I've just finished Mirror's Edge, the new game from DICE (those of Battlefield fame) and EA.
You might have heard about this one - set in a futuristic utopia, where big brother reins supreme. You play Faith, a "runner" which is a group that delivers messages the old-fashioned way, hence avoiding the all-seeing eye of the government.
Soon enough, she gets involved in a murder case, and that's what the story revolves around. Not that it matters. In fact, while the story is reasonable, it's not why this game is nothing short of amazing. It's the innovative game play that makes this such a great game to play.
Primarily, Mirror's Edge is a platformer. A very enjoyable one at that. Now if platforming isn't your thing, don't browse away. Platforming in Mirror's Edge is done from the First Person perspective. So it's a First Person Platformer. The only other example of something similar is the excellent Metroid Prime series, but they focus more on puzzles and combat.
If you've seen any videos of the game you might have my initial reaction: nausea. First Person platforming is something sickly to watch, the view point bobs a lot, you're constantly looking up then down then at ledges, and even running is shaky. I remember skipping everything to do with Mirror's Edge (in magazines and sites etc) because I was adamant that I can't play it because I get motion sick. Sea sick to be more precise, which is what this game brought on.
Cleverly then, and probably because of the amount of nausea in their game testing department, DICE went on to add a very simple anti-nausea mechanism: a little reticle. Yes, that's all, just a little dot (like in FPS) that your eye focuses on. With that, I got zero nausea, and neither did Kelly who watched the majority of the game. Thank God they did, otherwise I would have missed out on the most innovative game of the year.
The bulk of gameplay involves running from one roof top to the other (immensely satisfying) while you plot your route... this is aided by two things: "runner's vision", which paints useful platforms/ledges/etc red (on to colour later), and pressing and holding "B" will turn Faith towards her destination (of course, how to get there is the question, but at least it gives you bearings). Both these features can be turned off for the "hardcore", but non of them are spoon-feeding and in fact just make the game a lot more enjoyable, but the option is there if you're feeling masochistic.
Then there's the indoor sections, which can be similar to the outdoor sections (for eg in a big mall) or exhilarating set pieces (an underground train station comes to mind); but, and here's another stroke of genius, a lot of the indoor sections are actually puzzles. Environmental puzzles at that. You know where you need to go, but initially there's no way to get there at all... figuring out the path, and actually working out how to get from A to B is great fun... it's not about speed here or fast running, it's about nimble movements and figuring out a route.
And then there are a few combat situations - moments where you have to get past enemies, either by running past them, or disarming them and/or shooting back at them (Faith has no weapons, she has to disarm someone to get them). Disarming is fun enough, but the shooting is a bit generic. I have a feeling this was a deliberate design, it's a lot more satisfying wall-running and flipping past a gang of SWATs shooting at you, than it is shooting them. Seriously.
Visually the game is nothing short of stunning. The city is beautifully realised and drawn, with washed-out colours and no colour red anywhere. The only red in the game is on Faith's clothes, and what she sees in runner vision. In doors the game is just as striking, with very "ikea"-like interiors made of basic, primary colours (it's no surprise, DICE are Swedish). Beautiful.
The music and sound effects are just perfect... the music being ambient electronica, which really suits the mode of the game. It crescendos up during combat sequences or roof-top chases, but becomes subtle when you're pondering a puzzle.
Finally, controls in such a game are essential. Pixel-perfect platforming is useless if the controls betray you. Here, the controls are very simple (one trigger jumps, the other crouches), responsive, and do exactly as you want them to do. Missing that crucial jump may initially feel like the game's fault, but deep inside you know it's because you jumped to early. Stringing together a set of moves (for example a typical set: run, climb wall, slide, jump, turn, jump, grab) soon becomes second nature and any slip is nothing other than player fault. Get it all right on the other hand, and you can't help but admire the responsive controls.
The platforming is spot-on. From simple wall-climbs and little vaults, to complicated sets as above with gravity-defying jumps that seem impossible. Again, I don't think Faith was called Faith by coincidence - there are numerous times you make a "leap of faith" and hold your breath while you physically lean forward hoping that she'll catch that far away ledge, which she usually does, putting a big satisfied grin on your face.
In case you hadn't noticed, I like this game a lot. It's innovative, artistic, beautiful to look at, beautiful to listen to, and a joy to play. I might be biased because I like platformers, but this isn't a typical platformer, this is something new, Mirror's Edge is Mirror's Edge.
Get it now on 360/PS3, or give it a spin next January on PC. Whatever you decide, don't miss out.
I've just finished Mirror's Edge, the new game from DICE (those of Battlefield fame) and EA.
Now here's a good one: A 42 year old Turkish drug dealer has escaped a German prison by hiding in a box :D
