Should you put your faith into EA’s latest IP or should you let it fall to its doom?
Once this city used to pulse with energy; dirty and dangerous, but alive and wonderful.
Now it is something else.
The changes came slowly at first. Most did not realize or did not care, and accepted them.
They chose a comfortable life.
Some didn’t…
They became our clients.
EA has done some great things this year, EA Sports has improved all its franchises with more refined controls and the new IP’s like Dead Space have added to what was already an impressive catalogue of games. Mirror’s Edge is EA’s latest IP which follows the path of Faith, a runner who jumps across rooftops and other areas while on the run from snipers and guards who all are trying to kill you.
The plot isn’t all that important; In fact it’s pretty disappointing. The real enjoyment of Mirror’s Edge is in the gameplay itself, you will feel just exhilarated from jumping from building to building, it’s almost like that opening scene from The Matrix. To dedicate a whole First person view to almost a platformer is definitely original and feels fresh when compared to the many FPS’ on the market today.
There is combat in the game as you try and tackle the enemies trying to kill you such as disarming, kicking and punching. Although they aren’t all that great, you can also pick up the enemies guns and use them, but doing so will void you of trophies and achievements so I would try and not use them, they aren’t even that good anyway.
Besides the platforming and running aspects of Mirror’s Edge, the rest is a tad disappointing. The main story is only a few hours long and then all you’ll have left to do is collect bags hidden around it and then do time trials. It’s a pretty small package for a game that has a great feel to it, you may feel short changed by the length of the campaign…and you would be right to feel that way.
With Runner Vision, areas that you need to use or jump to are coloured in bright red. You can turn it off to add to the challenge if you wish; I personally like to keep it on to know where the hell I have to go. It does seem a little odd though that the entire city is deserted apart from the enemies that try to kill you, there’s no explanation for that either. When it comes to the controls, the PS3 has SIXAXIS support which is a little dodgy…but optional. You can choose to use it, but I would recommend using the standard controls that are pretty responsive, although they do take a while to get used to. They aren’t the hardest ones to learn, it’s just trying to get precision right that takes a while to get mastered.
Performance-wise, Mirror’s Edge runs smoothly and looks amazing. The city looks vibrant and jumping from one building to the other is just stunning. Character models and animation are the only things that let it down from looking incredible. Voice-acting is hit and miss, the soundtrack is great though and fits the feel of the game very well indeed.
The Verdict
Mirror’s Edge is a game that proves that innovation really pays off. If it didn’t have it, it would just be another average FPS, instead it’s very memorable…even if the story and combat isn’t. It has that special something about it that makes you want to keep playing it, unfortunately…the game doesn’t last long enough for that feeling to last.
