Mirror's Edge is an interesting take on the typical first-person action platformer. It is a strange sortof mixture between Tomb Raider, Grand Theft Auto and Deus Ex. In it you play the character of Faith, a "runner" living in an unnamed dystopian city whose communications are heavily controlled by the government. To circumvent these restrictions, companies and people contract individuals like Faith who illegally pass messages over the rooftops of the city. It is heavily inspired by the French concept of parkour.
It was released on PC in January by Swedish developer EA Digital Illusions CE, and published by Electronic Arts.
Story:
In this (presumed) future dystopia runners move across the top of the city, ferrying information that needs to be kept out of the hands of the totalitarian government. After a brief tutorial that explains the mechanics of gameplay, Faith is pushed into the main plot of the game. An upcoming election seeks to oust control of the city from its existing leader, Mayor Callaghan, with the institution of his challenger, Robert Pope. Faith receives a call from her sister, Kate, when Pope turns up murdered and all indications lay the blame for the crime with Kate. The rest of the game continues as Faith tries to uncover who was behind the murder and save her sister from being framed for the crime. The cliched plot isn't much to speak of and when the game finally makes its big plot revelation, you're likely to struggle to find a reason to care. The voice acting is terrible and the scripted dialog looks like it was culled from a teenager's idea of a grand crime drama. However it's not something that's going to make the game unplayable, even if you're likely to have a bemused expression during all the "emotional" cutscenes.
Graphics:
Visually, Mirror's Edge is absolutely stunning. This is hands down its strongest and most compelling offering. The use of color plays a paramount role, both in aesthetics as well as actual gameplay. Structures in-game that can be used to surpass obstacles (such as piping along the side of a building that can be climbed down or crates in front of a wall that can be used to vault upward) are highlighted with a very strong red, serving as a clear visual hint for the player. Red itself is the trademark color for Faith's particular "clique" of runners, and is visible in her interactions with other characters throughout the game. The role of color in the game is a drastic departure from most and its most interesting detail. Different areas have a particular color associated with them and it draws the eye towards points of interest very well. As most of the game takes place on the roofs of the city, the game world is sweeping and huge. It's very easy to get lost just in examining the beauty of the cityscape.
Gameplay:
Drawing from its inspiration in parkour, most of the game mechanics are centered around using the environment to overcome obstacles, be they buildings or enemy pursuers. To say this game is punishing is an understatement; unless you possess superhuman reflexes, most of your time will be spent repeatedly dying even on the easiest difficulty. Most obstacles have several different ways to get around them, but most attempts at figuring those options out will be a type of suicidal trial-and-error. Thankfully it makes liberal use of "checkpoints" where you'll respawn after death. While the game touts itself as shying away from combat, unfortunately in practice there are several levels where it's all but impossible to progress without engaging enemies. This proves particularly difficult though when taken with the game's punishment of combat and killing; Faith barely lives through more than one punch to the face, and levels with multiple enemies gunning you down play out in incredible frustration and lots of saved-game reloading. (If you complete the game without shooting any enemies you unlock an achievement, further highlighting the frowning the game places on engaging in combat.) While the puzzles are tricky, none of them are extremely difficult to figure out, and the game has a built-in hint option if necessary. Momentum is also extremely important; some jumps require Faith to be running at a particular velocity to actually reach them. Continued running also recharges your "Reaction Time," which dials down the game's speed into a slower bullet time to aid in combat and traps. As mentioned above, the color red is employed to great effect in Mirror's Edge. Called "Runner's Vision," items of interest are highlighted to help the player plan ahead on where to go without needing to lose momentum to plan. While it is particularly useful in figuring out what objects will help you progress past structures and puzzles, it's less helpful in its intended effect: preventing the player from needing to pause and look around to see what to do. Each level has three hidden bags that can be found by exploration on the part of the player; finding these bags unlocks "secrets" such as concept art and character bios. The game also makes use of races and timed trials that can be played against friends or other players in the world. Completing these races under a specific time unlocks more levels to race on.
Almost as impressive as the graphics, though, is the game's soundtrack. Composed by Magnus Birgersson of Solar Fields, the mostly-electronica soundtrack is an incredibly effective backdrop to the game. The music is beautiful and aids in setting the pace of the world (IE, calm and quiet when you're standing around, pulsing and tense when you're in combat). The theme song is titled "Still Alive," and is performed by Lisa Miskovsky. A CD of remixes for the theme (as well as the official and radio versions) are available on iTunes and Amazon. Allegedly a CD version of the full game soundtrack is in development as well, which I can't wait to pick up when it's released.
Overall:
Mirror's Edge is an interesting game. It makes a decent effort in escaping similarities to existing games and introduces a number of original or mostly-disused concepts. I think overall that players will be split between love it/hate it. The game mechanics are punishing and painful, and the controls are all but guaranteed to cause frustration at least a few times for even the most mutant of reflexes. The puzzles were tricky enough to make you think, but not so difficult that progression was impossible without cracking open a walkthrough. While the plot isn't anything groundbreaking, and the story dialog is laughably cliched at time, it's still a compelling and interesting world to progress through. The graphics are the biggest winner for the game and will probably impress everyone, while the music was a gorgeous soundtrack that lent itself well to both the world and pacing of the game. Overall, I liked Mirror's Edge; it didn't break new ground or push the envelope, but it was a reasonable departure to most other games out right now.
Additional screenshots:
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