Jonathan Porter, whose blog The Clockwork Manual, we linked to last week re: LBP, got in touch with his thoughts on Mirror’s Edge. Nice work.
Mirror’s Edge Preview: I don’t believe we’ve been introduced…
Not many games manage to stand out from the crowd when mentioned in passing, but Mirror’s Edge manages this with ease. First person parkour game was all the information needed to get gamers everywhere excited, but it’s hardly a bad thing that everything shown since has wowed audiences on near every level.
Picture a familiar level of Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, or Jak and Daxter and try and imagine running through it from an entirely first person perspective. Suddenly a huge leap from one platform to the next becomes a much more physical experience; rather than being removed from the action by a good five or six feet of physical space (between the protagonist and camera) you’d see every detail through their eyes; see the fear as they make a jump by mere inches, or fail, plummeting down into the depths below. With that image in your mind, you’d be getting some idea of just what Mirror’s Edge is all about.
And yet, although its platforming elements may seem somewhat akin to Prince of Persia, its method of combat is entirely different, not just due to the replacement of swords with guns. When faced with a huge number of enemies, the game forces you to seriously consider your odds. You’re not an all-powerful one man army, you’re a single athletic girl on route to deliver a package, and your combat abilities suggest as much. Whilst it’s perfectly possible for you to try and take down every enemy you come into contact with you’d be wasting the sheer amount of moves at your disposal in doing so. Dice has been keen to emphasize that flight is always an option, providing proof with the news that there’ll be a trophy available for completing a no-kill runthrough of the game.
But just why you’re running across whitewashed rooftops is almost as intriguing as the act itself. Mirror’s Edge takes place in a dystopian future where a fascist government have attempted to eradicate crime with an iron fist, destroying the privacy of its citizens by monitoring their every communication. For this reason convenient messaging becomes unsafe for sending sensitive information and so instead physical copies must be sent, avoiding censorship by being delivered by runners; athletic individuals who avoid the blanket surveillance of the city by darting across rooftops with incredible finesse. Mirror’s Edge is not a game about destroying an opposing army by obliterating every one of their soldiers, instead you take the role of a smaller part of the resistance, doing your bit to oppose “the man,” you’re not playing a macho space marine, nor are you in the shoes of a hyper-sexualised female character designed to appeal to a teenage boy demographic. It’s an entirely original concept for a game, and if done well, could really provide a fair bit of weight to the idea of games being a serious medium for story-telling.
It’s all very well going on about how nice the idea of a game is, but its success will ultimately be based on just how well it plays. Thankfully Dice, the developer behind Mirror’s Edge, are the same people behind the hugely popular, and crucially first person, Battlefield series of games. If anyone should attempt to destroy the rule book on first person shooters it’s Dice, and the fact that they have the marketing power of EA behind them should prevent Mirror’s Edge from becoming a cult masterpiece.
Mirror’s Edge should not be ignored. It transcends genres, taking the elegance and timing from the platformer and combining it with the viscosity of the first person shooter, and takes a relatively unexplored direction in game narrative with a premise that’s sure to provide as much intrigue as the gameplay provides excitement.
How long is the game? If its anything less then 20 hours, its a immediate rental.
Comment by Reza — Oct 6, 2008 @ 4:20 pm
Are we supposed to be getting a demo any time soon? I’m an anti-fan of FPS (tried the Bioshock demo this weekend–still hate them). I want to like this game, but it is definitely try-before-buy.
Comment by NSI — Oct 6, 2008 @ 4:33 pm
Yeah I’d also like to know how many levels and if there will be a demo.
I thought Bioshock demo was very dull, didn’t enjoy it at all but like the look of this. Lack of multiplayer and unknown gameplay worry me a little. It could be another Assassins Creed, very pretty, no substance, zero replayability.
Comment by Robothamster — Oct 6, 2008 @ 4:36 pm
Reza - Is that sarcasm? I would take it that you only play RPG’s to demand a game be a minimum of 20hrs. 10-12 hours should be decent enough. I can’t stand a game that gives you filler by adding fetch quests and needless back tracking just to extend the game length.
I am very excited for Mirror’s Edge. Hopefully, I am not let down.
Comment by Mark — Oct 6, 2008 @ 4:59 pm
Length of games doesn’t even cross my mind when I considering buying games…
Saying I’m not buying that if its under XX hours is an absurd statement, as is asking how long a game is.
It took me 3 times longer than my friend to complete MGS4. It’s the same game but we have different play styles.
Saying ‘how many hours is the game’ – ‘how many levels does it have’ is a very backwards and old generation type statement. Most games are much more open plan, free flowing and allow the player to take as long as they want. Essentially the game should take as long as it needs to, to complete its story. End of.
Comment by SH4RKY — Oct 6, 2008 @ 5:08 pm
@robothamster
was that your LBP level i was playing yesterday night or just a coincidence?
Comment by manley — Oct 6, 2008 @ 5:29 pm
I can see Mirror’s Edge having loads of replay value as alternative routes to find on subsiquent runthroughs have been brought up by Dice on several occasions.
Still though Portal showed us that there’s nothing wrong with a short game that manages to maintain a consistant high level of design did it not?
Comment by Jon — Oct 6, 2008 @ 6:55 pm
I heard so many great things about “BioShock”, and not having experienced the game before I was eager to download it when the demo turned up on the ‘Store.
And that’s where the excitement stopped.
I was really disappointed with the rendering of the waves & the flames at the start of the demo, and although we haven’t (OK, one of my kids hasn’t) got very far into it, I’m not in a great hurry to return.
I will give it some more time, first-hand this time, even as early as this evening, but unless the demo gets a lot better, and in a short space of time, I really don’t see what the attraction is, regardless of duration of typical game-play.
Also, a few weeks ago I gave in to suggestion & bought “Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots”. At £25 it was still a tough decision, but I thought I could at least recoup my outlay if it didn’t live up to what I’d heard about it.
But I’m sorry… I must be having an ‘off’ month. I watched as the same loin-fruit who played “BioShock” advanced through about 3 hours of this game [although it’s hard to say if that’s everybody else’s 3 hours, or not], but still considered it to be a completed anti-climax & wasted opportunity.
I am as keen as the next person to see the progression of video games into cinematic presentations with dynamic interaction (“Heavy Rain”, perhaps?), but the Metal Gear storyline & underlying universe just bored me silly.
After many months of reading how everybody was enjoying “the old Snake” & “the best Metal Gear ever”, and even the sales assistant at W.M Morrison who found the disc in their “CD & Games” drawer told me how good the game was, I didn’t even feel the need to ask to take the controller in the three hour period, just to “have a go”. Not once. A very bad sign.
And this was in advance of the “LittleBigPlanet” Trial taking over our PS3-life for the last couple of weeks, so I didn’t even have the excuse of playing something (much, much) better.
Perhaps I’m just getting old, or perhaps I’m just getting more demanding with my gaming expectations.
I’m not sure whether to look forward to “Dead Space” or just skip it completely as another space-themed alien bloodiest. A playable demo would be useful, but I suspect we’ll not see this due to certification issues. “Saints Row 2” is just going to be “Grand Theft Auto IV” with taking itself seriously.
Yes, there’s “Far Cry 2”, “Midnight Club: Los Angeles”, “Spider-man: Web of Shadows” [the one in which the hope of goodness still remains], “Quantum of Solace”, “Fallout 3”, “SOCOM: (U.S. Navy Seals) Confrontation”, “Silent Hill: Homecoming” [poor reviews, so far], “Siren: Blood Curse” (on Blu-ray), “Tomb Raider: Underworld”, and “Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe” [why?} all due before Faith takes a run & jumps into our consciousness, but an underwhelming experience in “Mirror’s Edge”, and I may as well give up until “Resistance 2” & “Resident Evil 5” are available.
Does anybody else have any “must buy” / “must play” titles coming up? Or is the second anniversary of the PS3 console going to be met with a case of apathy birthday?
PS. “Linger In Shadows” on the UK ‘Store, and “Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars” on the US ‘Store this week.
Must go… more “LittleBigPlanet” to play
BFN,
fp.
Comment by fanpages — Oct 6, 2008 @ 8:20 pm
@ manley, quite possible. I have 2 published levels, ‘Look out, monsters about’ which is a short basic 1st attempt and also ‘Backyard Bike Race’ my 2nd level which I was fairly happy with.
Also I have some Youtube vids of those plus some tanks and a basic transformer. Search for r0bothamster and take a look. The Transformer one as of today has had 5150 views and only been on since friday!
Comment by Robothamster — Oct 7, 2008 @ 10:43 am
@Fanpages, I agree 100% about Bioshock, the demo has put me right off getting it too.
However, I disagree 100% about MGS4. To me that is the most impressive game I’ve ever played. TBH though, the 1st few hours aren’t the best, fairly drab scenery and slow story but once you get towards the end of act one and onto the later levels the pace picks up, the story gets more insane, the backdrops more amazing (south america & the frozen shadow moses level in particular for me) and I had many many jaw dropping moments. I urge you to not give up on it, everyone should play it through to the end IMO.
Comment by Robothamster — Oct 7, 2008 @ 10:48 am
@Robothamster
just checked out your transformer and i have to say that im quite impressed.
my level is called “not so easy lvl1″ its also my first build, but be warned it aint easy.
Comment by manley — Oct 7, 2008 @ 11:58 am
@ manley, cheers mate. I only spent about 30 -40 mins on it and I intend to make a better one eventually.
I’ll do a search for your level later mate.
Comment by Robothamster — Oct 7, 2008 @ 12:07 pm
@fanpages,
Don’t knock MGS, as robothamster says its a slow burner at the start but once it stars rolling its awesome. Saying that it will not appeal to everyone what with the lengthy cut scenes but these really do add to the story. It also helps to have played the previous Metal Gears especially the first one on PS1.
As for Bioshock, yeah i’m with you on that one I don’t see what all the fuss is about to be honest. Really don’t like having lifebars, their so erm, last year!
Comment by Terry — Oct 7, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
Basing your opinion on a game by watching someone else play is err… well, no, you just can’t. It goes against the very nature of games them selves.
Watching someone else play dilutes the experience… the whole point of a game is the fact that you actually get to be the action hero etc. If you don’t play you are just watching a poorly acted (played) overly long film.
you wont feel the tension of creeping past an unsuspecting guard or the excitent of winning a race by the skin of your teeth etc.
I don’t remember the BioShock demo… don’t think I paid too much attention to it as it was already going to be a must buy from the straight 9++ scores the game received. It’s a brilliant game that reeks atmosphere. It also has RPG elements that don’t have time to flourish in the demo. It was fantastic on the 360 and cant see why that would have changed for the PS3 version.
Comment by SH4RKY — Oct 7, 2008 @ 2:24 pm
@fanpages How can you NOT like a game because of the waves/fire? The story telling & gameplay are the main consideration & whilst its nice to have “next gen” graphics there certainly not the measure of a great game. As for getting a little old, i’m 40 fella & still enjoying most games i play.
Looking forward to this one, even if its a rental & Farcry2, COD5 & Gears of War2 as i’m a online 360 whore at heart.
As for LBP, it is very very good & the game i plan on getting the family around this crimbo.
Comment by DazT — Oct 7, 2008 @ 10:25 pm
PS…. MGS4 is good but not the best game out there, i actually liked MGS2 better but then i was a wee bit younger then, lol!
Comment by DazT — Oct 7, 2008 @ 10:27 pm
@10 [Robothamster]:
Thanks for your encouragement… but shouldn’t a game “grab” you immediately rather than hope I stick past the first three hours?
In relative terms of, say, 20 hours [ answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080613133549AAh5Uo9 ] of gameplay in comparison with, say, a 2 hour cinematic presentation, if I started to watch a movie & the first eighteen to twenty minutes left me wishing I hadn’t bothered at all because there was no progression I wouldn’t sit through the remaining hour & forty minutes on the off-chance it got better.
However, to be fair, I probably would give it a little longer, but not much… it all depends on what was also showing & if that sounded better.
@13 [Terry]:
I don’t know if you’ve seen me ask before, but I did query whether you really did need to have played any previous instalments in the franchise.
Some parties said I did, some said I didn’t.
Again, compared to a movie on the fourth outing for the lead character, you’d expect long-standing audiences to appreciate the character’s development from the earlier showings, but you wouldn’t expect the Director to completely alienate a new audience.
With “…Guns of the Patriots” I was left thinking “WTF?” with all the mind-numbingly over-long narrative that didn’t go anywhere (as far as I could comprehend given a lack of understanding of how the story had advanced to that point).
@14 [SH4RKY]:
Sorry, I have to disagree. Many of us base our assessment of a game on the written word of a journalist every week; I, at least, although somewhat detached from the controller, was sat side-by-side with the player, and I was very much a part of the experience save for feeling the feedback though the rumble motors.
Coming back to the movie analogy, I don’t act out the film whilst I am viewing, if the acting, directing, production, and screen play are working together than I can relate to the hero on-screen.
If all I see is “look it’s Nicholas Cage being himself again”, or a “why does Sean Connery never attempt any accent other than his own?” moment, then I am never going to engage with the film & get as much from it as I should (hope to).
If all I see in “Guns of the Patriots” is a disjointed story, relayed in an overly-long format, and only broken by seemingly poorly executed game-play, then I cannot relate to the on-screen character & hence cannot see the benefit of continuing.
I do take your point about feeling my adrenaline flowing whilst caught up in the action & tension of the interaction, but compared to something like, “Call of Duty”, or the opening seconds of “Resistance: Fall of Man”, I want to get into the action and cannot wait for control of the in-game character to be returned.
When “…Guns of the Patriots” finally lets you take charge of Snake in the opening scene, then there is no direction about what to do, or where to go.
You can end up sneaking, crawling, or fumbling your way around the carnage & debris looking for something to do without even coming into contact with any other character.
I do want to get the same enjoyment from this title as everybody else seems to do; it’s just not showing any signs of providing any benefit so far.
I shouldn’t have to find reasons to carry on with a game… I should want to because of what I’ve seen so far & what the game hints is to come next.
Oh yes, and don’t get me started on how the semi-invisible robot K9-like droid thing Snake has snapping at his heels manages to carry all the items it is seems to want to present to the master (sorry, Doctor, erm, Snake).
I know it’s bordering on a science fiction story, but the robot is not the TARDIS, nor Rincewind’s suitcase from “Discworld”, it’s a battery operated roller-skate.
It makes the “WALL-E” game character look positively playable!
Perhaps I’ll just chalk-up “Metal Gear Solid 4…” alongside two other great mysteries in today’s society… the relevance of Mariah Carey, and those yoofs who wear trousers so that the knee areas are on their ankles, and the bum is on their thighs. All these things are just “stuff I don’t get”.
Perhaps it’s not just Snake who is getting old?
BFN,
fp.
PS. Anybody who disagrees, you can buy “…Guns of the Patriots” from 365Games{dot}co{dot}uk for £22.99 (delivered).
Comment by fanpages — Oct 8, 2008 @ 2:59 am
PS. Pre-order the PS3 (or Xbox 360) version from HMV.co.uk (for £39.99) & “get two free MP3 tracks taken from the game soundtrack”.
A CD Single, “Still Alive: Theme From Mirrors Edge” by Lisa Miskovsky, is due to be released on 10 November 2008 (£2.99)…
—
* 1. Still Alive [Theme From Mirrors Edge] [Radio Edit]
* 2. Still Alive-Berny Benassi [Radio Edit Mix]
* 3. Stll Alive-Paul Van Dyk [Radio Edit Mix]
* 4. Still Alive-Armand Van Helden [Mix]
* 5. Still Alive-Berny Benassi [Mix]
* 6. Still Alive-Junkie XL [Mix]
* 7. Still Alive-Teddybears [Mix]
Enhanced Track
* 8. Mirrors Edge [Game Trailer]
—
BFN,
fp.
Comment by fanpages — Nov 3, 2008 @ 1:42 am
My CD Single was despatched by HMV today… and then I find that five mixes are being given away by EA Games in a (Win)ZIP file…
—
Armand Van Helden Mix 2.mp3
Paul Van Dyk Mix 1.mp3
Benny Benassi Mix 1.mp3
Junkie CL Mix 1.mp3
Teddybears Mix 1.mp3
—
Humpf!
Taken from TalkPlayStation(dot)com:
[ http://www1.on-mirrors-edge.com/MirrorsEdgeMp3Pack.zip ]
BFN,
fp.
Comment by fanpages — Nov 11, 2008 @ 12:16 am
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