Innovation is nice but it only goes so far
Innovation isn’t exactly easy to find nowadays, but when it calls it’s always answered. Mirror’s Edge is industry giant EA’s take on manipulating the first-person genre into something other than a shooter. Yes that means hopping around with no mechanisms that spew a fiery discharge or promote rag-doll physics. Is it heresy? Not exactly.
Welcome Faith, (a clever subliminal message for your encouragement) the tattooed and lightning fast protagonist of the game. As a citizen of a fascist society, it’s Faith’s job as a runner to keep communication alive for underground movements. In order to do this she, and many others, must traverse rooftops and swan dive off of strangely positioned cranes to deliver messages without running into the fascists because, you know, fascists don’t like anyone.
Truly the basis for this game is unique and the creed DICE, EA’s wholly-owned studio who developed the game, followed obviously was “be concise and unconventional.” Why then after the first stage does the story turn into absolute mediocrity? Faith’s sister is framed for a murder and now you have to bring the culprit to justice. Aside from a few surprises it’s boring and after a short time you just stop caring. For a game that is trying to deviate itself from the conventional you’d think something at least a little special would be thrown into the loop.
Fortunately, where the story fails the gameplay picks up. Mirror’s Edge controls like no game you’ve ever played. You’re essentially running, keeping your momentum, sliding, jumping, and otherwise avoiding obstacles to impede your movement. Police officers are constantly on your tail and your encounters with them are quick and brutally satisfying. You can pick up weapons, but you’ll quickly discard them as they take away practically all of Faith’s usefulness. Since the game is focused on motion, DICE added a feature in what they call Runner Vision. Runner Vision is the color red, and it becomes a staple in how you assess certain situations and how you find the right direction. For instance, officers with a red hue indicate that you have the option to fight them and objects highlighted in red determine the correct path to your current objective. It’s an incredibly intuitive navigation decision and it definitely helps the flow of the game from stagnating.
Great as Runner Vision can be, the environments suffer from logic deprivation. The first few levels display excellent flow and don’t muddle the player; then the rest of the game shows up. You’re constantly stopping to look around for the proper route and with people aiming to take your head off, it gets frustrating fast. You’re also spending a lot of time indoors, in ventilation shafts, and elevators; lots and lots of elevators. I don’t understand how a game with such creative design and adaptable controls can make traversing terrain such a chore. But on a lighter note, the environments are masterfully done with the craziest vibrant colors you’ve never seen. So at least while you figure out where to go your retinas can achieve a color-based state of shock. Who paints a whole room bright green anyhow?
For replay purposes, Mirror’s Edge implements a Time Trial mode and leaderboards. It’s neat to be able to download some of the top players’ ghosts to see exactly how they achieved the time displayed, but after a while the mode becomes tired. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy you can always go back and try to find the 30 Runner’s Bags that are hidden through the game. That’s right, you’re going to need to stop, again, and look around for achieveme… I mean the bags.
It’s tough to harp on a game that tries so hard to be different yet Mirror’s Edge succeeds on many levels. The game is a fast and frantic breath of fresh air with innovation seeping out of the game case. The gameplay alone makes this game worth a look, but the extreme short completion time, laughable story, and game quirks make it hard to warrant a purchase. Even still, DICE deserves a slap on the back for trying.
