Mirrors EdgeStill Alive
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8/10
Ben Hughes @potatoes351 |
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Dev: DICE
Pub: EA Release Date: 12/11/2008 Format: PC, PS3, Xbox 360 2008 was a fantastic year for videogames. We explored the post apocalyptic Capitol Wasteland in Fallout 3, witnessed the return of survival horror in Dead Space and we ventured to the depths of the planet Sera with Gears of War 2.
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It was a year dominated by excellent releases, releases so good that unfortunately there were some titles that managed to slip under many peoples radar, one such title was Mirrors Edge from Battlefield developer DICE.
Mirrors Edge presents us with a utopian society controlled by surveillance. Information is heavily monitored and if you know something you shouldn't, people will know how to find you to keep that information safe.
Our story takes place in a place known only as 'The City' where several years ago violent protests and riots against the security forces of the city brought civilisation to its knees and only strengthened the big brother surveillance. The only trace of these dark days are runners, couriers of sensitive information between two parties, highly illegal and the only source of information trafficking that the City cant seem to permanently tackle.
Enter Faith Connors, a runner. When Faith's sister, a police officer is framed for the murder of politician Robert Pope, she sets out on a mission to clear her sisters name and find Pope's killer. However, the deeper she delves into this scandal, she begins to find that this is more than a simple political killing and part of something much much larger.
Not only was Mirrors Edge not overly noticed because of its rather unique gameplay focus (more on that later), but also because of the horrendous misfire in storytelling. The story itself is a good one, entertaining with good characters, unexpected plot twists and a satisfying ending. But because of its lost potential.
A concept as big as Mirrors Edge's requires a game that is simply massive, or to be split across several sequels, rather than to be condensed into one 6-8 hour game. Like all good crime stories, they need a lot of time to live up to their potential, to condense everything Mirrors Edge offered to you meant that nothing could be gone into in much detail. Leaving you with the feeling that you had played a demo for a much bigger game.
Mirrors Edge presents us with a utopian society controlled by surveillance. Information is heavily monitored and if you know something you shouldn't, people will know how to find you to keep that information safe.
Our story takes place in a place known only as 'The City' where several years ago violent protests and riots against the security forces of the city brought civilisation to its knees and only strengthened the big brother surveillance. The only trace of these dark days are runners, couriers of sensitive information between two parties, highly illegal and the only source of information trafficking that the City cant seem to permanently tackle.
Enter Faith Connors, a runner. When Faith's sister, a police officer is framed for the murder of politician Robert Pope, she sets out on a mission to clear her sisters name and find Pope's killer. However, the deeper she delves into this scandal, she begins to find that this is more than a simple political killing and part of something much much larger.
Not only was Mirrors Edge not overly noticed because of its rather unique gameplay focus (more on that later), but also because of the horrendous misfire in storytelling. The story itself is a good one, entertaining with good characters, unexpected plot twists and a satisfying ending. But because of its lost potential.
A concept as big as Mirrors Edge's requires a game that is simply massive, or to be split across several sequels, rather than to be condensed into one 6-8 hour game. Like all good crime stories, they need a lot of time to live up to their potential, to condense everything Mirrors Edge offered to you meant that nothing could be gone into in much detail. Leaving you with the feeling that you had played a demo for a much bigger game.
Mirrors Edge's biggest selling point was its focus on parkour or free-running. So much of a focus that is the games core gameplay mechanic, everything stems from being able to traverse the environment smoothly and at speed.
Its about using the environment to your advantage in combat. You cant take enemies head on, for example; you could jump from a balcony on top of a guard, roll out of the landing and vault over some boxes and kick another in the face, run towards the wall, jump and run along it before taking out another guard further into the room. Its a game about thinking on your feet and thinking about game environments in a way you never have done before.
Primarily its a first person platformer with quite a bit of combat. This is best handled by using melee attacks however you have the option of using enemy guns if you wish to; however its not advised for two reasons. Firstly the game becomes more difficult if you use guns, you cant move as fast and you cannot perform any parkour movements. Not only that but the shooting mechanics are a bit naff. For a developer that specialises in making FPS' it seems a bit odd that the shooting is so terrible. But if you play the game properly, you should never be put into a situation where you have to shoot your way out of it.
This is another area where Mirrors Edge doesn't live up to its potential. Levels are linear, you are not free to explore the City how you wish, instead you are given a couple of ways to get to the same destination, that usually only involve doing one jump slightly differently. On top of this, the idea of being a runner is completely underplayed, with only one mission (the prologue) ever being about delivering a package from point A to B.
DICE did a brilliant job of giving the game a distinctive look that fits in well with the theme of a utopian society. Everything is absurdly clean and presented in a sterile, simplistic way. Mostly everything is white, bursts of colour are used to display significance to the player. The only colour you will ever need to think about on a regular basis though is red, if something is red that means you can use it. This provides a game much like Sega's MadWorld, wherein colour is so sparing that it in itself becomes a game mechanic, it becomes a signal to the player as to what to do there.
Its also very pretty to look at and ages surprisingly well for a game that uses a more realistic aesthetic.
Its about using the environment to your advantage in combat. You cant take enemies head on, for example; you could jump from a balcony on top of a guard, roll out of the landing and vault over some boxes and kick another in the face, run towards the wall, jump and run along it before taking out another guard further into the room. Its a game about thinking on your feet and thinking about game environments in a way you never have done before.
Primarily its a first person platformer with quite a bit of combat. This is best handled by using melee attacks however you have the option of using enemy guns if you wish to; however its not advised for two reasons. Firstly the game becomes more difficult if you use guns, you cant move as fast and you cannot perform any parkour movements. Not only that but the shooting mechanics are a bit naff. For a developer that specialises in making FPS' it seems a bit odd that the shooting is so terrible. But if you play the game properly, you should never be put into a situation where you have to shoot your way out of it.
This is another area where Mirrors Edge doesn't live up to its potential. Levels are linear, you are not free to explore the City how you wish, instead you are given a couple of ways to get to the same destination, that usually only involve doing one jump slightly differently. On top of this, the idea of being a runner is completely underplayed, with only one mission (the prologue) ever being about delivering a package from point A to B.
DICE did a brilliant job of giving the game a distinctive look that fits in well with the theme of a utopian society. Everything is absurdly clean and presented in a sterile, simplistic way. Mostly everything is white, bursts of colour are used to display significance to the player. The only colour you will ever need to think about on a regular basis though is red, if something is red that means you can use it. This provides a game much like Sega's MadWorld, wherein colour is so sparing that it in itself becomes a game mechanic, it becomes a signal to the player as to what to do there.
Its also very pretty to look at and ages surprisingly well for a game that uses a more realistic aesthetic.
Sound design is great, with most of the game being accompanied by calming atmospheric music, otherwise there is silence. This allows you to listen to the city, to the wind rushing into your ears, to the sound of your footsteps running and to the pace of Faith's breath. Coupled with the first person perspective, this makes the game incredibly immersive. The only real complaint about sound is that some of the performances with characters are a little flat, I'm looking at you Jackknife.
Mirrors Edge is a vastly underrated gem. One of the must play games of last generation. Its not a game that does everything right, in fact its a game that misses out on a lot of its potential by cramming too much in to a game that is far too short. But it is one of modern gamings finest examples of being different in a market that wanted only one kind of game.
You owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this game and play it. Expect to return to the world of Mirrors Edge one day though, with DICE hard at work on some sort of sequel or reboot its only a matter of time until we can step back into those bright red shoes of Faith Connors once more.
Mirrors Edge is a vastly underrated gem. One of the must play games of last generation. Its not a game that does everything right, in fact its a game that misses out on a lot of its potential by cramming too much in to a game that is far too short. But it is one of modern gamings finest examples of being different in a market that wanted only one kind of game.
You owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this game and play it. Expect to return to the world of Mirrors Edge one day though, with DICE hard at work on some sort of sequel or reboot its only a matter of time until we can step back into those bright red shoes of Faith Connors once more.
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+Parkour Gameplay
+Beautiful Art Direction +Great Story Universe -Poorly Executed Story -Too Many Ideas For Too Short A Game -Missed Potential |
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