goes into an in-engine cutscene.

Obviously the big draw in this game is the fact that you are playing through the actual eyes of Faith as she runs, jumps, grabs and generally kicks ass. Faith starts off at a slow run, but as she continues on she moves faster. Oftentimes she will grab onto a ledge and you feel as if you’ve just hit a wall yourself. As you travel through the city you will often find objects that are red in color. This is considered “Runner’s Vision” and shows Faith where she can jump to continue on. The red color doesn’t always show up in every section, so sometimes you are left with figuring out where to go next. Faith can do such things as use padded objects as a springboard, slide under low objects and do other general parkour moves.

The fighting sections are okay when you are faced with them, although they take you out of the general feeling of the game. They are relatively easy to get through, since the key is to disarm them and knock them out. You will see their weapon turn the color of red and you press the Y button to disarm them and knock them out. Another option is running towards them and either dropkick them or slide kick them and then punch them out. You will usually pick up their weapon after you are done and be sure to drop it because Faith doesn’t want to kill anyone and there is an Achievement to not shooting anyone in the game worth 80 Gamepoints. You can certainly use guns if you like, but there is certainly a pacifistic feeling to what Faith does because she’d like to avoid fights if at all possible. You will use guns at certain times to break glass in order to continue, but be sure to drop it once it has served its purpose.

The control system on the 360 version is pretty straight forward once you are through the tutorial. I’m not sure how keen I am on using the left button in order to jump and lift Faith up in the game. It just seemed like overuse of that small button, especially considering most games don’t use it to the level this one does. In fact, the buttons and triggers are used a lot in this game, probably moreso than the face buttons. Arguably this could be considered a similar control style as Assassin’s Creed, but it had been a year since I played that game and I wasn’t used to using those buttons as much as I did here.

There are points in this game where you might get frustrated by having to repeat the same section over and over just to get to the next area. Early on in the nine chapters presented in the game I found myself going through one section multiple times before I finally made it through and later on during the more busy areas I found myself having to play it over and over. Trial and error games can either be fun or really frustrate you and I found this game to be somewhat frustrating at certain points, but generally not too much of a problem. The exhilaration of getting through a part you’ve tried over many times is a great feeling and you’ll probably have many times you’ll feel it.

Another slight fault with the game is one you will realize once the game is over. If you think about all the time you spent replaying sections until you beat them you’ll figure out that the game overall is really not that long. I’d say it took me with all my restarting somewhere between 10-12 hours to beat. If you were to go through it a second time I’d bet it would take you less than half that time now that you know all the jumps to make and how to go about evading the police. This does set the game up into possible rental territory because once you’ve beaten it you may not want to play through it again. There are the time trials and speedrun challenges you can take on though to get even more Achievements if you like.

My thoughts on Mirror’s Edge certainly changed from early on in the game to the latter half of the game. Early on I was thinking this was a good, but flawed game with the constant repeating of failed sections and the total stupidity of how physical confrontation took you out of the core gameplay of running around and trying to evade everything. By the latter half things started to meld together, although the physical confrontations were still a source of headaches since I was going through the game trying not to kill anyone versus using a gun and blowing everyone away. The story is quite involving once you get into it and the total feeling of running, jumping and your adrenaline pumping as the blues and the other runners are chasing after you is just something you have to experience for yourself. DICE has made an excellent game and the door has been left open for the supposed sequels that were talked about not long ago. There are still some things they could tighten up, especially revolving around the physical confrontations, but overall this is simply one of the best gaming experiences to be had this year. Electronic Arts has certainly turned the industry on its head with really good or great original IP releases this year in Dead Space and this game.

Score: 4.5 out of 5 CoGs


Loren says, "The production values will entice you, but the trial and error gameplay may frustrate you enough to not finish the game. Give it at least a rent, but I honestly think this is one of the most unique gaming experiences of the year and everything gets better as you continue through the game"

- Review this title yourself over at Play It Review It, part of the CoG Network

*Note - Review based upon 360 version of game

[fitbabits]

Awesome review, Foxy. And the score is right on the money, so to speak.

[Karmakin]

Agreed with the score. For me, it would be 5/5 if it was longer (I'm about halfway through it)....here's why.

Mirror's Edge is this year's Platformer of the Year. Easy. The great platformers of all time...well..the Mario series at least for me, really hit their stride when you became good enough at the game to fly through it. When wall jumping and long jumping became second nature, and you could just see your way and stunt your way through new levels.

Mirror's Edge, from the get-go, looks to force you into that zone. And for the most part it works. The combination of a fluid way of pointing you in the right direction, with the fact that speed really is the only thing saving your ass sometimes, and that if you DO make a mistake, the checkpoints are frequent enough that you don't feel punished for hurrying. Oh, and that the controls are pretty forgiving as well.

Where I deduct half a point ISN'T the combat. I actually really enjoy it, at least so far, and I don't think that'll change too much. The key is to hit and run. Take out a guy, then run for cover. Then USE the cover to ambush the next guy, and so on. Or sometimes you think you have to knock people out, when you can just escape from them. (The escape when you get out of the sewers is EPIC IMO, for some reason I just loved it)

Where I deduct half a point is because the game is compressed. It doesn't always give you the learning curve that's normally given for the giants of this genre. A good example is where the first time you HAVE to break through glass, it's with a wallclimb-turn-walljump-smash. Way too complex for a new technique.

But in the end, Mirror's Edge is new and unique. It brings a physicality to it that's missing from most games, because the first-person perspective works. It's a rental, which is unfortunate for DICE and EA, I honestly think they should try pricing a sequal now that they have the technology down at a more budget "blockbuster" price. (As in a DVD movie)

[AgtFox]

I think your thoughts on combat will change as you finish the game. It was far easier in the early part of the game to do what you say (hit and cover or hit and run), later on it gets a little dicey. You may have a different experience though.

I'm not sure I would call this a platformer simply because it doesn't have the length and I consider this more action/adventure if anything. I'd say Banjo-Kazooie is the best platformer I've played this year and there they basically took the platforming blueprint and added building and using vehicles, however platforming elements are still coarsing through the veins in the game so to speak.

[pheriannath]

I *really* need to pick this up.

Fuck the fall schedule.

[agentgray]

What would be cool?

If you wore your headset and Merc talked through it. I've not seen that anywhere but it would be a lot more immersive. Now see what Faith sees and hear what she hears.

[Young Al Capone]

Pretty good game, it was easily my most anticipated title this year.

I love the movement, but I actually cannot stand the combat. Strangely enough I still want to replay the campaign.

[Dark Prince]

Good review. Definitely enjoyed the game for the running and puzzles. But, obviously the combat was a pain in the ass. Especially when you have groups of blues around you and one with a heavy machine gun.

I can't remember how many times I died during this game. This comes close to the frustration of the random battle encounters in JRPGs.

Still though, it was one of those things where you looked forward to the break of the cut-scenes before going through the next level.

Overall though its definitely a good experience and I'm interested in the sequel.

[Wackman3000]

Great review. While the combat can be frustrating, if you do manage to pull off a few disarms and slick wallkicks then continue on your merry way without really breaking your running line, it feels DAMN good.

I love the concept and if they can just sharpen the combat up a bit, maybe throw in a few more attacks and lengthened the game, a sequel could have GOTY potential in my eyes. No game has managed to nail the feeling of momentum while running before, and it's quite refreshing to actually "feel" like you are in their body.

[Purple Santa]

I already decided to rent this but AF, after reading that review I would indeed of picked it up. I only played the demo but I feel it's platforming elements, trial and error, make it a platformer/adventure kind of game. Just found it unique enough to willing to try. Glad I rented this...although I wish I could of afforded just to buy it too...

[Expugnare]

I really enjoyed the game and found myself drawn into the character. The sound was excellent and often I found myself breathing in sync with Faith, as weird as that may be. The story, while starting off kind of cheesy, really felt well done towards the end when they wrapped it up.

[JayK47]

I don't get everyone's love for this game. I played the demo, and the trial and error got old in the demo. I can't imagine a full game of this. And every review says the same thing too. The combat is poor and trial and error get annoying. Yet still a high review score. Is it because it is a unique idea? A first person jumping puzzle by itself is not unique. The idea of making an entire game one huge first person jumping puzzle is though. I can't think of a first person game where the first person jumping puzzle was anything but awkward. Anyways, if you like it, like it. I just don't get it. If I could borrow the game from someone, I may try it. But no money shall be spent on this game.

[Variable Gear]

The score is too high.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Variable Gear

The score is too high.

My only question is have you played through the game. The score was lower until later on in the game when things started to meld together on all fronts even with the annoying combat. There is a way in all the major conflicts in the second half to have little or no physical interaction with the bad guys.

If I had not finished the game the score would have been lower probably. I even talk about that in the review.

[Kelegacy]

This is on my Gamefly list after hearing about the length. I don't need a $60 game that I beat in an afternoon, or day.

For me, a game needs to last me quite a while to be worth MSRP for games these days. $60 isn't cheap. Fallout 3 or RPGs, for instance, or Gears with it's multiplayer. But something short always gets the rental treatment, a used purchase or a wait until it drops in price.

The $60 pricetag really gets in the way of an otherwise incredible game for me. For a few bucks I can get just as much enjoyment via a rental. Game developers might not like that, but tough shit.

[AgtFox]

I didn't buy it nor was it provided to me. I would recommend a rent, but I do think it is one of the better games to come out this year. In the end it is too short though once you've done one playthrough. It's certainly one that sits on the fence between buying and renting though. As I said, I got a good 10-12 hours out of it, but on a second playthrough I doubt it would last 4 hours, if that.

[Variable Gear]

Originally Posted by AgtFox

My only question is have you played through the game. The score was lower until later on in the game when things started to meld together on all fronts even with the annoying combat. There is a way in all the major conflicts in the second half to have little or no physical interaction with the bad guys.

If I had not finished the game the score would have been lower probably. I even talk about that in the review.

I beat the game yesterday, while my internet was down. I even got the "Test of Faith" achievement, which was a pain to earn. I couldn't give Mirror's Edge higher than a 3.5/5. The game is full of good ideas, but they aren't executed very well. When the sequel comes out, I'm betting everything will be much more polished. If you're on the fence about Mirror's Edge, I'd say that it would be wise to wait until part two.

[Raen]

Originally Posted by Variable Gear

I beat the game yesterday, while my internet was down. I even got the "Test of Faith" achievement, which was a pain to earn. I couldn't give Mirror's Edge higher than a 3.5/5. The game is full of good ideas, but they aren't executed very well. When the sequel comes out, I'm betting everything will be much more polished. If you're on the fence about Mirror's Edge, I'd say that it would be wise to wait until part two.

This was very much how I felt about Assassin's Creed. Everything I saw about the game made me want it, but then playing it all the way through was disappointing. However I've got to believe that AC extended in the sequel and fully fleshed out will be awesome. I haven't played ME all the way through, and I really want to, but I just hope it doesn't leave me feeling like it's a bit of a tech demo.

[menage]

Yeah!. I won a copy of this in a sweepstake, now I won't have to wait until I got more cash..

And my Gears of War 2 is in the mail (including hot Japanese cover since it's from Asia). Good times.

Now back to Fallout 3:P

[Vyzov]

Originally Posted by menage

And my Gears of War 2 is in the mail (including hot Japanese cover since it's from Asia). Good times.

I'm not sure what you mean by that, it sounds like you're saying you're getting Gears Of War 2 with the Japanese cover, but I don't think Gears Of war 2 ever came out in Japan...