Mirror's Edge Review

Announced back on July 10, 2007(my birthday!), Mirror's Edge was made by developer DICE as a change from their Battlefield series. At E3 2008, the trailer of the game caused my buzz and quickly made the game a must have for gamers everywhere. Its unique perspective and grand size impressed many people hoping that it will live up to the hype. Safe to say that the gameplay works but like many games that offer unique gaming experiences, they just don't give enough game for your buck.

The story of Mirror's Edge is that of a totalitarian future. There is a lockdown on information and the only way around the government's hold is through the use of runners. Runners run in the shadows and on the roofs avoiding police while delivering information for money. Your character is Faith, one of these runners. The game starts simple enough but then goes into a different direction very early in the game. From there, Faith will have to uncover a mystery that, as expected, goes much deeper than expected.

In a way, Mirror's Edge takes elements from older games like Prince of Persia and Ico. The difference is that the game is played on a much bigger scale and at a much faster pace. Every level has a starting point and from there you must make your way to the objective and typically you'll have to make a very exciting escape. Most of the time, Faith will be running, sliding and jumping on rooftops being led by red objects that is the game's way of guiding you to your goal. The action on the levels varies from very quick pace like a scene from Run Lola Run to a very slow, planned out pace. These slow times can become annoying sometimes since there's so little action here, but it makes the fast pace parts that much more fun. As expected in a game like this, there is a set path that you must use. You can try to think outside of the box and go a different way thinking that you can make certain jumps and so on, but it's not going to happen. Or if you happen to try and fall down to a certain building that should be ok, if it's not on the path, you're dead. Yet this set path makes for some incredible action when done with the right timing. With such a specific path though, you will have to learn this path through a lot of trial and error. Expect a large amount of trial and error with each level. Thankfully, the developers gave you mercy by having you start at certain points throughout the level and not having to start from the very beginning.

There's not just running and jumping the game, there's actual combat. However, it's obvious that the combat is not a major part of the game. You're limited to just a simple combo, a sliding kick, and a jump kick. Still, with this vast array of moves (sarcasm), you're really interested in the disarm move. For some reason, when you're near an enemy, instead of constantly shooting you, they'll try to attack you with their weapon. With the right timing, you press a button and you'll take the weapon and knock the enemy out. Once you're equipped with a weapon, you can use that firearm to kill whatever else enemies are nearby. Now don't get too attached to that weapon because you won't be able to climb walls and make proper jumps with the weapon, so you'll be throwing them away as soon as the enemies are gone. Similar to the running and jumping parts of the game, there is an ideal path to take down enemies as well. If done right, you perform a Jackie Chan type scene with all the action going on. If not, the enemies can quickly gun you down having you start from whichever point in the game.

In very few cases do the graphics play bigger part than just being graphics. There are rare occasions that the graphics of a game add to the gameplay, and Mirror's Edge is one of those games. The art styles used for the levels are just amazing and it makes for a great playground. With the game played entirely in first person mode, you'll spend a lot of time looking around and soaking in the graphics. With the usage of red acting as an arrow pointing the way to you, it's the inclusion of red that makes the graphics unique. Sometimes it's an obvious red pipe that you have to climb while on the other hand, there's a big red wall that you'll have to climb. Sometimes you'll look around and see the great looking environments without realizing that there's something in red that barely stands out because it falls into the background so well. Between chapters, you're presented a cell shaded/anime cutscene that will progress the story along. A great companion to the graphics is the soundtrack. The music flows with the actions ranging from some slow melodies to a faster beat. It's always great to see the music change when the action changes adding to the experience. Along with the soundtrack, there are some great sound effects especially involving Faith's own body providing even more to the overall experience. The voice acting is also a high caliber performance with very natural dialogue that is enjoyable to listen to.

As I mentioned at the very beginning, this game unfortunately doesn't give you much bang for your buck. The story mode lasts around 6 - 10 hours, maybe more if you do a lot of trial and error and get all the packages in the level. After that, you're left with Time Attack mode. For those that love the gameplay, Time Attack mode will be tons of fun because it's all about creating that perfect run through a level. When you get that perfect run, it'll be a rewarding experience of its own. If you weren't a big fan of the gameplay, you'll have nothing left to look forward to and will be ready to trade in the game.

It's safe to say that Mirror's Edge provides a unique gaming experience even though it plays just like other older games. It's the whole experience you're presented with that makes this game so much fun even with the slow times. While there are a lot of great games coming out this holiday season, only a very few are providing a new game feel. Mirror's Edge is one of those games.

Although it took two more months to come out, the PC version of Mirror's Edge is worth the wait. Using the new PhysX engine from Nvidia, the game's already stellar graphics gets an additional bump. Now when playing through the game with this feature on, you'll see incredible detail all over the place. From glass shards popping up when a window is shot to the shreds of a banner flying around, it makes the whole game look stunning. But like any PC game that has amazing graphics, you need the hardware to see it for yourself. Aside from that, it's all the same including DLC from the console versions.

- O.G.

article id: 186 | poster: OG


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