Game Reviews
Review: Mirror's Edge
By Eli Green December 16, 2008 - 17:30
Studios: DICE
Publisher(s): Electronic Arts
Rating: T
Genre: Action, First-Person Platformer
Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC
Players: 1
In
a city where communications and information are locked down so tight
that the news is really just advertising and civil unrest is punished
with swift action, freedom of any sort is in constant question.
Everything is monitored and controlled, down to the most minute
details of citizens' daily lives, and most are not willing to fight
back, don't care enough or don't remember how this came to pass.
There are a select few people who won't stand
suppression
though, and they use runners as couriers for sensitive information.
Traversing the cityscape like no one else can, runners use rooftops,
sewers and any other accessible area to get the package to its
destination, all while doing their best to stay out of harms way.
In
Mirror's Edge you get to play
as Faith, a runner who grew up during the civil unrest caused by the
city's increasingly restricted information surveillance. You're given
a decent introduction to Faith and the city – her parents would
take Faith and her sister to rallies against the changes in the city
when they were younger, but eventually they gave up, in her parent's
case, or gave in, her sister joined the city's police force – and
then the story unfolds as you play the game. When Faith's sister,
Kate, is framed for the murder of Robert Pope, the mayoral candidate
fighting to dismantle the city's communications surveillance, Faith
is the only one who can help prove her sister's innocence. What she
finds when trying to solve the mystery behind the murder though, is
something far more sinister.
I
definitely enjoyed the storyline in Mirror's Edge.
Throughout each chapter, I was stuck to my seat, very much thanks to
a combination of great gameplay and the involving story. You really
get thrust into Faith's character and the world around her. She's not
really trying to save the world, she just wants to survive. The
circumstances she falls into just force her further into the story.
That, and her love for her sister. I only had two issues with the
storyline. First, I don't care how big a city is; if it's not a
province/state or a whole country, a simple question like “Why
don't you just move?” can really detract from the whole atmosphere.
Second, there's too much sequel space. I really enjoyed the game and
can't wait for the sequel, but there is such a thing as leaving too
much space for a sequel, thus leaving a story unfinished. I could let
those points bother me, but I enjoyed this game to much to let them
do so.
Gameplay
This
is first-person platforming done right. The development team
deserves, and has received, major kudos for designing the control
system for Mirror's Edge,
because it was done so masterfully. First off, the controls are
extremely simple. Once you take a close look at them, you'll realise
that all the controls were intuitively mapped to allow you to do as
many moves as possible, either simultaneously or in quick succession.
This allows you to do an extremely complicated move, like going from
a wall run to a jump across a gap, with relative ease (the more
complicated moves will take some practice).
Like
most first-person games out there, your movement and looking control
is based around the analog control sticks. The left stick controls
your forward, backward and strafing movement, while the right stick
lets you look around in all directions. You can even look at your
feet, which can be really helpful if you're having trouble timing
your jumps. Unlike most first-person games though, your jumping and
crouching aren't controlled by the buttons on the controller's face.
Instead, the shoulder buttons and triggers control those moves –
left button for jumping, left trigger for crouching, sliding or
coiling during a jump, and right button for a quick 180°
–
and the right trigger also handles combat. This allows your right
thumb to almost always stay on the right stick, which is key to being
able to pull of a move like the wall run and gap jump I mentioned
above. The only other controls are the Use/Interact button (A), the
Disarm button (Y), the Reaction Time button (X) and the Hint button
(B), which isn't so much of a hint as much as it is a compass.
Getting
into the game itself, you're given a fully interactive tutorial in
the runners' training Playground. Once you're done with the tutorial
you can choose to mess around in the Playground or go straight to
your missions, and the story begins. Soon enough you'll be running
for your life, jumping over rooftop air conditioning units, grabbing
onto pipes protruding from walls, running through various
construction sites or any other number of areas of the city. And once
your in, you'll be hooked.
The
only problem with the story mode is that it's way too short. Don't
get me wrong, the story is told very well and it flows, but the whole
thing is just nine chapters, not including the prologue. The least
they could have done is add in one or two regular missions before
throwing you straight into the full storyline or make things more
interesting by using the runner's base of operations as a starting
point for each chapter, making it your job to get to the areas where
all of the chapters currently start. That would also give you a
better feel for the city a whole, rather than just a group of
separated environments. On the flip side, some people may consider
that option to be more boring, but at least it would make the game a
little longer.
Truth
be told though, Mirror's Edge is
really about speed. If you wanted to, you could probably finish the
entire game's story mode within 3 hours, give or take a few minutes
for the cutscenes. And if speed is your thing, this game will have
immense replay value, because outside of the story lies a Speed Run
for each chapter of the story, as well as Time Trials based within
the environments of each chapter. The Speed Runs are just a run
through of the chapters with a timer, while the Time Trials are races
with checkpoints. The cool thing about the Time Trials is that there
can be multiple checkpoint setups for the same level, and you can
race against your own ghost from your best time, so the replay value
grows even more.
Multiplayer
and Online
What
game with racing elements would be complete without a good sense of
competition? While
Mirror's Edge does
not have an actual multiplayer mode where you and your friends can
play together either online or offline, you can still compete for the
best times on each Speed Run and Time Trial. As long as your friends
have accounts for the game, they can upload their times and you can
race against their ghosts in the Time Trials. If you don't have any
friends with the game, you can still try your hand against the
world's fastest players and try to beat them or, at the very least,
learn some of their moves. It's just a shame they didn't put ghosts
into the Speed Runs as well.
Environment
and Graphics
I'd
like to apologize in advance to people who think I use the phrase
“visually stunning” too often when describing the video games
which I think look amazing, because
Mirror's Edge is
nothing but visually stunning. You'll feel fully immersed in the
cityscape, and that's because it all looks so realistic. All of the
buildings, railings, fences have a realistic feel to them, and it's
only enhanced by the level of detail put into other things around the
city like traffic (you'll have to look down from a long way up, but
it's there), random debris floating in the wind and birds in flight.
During
one of my sessions with the game, Josh
noted that one of the areas I was in looked far too bright. I might
have been inclined to agree with him if I didn't think that the
brightness added to the game's realism. If you're looking at
something on a very bright day, shouldn't that thing, especially if
it's a highly reflective or light reflective surface, like a solar
panel or white wall, be very bright as well? The light is very
different based on each level and the time of day. The problem I had
with the game's lighting was with place where it changed for no
reason, like elevators. The lighting in elevators should be constant
unless the power goes out. There shouldn't be any moving light
sources in an elevator unless, well, there actually is a moving light
source.
The
only thing that doesn't seem to change is the weather. It's always
clear. For a game that takes place over such a short span of time
though, it's not much of a concern. I would like to see what they
could do with rain effects in the sequel though.
The
character models are another graphics element that was extremely well
done. They all look like real people and, even up close and personal,
have very realistic attributes. There did seem to be a bit of an
issue with lighting on the characters' faces when they spoke. That
could have used some work.
Sound
They
might have actually gone a little too realistic with the sounds in
this one. Yes, the sounds of the city are great, not to mention very
precise, and the sound effects for running on different surfaces are
also quite well done. The different effects for things like
helicopters, guns, breaking glass and voices when heard through radio
communications area cool too, but, dear lord, the sound of Faith's
bones crunching when you fall is just so spine chilling, especially
after that rush you feel while watching the fall. From where I stand
though, that means that all the sound effects in the game are great.
The
vocals were also very well done. It's always nice to see when someone
does a good job of casting actors, voice or otherwise, and the
casting for
Mirror's Edge is
no exception. Each of the voices fit their characters to a tea. My
favourite out of all of them has to be Mercury (Merc), the leader of
the runners. He's the gravelly, but unseen voice helping you along
all your missions, but you can tell there's a specific attitude
behind it; one of concern for the runners and of years of experience.
The
music in the game is all original, and does a great job of
accompanying the gameplay. I'm not a fan of techno or electronic
music, for the most part, and I probably wouldn't listen to the
soundtrack outside the game, but you can't knock a good fit. The
music balanced perfectly with the atmosphere in each level, and with
chase sequences as well. I've got no complaints with any part of the
sound in this game.
Conclusion
Mirror's
Edge finally proves that
first-person platforming is possible, when done right. With a great
control scheme, amazing visuals and an awesome soundtrack, Mirror's
Edge is a fully immersive
experience that will keep you glued to your seat. While the story
could have been longer, this game has so much replay value it will
keep you interested for weeks, and the upcoming downloadable content
should keep you entertained for even longer.