Mirror's Edge

It's been an intense year of videogame playing for me. I've been playing catch up with a lot of game series in anticipation of new sequels as well as new ideas altogether. Something I've noticed about myself in playing through all of these games, is a threshold. It's become sort of a gauge that really allows me to judge whether I'm enjoying a game or not. A few of the games I've played through had me wondering, "How long is this game?" At a certain point, I would Alt-Tab out, and start searching for general times completion times. After awhile some games tend to drag on with repetitive level design, or lack of obstacle variation (ie: different enemies). So, I thought I'd talk about a game where this didn't happen to me. It's also a game I believe that is heavily underrated and misunderstood.

 

 

I'm talking about Mirror's Edge, a game I have to whole heartedly defend. It's a First Person dramatic experience. A shooter in limited form, it tackles a new kind of gameplay in a very fanciful way. Some might be dismayed by not being able to shoot down everything in sight all the time, it's become a single minded track for gamers. I'm so glad this game isn't a Battlefield, or a Call of Duty clone, because in the world of cinema, not every movie is a poorly written action flick either.

 

Hi, I'm Faith, and I will be your protagonist today. Enjoy!

 

Mirror's Edge takes liberty in mystery. It's set in a nondescript city setting, where we don't know if it's a future representation of an earth city, or a parallel fantasy. This adds that all too vacant elements in games today, the ability for us as the player to fill in our own wonders. Much like a book allows us to build our surroundings, Mirrors Edge only gives us simple information while providing a lush world of opportunity to cast ourselves inside it.

 

Short clip I made of some of the games starting level.

 

You play a girl named Faith, a messenger, a parkour master of overcoming obstacles. You're dumped into a mystery involving your sister being set up for murder. Albeit you don't have any choices in the social path you take within solving the mystery, you are endowed with the taking part in all of the action and experiencing the carefully crafted environment. This is what I'm talking about when I proclaim the future of cinema will be like this. You are involved in a story, but instead of just sitting and watching, letting your brain die, the movie let's you participate.

 

Bold vibrant colors and shadow depth make this game as lush as a jungle scene.

 

The Mirror's Edge level design is flawless in my eyes. I want to say that I get exactly the feeling that the producers were aiming for, but That's just my opinion. They attack us with bold vibrant colors. Meant to be a utopian society, where the only thing serene about it is the clean exteriors and interiors. You transport yourself over rooftops, through utility halls, and offices. The bulk of this game take place during the off hours of businesses and stores as you rarely see come across pedestrian life. It adds to the eerie feeling, that something about the world isn't right.

 

There's a richness to the choices they made in level design. Purity comes to mind.

 

The gameplay is 100% solid. I never once ran into a bug, or game breaking element. You traverse the world fluidly and your timing doesn't need to be as precise as you would think because the mechanics pick up gracefully on what needs to be done. I would say that it's a little easier with K/M than a controller, but I believe that to be true of most all first person games. The experience of motion is enhanced ten fold by excellent sound engineering. As you fly through the air, or skim across a wall, you hear the wind, and the footsteps with great depth in the environment. There's nothing like leaping from one rooftop to another, only to look down, hear the wind, see your feet and fly. Then, if you miss your mark, you fall, and it's handled perfectly. Wind increases, clothes flutter, your eyes close facing impending death, and splat! Try again! This is all enhanced even further by an excellent musical score of electronica by Solar Fields with the title theme "Still Alive" by Lisa Miskovsky as the mellow centerpiece to round out the games aura.

 

I'm probably going to decorate like this.

 

I can't say enough about this game, but I must choose to let it speak for itself because it is a truly wonderful change from the same old crap. One of my favorites to date and it stays on my hard drive for replay because the immersion is mastered here. Dice knows how to make games, and have good faith that they will try to put out a sequel to this one which I look forward to. If you're a die hard call of duty player, you probably aren't even reading this. If you have an open mind about trying new things, then give this game a shot.

 

FrostKing