Mirror's Edge Review
by Drew Hikes - December 24th, 2008
Developer DICE, best known for the popular Battlefield series, has decided to ditch the sophisticated weaponry for a world of Big Brother–esque corporations, oppressive security forces, and daring rooftop runners who engage in a form of free running called Parkour. In Mirror’s Edge you play as Faith, a spunky and capable runner who gets involved in a suspicious murder blamed on her sister and finds herself fleeing from cops hell bent on establishing order and seeing her dead. Unlike most first person games, Mirror’s Edge isn’t about becoming a one man (or woman) army, spewing hot lead into anyone unfortunate enough to rove into your field of view. Mirror’s Edge is actually reminiscent of the end of the first Matrix film, with Neo running from his pursuers, climbing fire escapes, frantically smashing through doors and running down hallways while being shot at. Actually, we wouldn’t be surprised if several scenes from the Matrix directly influenced Mirror’s Edge.
Matrix references aside, a game like this lives and dies based on the controls. Navigating the world comes down to the analog sticks, L1 for up actions like jumping or climbing, and L2 for down actions like ducking and sliding. Running around, sliding under pipes, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, it all works wonderfully. If you fall to your death, it’s because you made a mistake, not because the controls were too cumbersome. Which brings us to the other part of Mirror’s Edge and its biggest problem: fighting. There are plenty of armed personnel ready to shoot you on sight and Faith isn’t really up to the task. You can jump or slide kick, throw punches, and disarm opponents by waiting for their gun to turn red and hitting a button at that exact moment (this is made a little easier by the ability to slow down time for a few seconds using adrenaline). When holding a gun, however, Faith’s movement is severely limited. She walks slower, can’t jump, and generally acts like Superman with kryptonite undies.
This would be fine if combat were completely optional. But, on several occasions, you are forced to fight before moving on and each and every time it’s a chore due to imprecise and frustrating mechanics. Hand to hand combat moves don’t flow together well like the loading screens would have you believe and running up to an aggressive foe wielding a firearm can be problematic. If you are shot, touched, or even look at a gun twice, you’re dead. Every cop seems to be a sharp shooter and Faith controls like she doesn’t have enough accuracy to point a finger at someone let alone a gun. Be ready to stare at the loading screen. A lot.
We attempted to play through the game without killing any of the cops, instead disarming or knocking them out, an attitude the game seems to promote given the ineffectiveness of Faith to use or carry a weapon. Towards the end of the game, this becomes nearly impossible as you must take on four or five cops at once, all spaced a fair distance apart. If you try to peacefully disarm one, the others send a hail of bullets into your slender frame. The best course of action is to isolate one guard, grab his gun, and shoot the remaining ones as efficiently as possible. Frankly, we’d rather just run away. The gunplay feels tacked on because someone decided that no game sans plastic instruments can sell well without shooting. It’s a shame that DICE didn’t have the confidence to make Mirror’s Edge confrontation free because, ultimately, the fighting is sloppy, unforgiving, and ruins an otherwise fine experience.
And there really is a fine experience to be had here. Mirror’s Edge is tremendous fun when running from impossible situations, being pursued, and bouncing around the environment. The use of red highlights, which can be turned off for the hardcore, to find the line through the world is a brilliant idea. It keeps you moving and rarely do you get completely lost. There is a thrill in blindly running forward, scanning the environment for the next red door to smash through or red ramp to launch off into the unknown with the hope that there is something out there that will keep you from smashing into the ground far below (the sound of breaking limbs is disturbing). The fun of this game is about always moving and avoiding confrontation. Period. That’s why it’s so odd that you're forced to stop your flow to turn valves, press buttons, or turn off steam pipes, like it adds anything worthwhile to the gameplay. Coming to a halt to press X and wait for Faith’s slabs of ham called hands to turn a valve only takes away from the experience. You don’t have to perform these actions often, but why perform them at all? If we can take the mental leap to think that a parkour messenger is the ultimate savior of society and can best an army of gun-toting security personnel by running around roof tops, we’re willing to assume this same society has developed a valve-free world full of accessible vents and doors with faulty deadbolts.
While the gameplay might not be for everyone, there is no denying that the crisp towers of steel and glass that make up the cityscape are gorgeous. It’s easy to imagine Wipeout races taking place in some unseen stadium below as you run across the city skyline of labyrinthine high rises and shimmering office buildings. The graphic design is clean and striking, each interior using a different vibrant color to contrast with the pristine whites. The lighting, while not as eye-catching, is well done and adds to the overall look of the game. The graphical splendor, however, can break down on closer inspection. Up close, some textures are a blurry mess. Of particular note are Faith’s hands, which she seems to have borrowed from an arthritic ninety-year-old man. The look of her hands obviously doesn’t affect gameplay, but for the amount you see them DICE could have taken the time to make them a little more pleasant.
Another element that could use some sprucing up is the story, which is forgettable and clichéd. Most of the story elements come across through the Esurance style (lots of solid colors and thick lines) animated cutscenes or through conversations with your partner via an ear piece. Mirror’s Edge, like any creative property these days, is meant as a trilogy, so this one can be forgiven for only setting up the world and establishing the beginnings of a larger story. The voice acting is good and the music is a nice mix of ambient electronica that helps calm the rage from having to repeat a tricky sequence for the twentieth time. The “Still Alive” song played during Mirror’s Edge commercials is a nice piece of music and a good indication of the music style heard in the game.
Once the story is over, there is still some fun to be had with a few added modes. The best one is Time Trial, which has you repeating portions of the game for speed. No fighting is involved, just the acrobatic movements, so it’s definitely an improvement. DICE appears to have gotten this message as they plan on releasing highly stylized DLC that takes advantage of only the running mechanics, having Faith navigate a virtual environment of colored shapes as quickly as possible.
Whether or not this game is for you will depend on how well you can handle frustration. We can live with a game that is 70% fun and 30% frustration, but that might be a deal breaker for some. For those who get pulled into the Time Trial races, you can probably bump the fun up another five or ten percent. Time Trial is really where a bulk of Mirror’s Edge value will come from. We were able to plow through the story mode in two sittings, roughly five to six hours, and there is no reason to play through it a second time. While navigating the urban environments of Mirror’s Edge from the eyes of a runner is a flawed but exhilarating experience, we hope that DICE can focus on the game's strengths for what could be a fantastic sequel.
