Mirror's Edge

There's one advantage to video game developers copying eachother and producing games that are hard to tell apart from one another: the basic formula of such games has been tried and tested so many times that they're not likely to make the silly mistakes that are usually encountered in games that try to do something new. Playing it safe can also be tremendously boring, however, which is why it's good that there are games like Mirror's Edge out there as well. DICE's first person platformer truly is one of a kind, but gamers will have to be able to put up with a lot of frustration if they are to fully enjoy this title.

Set in the near feature, Mirror's Edge takes us to a crimeless yet dictatorial city, where rooftop acrobats called Runners are the delivery boys (or girls, in most cases) of the information that the authorities would rather see destroyed. You play as Faith, a Runner who works for Merc, the leader of a small resistance network that tries to frustrate the authorities by exchanging valuable information with other renegade cells. Like in most games, however, the story isn't very relevant during the game itself, as most tasks and errands aren't more than excuses to let you go from point A to B. The storytelling does have a nice touch, though, as every chapter kicks off with a rather classy cartoon-style cutscene.

One of the first things you'll notice about the gameplay itself is that the game takes place from a first person perspective, which is rather unconventional for platformers. Fortunately, it works well for the most part and you'll generally have little trouble maintaining a clear picture of what you're doing. The platforming is fast-paced, intense and somehow well-suited for the perspective, as you'll truly feel like you're blazing across the rooftops at times.

This flow is often interrupted, however, primarily by lousy combat sequences. Throughout the entire game, the battling consists of disarming enemies and knocking them out, which can be done by merely pressing a button at the right time. You can also pick up the guns of defeated foes, but the gunplay is so incredibly stale, boring and - frankly - ineffective that it might as well have been left out altogether. As such, Mirror's Edge should not and cannot be played as an FPS. Most combat situations can actually be avoided and the few mandatory encounters along the way are annoying interruptions of the game's flow more than anything.

Another thing that might - literally - slow you down is the puzzle element. While some of the better levels rely on timing and allow you to string together some satisfying combos, other, mainly late-game sequences are more about finding your way past obstacles. Many of these environmental puzzles force you to stop down and think for a moment, which is not really what you want to do in a game that relies on speed, excitement and 'the thrill of the moment', so to speak.

Things get even more annoying when your progress is hindered by awfully frustrating trial and error gameplay, which can either be caused by unclear objectives or ambiguous controls. Every once in a while, your intentions will not be translated to the screen properly, causing many silly, unnecessary deaths thoughout the game. The checkpoint system makes this all the more annoying, seeing as one imperfection in the controls may send you back a few minutes. Especially jumps seem to be problematic, seeing as only the slightest movement may cause Faith to perform a wall run or a forward jump when you merely want to jump in the air to grab a rope.

All in all, Mirror's Edge contains more trial and error gameplay than it can afford, as even 2 or 3 of these sequences during a chapter can effectively ruin the experience. This is disappointing, seeing as the many platform sequences that DO work properly show the tremendous potential of the gameplay. Every once in a while you'll have this momentum in which everything you do works, making you feel like a true acrobat ...until a dull combat sequence or environmental puzzle peeks around the corner to remind you that you're just playing a video game.

Fortunately, Mirror's Edge partially compensates its shortcomings with a phenomenal presentation. The menus are slick, the control schemes feel natural on both the controller and the keyboard + mouse, the soundtrack is extremely solid, and the graphics are simply amazing. An occasional blurry texture might pop up when you get too close to a certain object, but for the rest, Mirror's Edge looks just as spotless as you would expect from its orderly, intentionally sterile setting. Add to that the terrific art direction, with its beautiful colour combinations and an interesting idea of a futuristic city, and you've got one of the best-looking games available today, period.

Better yet, the system requirements aren't too punishing, and anyone with a relatively recent PC should be able to run the game just fine at higher settings. Users of ATI video cards should keep in mind, though, that the NVidia PhysX effects are turned on by default, and will cause severe lag if your graphics card doesn't support them. Simply turning PhysX off will fix the problem, however.

In conclusion, it's hard to determine if Mirror's Edge will be worth it for you, even now that the price has dropped. On the technical side of things, the game looks as slick and polished as it could be, but while the core gameplay is interesting and refreshing, it can also be unnecessarily frustrating due to its many shortcomings. If you're interested in highly original game (and art) design, and are willing to put up with the frustrations you'll undoubtedly encounter along the way, Mirror's Edge is certainly worth a try.

Jesse Dolman, NoobFeed.