Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Mirror's Edge - Review



It is pretty safe to say that you haven't played a game like Mirror's Edge. Game developers Dice have been in the game for quite some time now with some classics such as Pinball Dreams, Ralisport Challange and most recently battlefield: Bad Company.

Mirror's Edge is a very ambitious game that takes platforming to a whole new level. You need to give credit to Dice for going out and making a game such as this. Is it a revolution in platform gaming or does it fall flat on its face?

You play as "Faith" a futuristic courier in a world were freedom of speach, no longer exists. People such as yourself are used to pass on information in a world surrounded by corruption. It sounds good in writing however the poor execution in the story will have you skipping over the cut scenes to get back into the action.

The actual free running and platforming gameplay is brilliant. There has never been a platforming game that has been this immersing. Running and jumping to and from high rise buildings is fantastic. At it's core Mirror's Edge is a celebration of pure programming brilliance.

As good as the free running and platforming is, the combat is pretty bad. When you actually have to face an enemy with a gun or try disarm him/her you will find yourself cursing at the screen. It's just sloppy and it does take away from the overall experience unfortunately. I wish they had made a game that did not involve any combat at all.

The Graphics and art direction in Mirror's Edge is great with some beautiful bright environments for a change. Sound is also very good with ambient noise and in particular wind sounding fantastic, a very good job overall.

At the end of the day I highly recommend people jumping into Mirror's Edge for very unique gaming experience and hope that other developers take on this type of gameplay and expand on it.

Gameplay = 7
Visuals = 8
Sound = 8
Game Now Score = 7.6/10

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