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    Mirror's Edge

    Game » consists of 13 releases. Released Nov 11, 2008

    In a futuristic totalitarian dystopia, a master courier (in a group of renegade "runners") investigates a conspiracy, while outrunning the deadly government military, in this parkour-inspired first-person action game.

    unangbangkay's Mirror's Edge (PlayStation 3) review

    Avatar image for unangbangkay

    Jumping for the stars...and falling a bit short.

    No doubt about it: Mirror's Edge tries for something different. Where the typical first-person game is lambasted for including jumping puzzles and platforming elements, Mirror's Edge makes this kind of motion-based gameplay the primary selling point. Where many game dystopia paint their worlds in broad strokes of gray and brown rubble, Mirror's Edge opts for shimmering white struck through with primary colors, The End of the World as envisioned by Apple. Where hulking space marines march and fire, agile Runners clamber and scuttle.

    The key to understanding this game's divisive appeal is to view it outside the constraints seemingly established by its first-person viewpoint. The key concept to the game is all about motion and flow, as presaged by Faith herself in the introductory animation. Finding the perfect line and keeping to the path, doing everything perfectly, therein lie the shards of greatness.

    Shortly put, Mirror's Edge casts a net similar to that thrown by a Stuntman or Forza game: the satisfaction of making a perfect run.

    Unfortunately, as with those games, perfect runs require practice. A lot of practice, which often involves stopping dead against a wall, trying to see the telltale red object you're supposed to be scrabbling for, or missing a jump and dying horribly.

    The satisfaction evident in how easily the control system takes to mobility only makes the game's other failings easier to see. The game feels best when you know where you're going and how to get there, but the red-stripe guides prove woefully inadequate when you're forced into restrictive indoor environments. The game liberates when you run like hell from your pursuers, but it repeatedly forces you into open confrontation with groups of enemies, only to prove Faith's inability to fight effectively (or at least, with style).

    These poor choices show where developer DICE chickened out, afraid to bet on the game's strongest points, attempting to crowbar in some "traditional" FPS elements to keep conservatives happy, only to the detriment of the game in general and to disappoint those same conservatives who realize the half-heartedness of the attempt.

    Mirror's Edge may ultimately have failed to make the leap to greatness, but it took a lot of great steps, hops and skips along the way.

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    Other reviews for Mirror's Edge (PlayStation 3)

      run, jump, run 0

      No introduction, (because I can’t think of one) lets get straight into it.      The story follows Faith, a young free runner who uses her skills to travel important secret information ehich van not be monitored by the big brother style setting of the world. Faith wants to save her sister who’s been framed for a murder she did not commit. Faith will be helped by her fellow runners in order to solve the mystery. You are constantly told how many runners there are, so why does game only show us fou...

      0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

      Late Bird Review: Mirror's Edge 0

        Much like the game, this review should be on the short side. The game brings something new to the table: first-person free-running. But is that enough to carry this game into a worthy sequel? Taking a step away from shooting everything that moves in most first person games, Mirror’s Edge plays off the adrenaline you get from running from “the ” When I first heard about this concept I jumped right on board. Running from swarms of enemies as opposed to stopping to shoot is part of the fun. As...

      0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

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