Mirror's Edge

"You just gotta have Faith"

This is Stuff, I'm borrowing a few words about Mirror's Edge from gamespot.com's review.

“The Good:

* Flawless runs provide a total rush
* Clean and striking visual design
* Fantastic sound effects and music.”

I couldn't agree more with that assessment. The adrenaline rush that you get is the most intense experience I have ever had in my years of gaming. The graphics of the buildings and Faith's (the main character) hands, the inside of buildings and furniture, pipes, cement, etc. It's all perfectly modeled. I applaud what must have been thousands of hours worth of work for these artists. And yes the sound effects and music tracks coincide beautifully.

“The Bad

* Frustrating amount of trial and error
* Cramped jumping puzzles trip up the momentum
* Combat and gunplay are weak.”

Here's where I disagree with gamespot.com. I can see where there would be a little bit of frustration in jumps or figuring out puzzles, or even fighting some tough guards and bosses. But in no way, shape or form, is that frustration a deterrent. The difficulty made me that much more determined to beat it. I recommend inviting some friends over and passing the controller around periodically, it makes for an epic and co-operative experience like no other.

Cramped jumping puzzles trip up the momentum? Not if you're good. It's not about the momentum people, if you're that much into momentum go play a racing game. In any game, actually, the momentum rises and slows down to keep suspense, also for these little things called cut-scenes.

Combat and gunplay are weak? Again, whoever wrote this sucks at this game. For one thing you can go through the entire game without ever shooting one bullet. I know because I did it myself. And this chick (Faith) can kick some serious butt! Try a slide kick and knock a swat guy off the roof. Or just walk up to him slow down time by pressing X and when he melees you with his gun, you press Y at the correct moment to take his gun and knock him over the head with it. It takes practice but it's well worth the effort.

I also like the autosave feature, so when you do die (with some of the most disturbing deaths I've ever seen in a game), you couldn't have forgotten to save. So the game becomes less frustrating with this safety net.

I won't go much into the storyline. And that's because you can play the game and not really be paying attention to the story, and still enjoy the crap out of all the thrills and spills. The story is good though, and very thrilling at the end. I'd be very interested in buying whatever else the DICE team comes out with next. Be sure to get a cloth for those sweaty hands, you'll need it.

Gameplay: A

Audio: A

Graphics: A+ (perfect)

Story: B+

Replay Value: Good

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/07/09

Game Release: Mirror's Edge (US, 11/11/08)