Mirror's Edge

The Good
I'll start by saying I was very intrigued by Mirror's Edge when I first read about it in PC Gamer magazine. A game featuring a glorified courier service in a corrupt, semi-future city that uses the parkour as its base of action, you say? And it's a new intellectual property at that?

Sounded good to me.

The player stars as Faith, a runner who works with a network other runners who silently act as illegal couriers by using parkour techniques on the roofs of an unnamed city (though it reminds me a bit of Hong Kong for some reason). The time period isn't specified, but it appears to be the relatively near future. As can be expected, the plot is of a somewhat cyberpunkish nature, without being overtly cyberpunk in the classic sense. Without giving away too much, the city is run by a corrupt cabal of plutocratic fascists who invade its citizens lives through means of pervasive surveillance. A new mayoral candidate promises change, so naturally the in-power administration seeks to prevent this. Faith and the other runners, long able to avoid the regime, are suddenly being pursued more so than before. A few disappear. Faith is of particular interest to the regime, as she knows information that could destroy it. And away we go!...

I suppose I should touch a bit on the graphics. While I'm not graphics hound, in games such as this good, clear graphics are important because you obviously must see where you're going. And I must say they are very, very nice. They are not to the level of Crysis, but what game is? Both outdoor and indoor areas are a joy to look at. A good system is still recommended though. On my system, I didn't experience any choking whatsoever. The game also has animated cutscenes, the style of which reminds a bit of TV shows like Samurai Jack and some of Peter Chung's work.

The gameplay is a little reminiscent of third-person platformers like Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia, involving many death-defying jumps, wall-hangs, and the like to progress through a mission. The game however is in the first-person format, and though that seems a bit illogical due to the stunts the player is expected to perform, it doesn't deter. I was admittedly skeptical at first, but was pleasantly surprised at the fluidity of Faith's movement and the responsiveness of the controls.

The level design, while not absolutely spectacular, is among the better I've seen the last few years. The bulk of the missions involve running across skyscraper rooftops, looking for just the right pipe or edge to jump to while evading the city's security forces. Such scenarios are the game's signature, and will definitely get your adrenaline going, especially if you have a fear of heights like myself. However, there a few missions require you to enter a building, oftentimes a large office suite, but also a subway station, a mall, and even deep subterranean areas in the sewers. While I enjoyed the rooftop capers, I think the indoor areas were my personal favorites, due to the fact that the cramped quarters made Faith's parkour techniques more challenging to pull off, and also required the player to be very observant for the odd vent or narrow space in a wall. Also, the game has an option where objects that Faith can use to jump or grapple will shine a bright crimson color so the player isn't lost as to where to go next. The can be turned on and off in the menu settings.

But the game isn't just running, there's also combat involved. Typical security guards, armored paramilitary grunts, and choppers are all present to stop you. Faith has a small arsenal of martial arts moves at her disposal to incapacitate or kill enemies, including relieving them of firearms. While Faith is able to use the firearms she confiscates, pistols are the only gun she can carry while running or performing any stunts. The rifles are naturally too cumbersome and heavy for this, though there are times when they can be useful in mowing down enemies who are shooting at you while your trying to jump to that one particular platform. Much of the time though I didn't use the rifles, because the enemies would often just keep coming the longer you hang around an area, so it's best to just run while you can.

Another cool little feature is the option to run races outside of the game's story mode. Beating the game unlocks courses, and if you have an EA account, you can compete with people online. It probably won't occupy a lot of your time, but it's nice that it was included.

The Bad
This title obviously has some good things going for it. But I know I'm not alone when I say that it does have some crippling elements that keep it from joining the ranks of my favorite games.

For one, the plot. The story to me felt very dry and underdeveloped. The game does delve a little into the background of the city's totalitarianism and how Faith became a runner, but I would like to have seen more. It didn't help me to understand her as much as it should have, but more of a tacked-on footnote. Also, the primary story I described at the beginning is a good narrative framework, if a bit on the hackneyed side. The way it's told to the player, the whole thing just didn't feel sinister enough to me. Apparently, this city's terrible, fascist rulers that killed many citizens are supposed to be something to be feared, but they came off as a two-bit operation that's about as scary as Bullwinkle's nemeses Boris and Natasha. Coupled with the aforementioned animated cutscenes (which feel out of place somehow), the game is attempting to have a cinematic feel, and just fails at it.. The ending also didn't really resolve the main story...I can only assume that it'll be picked up on later.

In my opinion, the game would have been better if it had taken a more RPG-like stance and focused on Faith delivering packages, aka her damn job. It felt more like the star of the game was the city itself, instead of Faith, as it should've been. An Elder Scrolls styled approach would have worked very well for this game. A semi-open world city where Faith must find her way over (and under) the rooftops to complete a mission would've been a much more satisfying experience. And still, the main plot wouldn't have been constrained by this and could have easily found its way into the fray. I can't for the life of me understand why the game didn't go in this direction. Overall, the game just does not convey the atmosphere it was supposed to. Or maybe it's the other way around. I'm not sure.

The combat was also very frustrating to me. I understand that the developers were trying to create tension during the runs, but there are times when it feels that enemies are just there to annoy me and nothing else. Also, Faith's self-defense techniques must executed on a dime, lest you be pummeled with a rifle butt and shot in the face. When you add to this the fact that speed and efficiency are key in this game, you may find yourself falling to your death...a lot...because you're just trying to escape bullets. As I mentioned before, although you can use the firearms, you may only get off three to six shots before the ammo depletes, and the pistol is the only gun you can run with. To me the mere fact that you're trying to jump and mantle across dangerous areas without making like Wile E. Coyote and plummeting into the ravine is more than enough to keep the tension going, without the generic paramilitary goons taking potshots at you. Fighting action is not this game's strong suit. Just run when you can.

The "runner's vision", wherein objects shine red to help you find your path, is also inconsistent. Some objects don't highlight until you're very close to them, and by that time, it may be too late to perform a stunt. I determined that it was useless and turned it off. That was even bigger mistake because objects I thought I could grasp or jump to didn't work and I ate the pavement as a result. It's no surprise that the player should be prepared for some of the ol' trial and error on the best route to take. And trust me, due to the lack of quicksave, you'll be running many of the same areas multiple times. The game is advertised as being short, but it won't feel that way.

I probably shouldn't neglect to mention any technical errors. The main problem I had was random menu lock-ups and the occasional desktop crash while in-game. And because there is no quicksave, the game's checkpoint system didn't save in time, and I'd have to do a whole part of the mission over again. The patch seemed to fix it though, so definitely download it before playing.

The Bottom Line
I know it probably seems like I just tore the game a new one in the previous section, but I'm honestly not trying to steer anyone away. I just want everyone to be aware of the downsides to the game. It just could've been so much more than what it was; there was ample material here that wasn't exploited to its full potential. In fact, many problems could simply be solved by the addition of a quicksave feature. That said, the game for all it's faults was actually quite fun. Even with the frustrations, the jumping, mantling, and grappling is too entertaining to pass up, especially for its current bargain price of $20. If a sequels arrive down the line, hopefully it will be the game that this one should have been.