Mirror's Edge has always caught my eye, from its puzzle like gameplay
to its unique graphics and first person action. This game to me seemed
like another Portal twist on things. So I was going into this game with
high hopes and for the most part it did not disappoint. The game is
fast paced, colourful to look at and very rewarding when done right. On
the other hand if you do not keep a steady flow and if you do come to a
stand still this game can easily become one of the most frustrating
experiences in gaming history.
The
story for Mirror's Edge is quite basic. Your sister is framed for a
murder and you have to figure out who is behind it and over all what is
going on in the main scheme of things. The story works well and from my
experience with it, it felt like it was just setting up the city and
world of Mirror's Edge along with the characters. There are some
cartoon like cutscenes that break up the chapters which again gives you
a sense of what the characters are like but the only problem with these
is that it takes you out of the look and feel of the game. The actual
world is one of the most compelling things in this game. We are used to
the modern shades of black and grey in games that it almost blinded me
coming into this. The white city gave this game a not too futuristic
look and the addition of some colours thrown onto the white gives the
game a very fresh and clean look. The whole world looks good for the
most part and even though there are occasional loads in mid-level the
graphics never really look bad. The draw distance is also quite
impressive. The city built around you gives you a very free feel even
if you are stuck on the same path.
The sound for the game
also accompanies the sense of the game. Whenever you are getting chased
down by the police known as the "Blues" a very techno beat drives you
forward giving you a very energetic and exciting chase. Mean while if
you are just admiring the view it has a very peaceful soundtrack. You
can even hear the buzz from the streets below you.
The main
thing that Mirror's Edge was noticed for was its first person running
vision. The look and feel of the game is incredible and I am glad to
see some developers are still taking risks. However, there are moments
in this game where your view will limit what you can do. For example
when you are scaling the edge of a building you cannot look behind you
to see if there is something to grab onto without stopping and turning
and when you do end up making the jump you may miss a few times before
you succeed and when you do succeed you might not even know what you
did different from the previous times. This can get very annoying
re-doing bits over and over again until you some how do it. However,
when you are on a role the game feels great. If you do not stumble,
trip or miss land a fall then there is a great feel of scaling,
jumping, 
rolling
and diving over things until you get to your destination. The game also
tries to help you with Runners Vision, which is basically where things
in the world will turn red meaning this is a good way to go, you can
also press B (if you are on the 360 version) and it will point you in
the right way. Unfortunately that is the main aim to this game. Get
from point A to point B with some guards thrown in to get in your way,
and the occasional puzzle of trying to get to your next location.
The
gameplay is easy to pick up and very early on your will be wall
running, Kung-Foo kicking, making giant leaps of faith and rampaging
through the city. You can string together combos like wall running,
kicking a guys head in and then sliding under a vent. The game has a
very good pace to it as long as you do not come to a stand still. The
combat in this game is good for the most part. You can run at an enemy
and jump kick them, slide kick them or just beat the living crap out of
them. You can also disarm them by doing a precise grab, then you can
take there gun and use it against them. This is where the game is a bit
weak. The shooting system is not as good as I had hoped for. However, I
can let this off because the whole game is about clever ways to get
around the enemies and not a run and gun. The only problem to this is
that at times you cannot get around enemies and this is where the
frustration kicks in again. You can only take a few bullets or two
whacks, then your dead and you have to redo it over and over finding a
different way of taking on the guards. Sometimes you just have to run
and hope for the best. This stop, re-think and start gameplay is what
really hurts Mirror's Edge and is one thing I wished they had spent
more time on.
The
main story will take you about 8 hours to complete on normal. There are
30 hidden bags to find and a harder mode to go through the story on.
There is also a Speedrun mode where you have to complete the story
levels in a target time and also a Time Trial mode which is where you
try and beat the level in your best time and the game will give you a
star rating. Overall there is not really much to do after completing
the story unless if you are one of those people who have to be the best
and beat the times for every level. If not then there isn't much here.
But what is here is a fresh new way of playing a game and the only
thing which is holding it back is the price tag. From the start I
always saw this as something that Portal did, however Portal was cheap
and bundled in with other games. If this game was bundled in with
another game I could have seen this being the new Portal. Sadly though
they slapped £40/$60 on it and said, off you go. However you can
probably now pick it up cheaper than the original price.
So
the story gives you a good sense of what the world is and what is going
on and yes there are some emotional times in the game but nothing
blockbuster. However, there is something in this game which has kept me
liking it, even when the game is in my hands bending to the point of
snapping after frustrating me so. It is something about the whole look
and feel of the game I cannot get over. I would recommend a purchase
but don't go paying the full price, but I definitely would say this, if
you enjoyed Portal, then this is probably for you.
