First Impression: Wow.
Second, and third, impression: Amazing.
This review has taken me longer than I anticipated originally to write. The first time I played Mirror’s Edge I was amazed at the originality. For a long time I have been seeing the same games being made and released, always with guns and wars and big scary monsters; it all becomes so boring after a while. However, Mirror’s Edge took this bane monotony and flipped it upside down.
From the word go you know you’re in for something sweet. I don’t want to get too far into the overall plot of the game for several reason; but know that you are Faith, a “runner” in a totalitarian city that keeps its citizens under constant surveillance in order to keep its power. You are faced with lots of obstacles in an attempt to destroy the corruption in the city.
The gameplay, when I first began, was fantastic, streamlined perfection, intriguing. After a while of playing, however, I was faced with many subtle control issues and problems. The game is, though, in my opinion, an amazingly original spin on the entire first person genre. If you suffer from motion sickness, you will probably become actually sick from playing this game; it’s incredibly realistic. This is one of the few games where you have to play through the tutorial, otherwise you will be lost. Faith, the main character, is very athletic, very fast, and slows down for nobody. She fears nothing and jumps from rooftop to rooftop and runs along the sides of 10 and 20 story buildings. The coolest thing about this game is the fact that the action and the running and jumping and climbing, is all real; it’s all based on actual things people have the ability to do. Furthermore, on the realistic side, you die very quickly when confronted by police. Two, three shots at most from up close and you’re dead. I, personally, love this. I hate when in a game you can get shot ten or fifteen times before you die, but the AI dies with one headshot. However, I can see this being an issue with some people who have trouble disarming the S.W.A.T. guys.
But alas, there are always issues with new games, because with new games comes new controls. When you are in the game, you are to follow the red items to find your way to where you are supposed to go. However, if you pass your mark, it is very simple to become lost, turned around, and annoyed. Maybe it’s my stupidity, but on several occasions I spent upwards of 15 minutes trying to figure out where I was supposed to go. The worst part is when you’re being chased by police offices and S.W.A.T. who want to kill you; it’s a horrible feeling being lost, but also dying every 2 minutes and started the entire section again because you don’t understand where to go. Also, along the lines of the police officers, you are able to disarm them when their weapon blinks red. However, I don’t know how many times I died trying to disarm these guys, and the game not letting me; maybe there is a trick I have yet to become privy to. One last problem I have encountered is running off the tops of buildings when I try to jump across a large gap. I think there is a slight lag in the game, or maybe I always try to jump too close to the edge, but I wish there was a help button to tell you when you should jump; this would eliminate my consistent issue and help a gamer who is having trouble leaping across rooftops.
The graphics, attention to detail, sound, police officers, are unbelievable. When you fall off a building (by accident or on purpose), what you see in the game is what you’d expect to see if you actually fell off a building. Faith’s arms flail in your peripheral vision, and your vision changes from color to black and white before you smash into the ground with a very realistic thud; it’s slightly disturbing. The skyline in the game is beautiful. Even the sewers, and subways, and ventilation shafts are spectacular. When you run the screen jostles slightly like in real life, and the sounds you make when landing on rooftops or grasping metal pipes are superb. The graphics are really what make this game so great.
With all original games, the first time out the gate always has issues, and this game is no exception. There are definite control issues, but when it comes to the graphics, and the attention to detail, it’s been a while since I’ve seen such a beautiful game. I strongly recommend buying Mirror’s Edge, not only because of the graphics, or the gameplay, or the originality, but because it will help you greatly when the next one comes out and is utterly perfect.
Overall 8.5 out of 10
The first half of the game I really enjoyed. The latter half became annoying. I constantly was shot dead or completely lost. I do not enjoy looking up videos on Youtube where to go next. That really ruined the entire experience for me.
Yea man that blows. I understand what you mean. I remember there were a few games that I had to look what to do to proceed in the game. I’m trying to thing though. The only game that really comes to mind right now would be Lost Odyssey but you’re supposed to get “lost” in that game. Same with Fallout 3 but I figured my way around. GOW2 had some parts where I was kind of wondering where to go at points even though the game is linear as hell.