The Power Review

Mirror’s Edge Review

Mirror’s Edge
EA Games 2008 for the PS3/Xbox 360

Overview
This was a widely anticipated title that was set to “revolutionize” how people thought about games.  Originally I felt the same way, “look at the camera…” “no one’s done anything like this before” etc. etc. etc…. However, the more I thought about it, what was revolutionary about it?  The camera was a simple first person shooter with motion tilt/shake to simulation running, jumping, etc.  Sure the game was innovative in a sense, but everything they were doing had been done before, just separately in different IPs, not together in one cohesive title.

Controls
The word intuitive comes to mind first of all.  However, is intuitive enough?  If you ever tried the time trials, you know how frustrating it can be to try to mash L1,R1,L1,L2 quickly and in the correct order.  This can be so frustrating in fact that it actually takes away from the gameplay/fun factor overall.  In layman’s terms, that button combinations simply means jump, turn around, jump off the wall, and hurdle/slide.  This is the most frequently used combination used when trying to improve your times on a specific level, however there an infinite ways that the game can “mess it up”.  
Examples:
Although the door may be part of the wall, you cannot wallrun over that specific part. 
Faith may be able to climb a 30-story building, however jumping over a 3-foot guardrail seems like an impossible task at times.

Graphics
As far as multiplatform titles go, there is nothing to truly complain about.  Apart from minor texture issues on some of the characters’ faces (Cecelia in the training level) it looks really good.  The environment is futuristic and colorful because of the runner vision.  There is a good attention to detail in the graphics with everything from elevator displays to readable type on computer screens.  That being said, the cutscenes were portrayed in an anime-esque style.  Why?  That’s a good question, however it seems to work for some reason.  Just an example of well done FPS graphics, nothing to write home about, but nothing really to the contrary either.

Gameplay and Story
As I stated under the controls section, it plays pretty well.  Everything you really need to know is taught to you right off the bat in the tutorial, aside from that, it’s just a matter of fine-tuning your techniques.  The game was remarkably easy for me to beat, which on its own was a little disappointing.  I really wanted to have an epic boss battle or something to really legitimize the climax of this game, however it seems like the player is left with blueballs on that note.  The story was well thought out, it had its own set of twists and turns, but was extremely predictable.  People die, people turn on you, your friends aren’t what they seem, etc… It’s all been done before.

The Bottom Line
8.3/10
This game had the potential to be something new and exciting, but in the end it didn’t feel fresh or new, just a regurgitation of old ideas out on the canvas.  However, it was enjoyable for a playthrough on both easy and hard, and I look forward to seeing how they can improve on this game with the sequel.