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See Faith Run – Mirror’s Edge By: PoisonRamune, the Apathetic Lizardman When I first played the Mirror’s Edge I seriously had my doubts. I’ve fooled myself into believing that I’m not very good at first person games (despite loving the hell out of Team Fortress 2, Portal and others). So naturally, getting a game that was based on foot racing in first person had me a bit wary. However, after playing the game for a week I must admit that I actually like this game.
Mirror’s Edge made me realize something about my lack of gaming prowess in the first person shooter genre, my aim sucks. This was made apparent by the fact that you rarely if ever use a gun in the game, since the Mirror’s Edge is all about running. With its bizarre 1984 mixed with the Matrix story and theme, the game is essentially a first person platformer with escape as its main focus.
You play as a hapa (part white/part asian) “runner” named Faith. In the game “the runners” are a network of information smugglers that pass along messages within a “Big Brother” controlled city. Since covertness is essential to “the runners,” most of the game takes place on the city’s rooftops away from the civilians. Though covertness is essential, it’s not always granted; as many times you will be forced to confront some bad guys (or good guys, since you are kicking the cops’ asses). You’re to dispatch them with hand to hand combat for the most part, which works very well for a first person game. In fact, this is the first time I’ve seen an option to jump kick and slide tackle in a first person game.
The gameplay itself is delightfully disorienting. The designers managed to accurately portray my nightmares of being chased by gunmen and fleeing for my life so spot on that I swear they’re invading my dreams. While you have a general sense of where to go with the hint button (pressing B to fix your view on the next objective), you still need to find the best (or in my case, not best but at least workable) route to the said objective. Key fixtures and components within the level will be highlighted in red as you approach them; in a sort of “use me as a ramp, I’m here to help” sort of way; greatly aiding your runs.
The game is divided up in approximately 10 levels/chapters with each chapter consisting of a: get to a given point with near no time limit, escape the police, and/or follow a target portion. Each level lasts about 40 minutes on average (some taking me up to an hour and 15 minutes because I kept dying) with about 3-5 checkpoints each (which can recalled even after the console has been shutdown, a fact that might have helped me 2 days into playing this game). Sadly, the story is pretty sad throughout those 10 levels, it’s really like reading some bad novel written by some Orwell/Huxley wanna-be.
The gameplay graphics are jaw dropping. This game looks amazing, especially the general design. Despite being a dismal, totalitarian run city, the maps are: vivid, clean and bright. This further adds to the dystopian nervousness of the theming, since it really feels like it could be any metropolitan area. One notable bad point to the graphics are the cut scenes. They honestly look like amateur flash cartoons you see on newgrounds.com. They’re flat and have a very trashy and cheap look to them. The soundtrack is decent and thematic, but very glitchy. It’s great electronica that represents a chase/escape vibe, but often times it’s not there where it should be or even was a playthrough before. In the game’s defense I” will say that my near back to back dying may have caused this, but this is a glitch and shouldn’t be there. All in all, I’d recommend this game for any first person anything fan, from Halo to Unreal to Portal to Metroid Prime. Especially, at the bargain bin price this game is going for. It’s a good game that’s only made sweeter by the $30 or less price tag (and that’s new, not some used price).
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