Mirror's Edge - PC - Review

I know I'm a little late on this one but I felt like I really had to throw my two cents in about this game. I admit that I am a bit biased by this game because I actually practice parkour on my free time. Regardless of my parkour background I definitely think this game leaves a lasting impression on you.You play entirely from the first person perspective of Faith Connors, a messenger in an unnamed city. The city's police force has more or less taken over and laws have become dictatorially strict, as well as there being a huge control of monitoring information. Thus you have runners, who act as messengers that transfer messages for clients, typically by traveling from rooftop to rooftop.

Naturally, things heat up between the runners and police. A political assassination whom the protagonist's sister is framed for also adds to the mix some plot development.

The gameplay in Mirror's Edge is not so different as much as it is a new take on an old idea. It's the kind of game that you can just pick up and you'll feel right at home, like playing any FPS. However, this game has a few new tricks to present. It's not like we haven't seen wall-runs, giant leaps or tight rope walking in games, but from the first person perspective it really comes alive.

There is very little fighting in the game, in fact I think you can go through most of the game without ever fighting anyone. This is not a bad thing at all if you accept that Mirror's Edge isn't that kind of game. When you play an old platformer game you know you're not going into it to get into some epic fights, you play for the fun jumps and challenges, and Mirror's Edge is just that, a modern platformer. In fact, when playing Mirror's Edge, I often times felt like I was playing some old NES platformer again, it's very reminiscent of the old games I grew up with. Still, just because the game isn't about fighting it certainly isn't unpleasing to do the few times you really have to do it.



The graphics in Mirror's Edge are truly something to see. It's not that they are really above and beyond in amazing graphics, but it's more the setting that the developers created. The city is filled with bright almost neon colors, everything is so vibrant which is very different from the dark, nitty gritty settings most games put you in. Amazingly, even with all these bright colors, the developers made the setting really believable and paid very close attention to the little details. All in all, it's a fun setting to explore. Still, the setting isn't perfect. Some parts of the game feel a bit cramped and claustrophobic. It was nice to see them try to change the setting from rooftops but I ended up just eager to get to the next rooftop part.

Above is an example of the more wide open rooftop scenes.

And here is an example of a scene from a sewer, very cramped and linear. Not a strong point for this game.

Another aspect that is severely lacking in this game is the cut scenes, specifically the animated cut scenes. The animating has been accurately said as being similar to the Esurance commercials. This really takes you out of the first person feel and makes you feel like your playing something totally different. The entire feel of the cut scenes is very g-rated where as the game itself is not so. I feel like the cut scenes should have stayed in the first person perspective and kept everything 3d, but still kudos for trying something different.

Finally, one issue to bring up is the length of the game. The first play-through took me about two days of off and on playing to beat the game. After you know where to go and how to get through all the obstacles, I can probably beat this game in about two hours. In other words, it is a pretty short game. Still, it's not like you feel ripped off. I think the game could have used just a few more levels but I'm glad it didn't drag on forever because you can only jump from rooftop to rooftop for so long.

All in all, Mirror's Edge is a fun game and it's really worth checking out something a bit different. Don't expect to get blown away by it because it still seems very experimental. I find myself really hoping that there will be a sequel to Mirror's Edge so that I can see the game a bit more polished and fix some of the minor issues. However, we all need to be careful what we wish for, this is an EA game afterall.