Reviewing: Mirror's Edge

Source of the image: Promotional Concept Art with the logo title of the game owned by Electronic Arts (EA)

“A game that works as a mirror, reflecting the problems of a futuristic society living under a repressive government control”

                                                                                                                          

“We exist on the edge between the gloss and the reality. We keep out of trouble, out of sight. Rooftops become pathways and conduits, possibilities and routes of escape. The flow is what keeps us running, keeps us alive…” (Adapted quote from Faith Connors)

Source of the video: Uploaded by Electronic Arts (YouTube Channel)

Trailer from the game (2008) with gaming footage 

Developer: EA DICE

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Director: Senta Jakobsen

Platform(s): PS3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Windows Phone

Release date: 11 November, 2008

Genre(s): Action-adventure, Platform

Mode: Single-Player 

Source of the image: Concept Art of the game owned by Electronic Arts (EA)

Faith using her parkour abilities (“wall run”) to escape the pursuit cop's helicopter 

Synopsis (with no spoilers):

In a seemingly perfect shiny city, the government operates a dominant control over their citizens, manipulating everything that surrounds them, through media; military force and cameras scattered all over town. The game starts when new mayoral elections for the regime are close and a certain candidate, Robert Pope is standing out, challenging the current political position of Mayor Callaghan. Opposing to this city’s regime, there are a group of individuals called runners, masters of parkour, that despite not being violent, they spread messages through yellow bags that evade the government’s policy, acting fast while running in the rooftops of the buildings until reaching their “area of deliver”. Faith Connors, main protagonist of the game, is a well-known runner, and after completing a delivery to a close friend of hers (Celeste, who is also a runner) she discovers that her sister, police officer Kate, needs help in Pope’s office. After arriving there, Faith learns that Pope is dead and Kate thinks she has been framed for his murder, asking her sister to discover who was really responsible for his death. Kate denies leaving the building afraid she would seem like a fugitive and get arrested right away. Faith then collects a paper with the name “Icarus” in Pope’s hand and gets out of the office. The runner later tries to find connections and the meaning behind “Icarus”, doing everything she can to prove her sister’s innocence and clear her name. But then she ends up finding out that “Icarus”, moreover, “Project Icarus” is something that could change drastically the fate of all the Runners. In a city where everything is made of glass, sometimes things are not what they seem, beyond illusions and betrayals in the other side of the mirror, could Faith save her sister from prison and the other Runners from a dangerous faith?

Source of the video: Uploaded by Electronic Arts (YouTube Channel)

A video clip that shows Lisa Miskovsky singing the extraordinary main theme song of the game “Still Alive”

Link for Lisa Miskovsky's offical YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/LisaMiskovskyVEVO

Review:

Gameplay - The game features gaming mechanics in first-person view. As we can control Faith using parkour movements and other special capabilities, she runs across rooftops and jumps from point to point until reaching her goal. There are many parkour techniques present in Mirror’s Edge that players can use to overcome obstacles (coil, slide, wall run, speed vault, turn, wall climb, skill roll, swing and springboard). The protagonist can also use zip lines and ventilation shafts to help her across various parts of the city, she can sprint until something stops her and perform landings from very high places. There is also a particular thing that stands out in the gameplay, when doing repetitive parkour controls and maintaining a perfect chain combination of actions, we unlock a “momentum” that can help us make other distinctive movements to make Faith capable of getting into harder areas. “Runner Vision” is another notable characteristic of the game, because it gives a sense of directional hints, highlighting objects with red, to make players find easier routes of reaching their area objective (“Runner Vision” can also be disabled in game settings whenever the player wants).

Combat - Mirror’s Edge doesn’t focus a lot in this aspect, it is no doubt that Faith can steal and use firearms from her enemies during the game, this can be useful under certain circumstances, but weapons are heavy and will, most of the time, slow her down. Bullets also run out fast, which means “weapon switching” all the time. But remember “Runners” rarely use violence, more commonly they choose hand to hand combat (as a last resource). This sort of pacific way to deal with danger is more promoted in the game itself and after completing the game without using any firearms an achievement will be received. In combat there is also a “Reaction Time” that slows down a moment for a few seconds. Players can use this ability during any kind of confrontation, to plan their strategic moves more easily or to disarm cops without losing their “momentum”.

Source of the image: http://games.torrentsnack.com/mirrors-edge-pc/

Faith using hand to hand combat in one of the pursuit cops

Characters - During the game we can stand out Faith Connors (protagonist of the game and the main “runner”); Kate Connors (Faith’s twin sister, who works with the city police force); Celeste (a runner and Faith’s best friend); Mercury (Faith’s mission handler and guider, he was once a runner that trained other people to become runners like him); Jacknife (a former runner and one of the antagonists of the game); Kreeg (a runner of African origin that helps Faith in one of the missions); Lieutenant Miller (Kate’s boss and City Protection Force officer) and Ropeburn (also known as Travis Burfield, a former security guard and retired wrestler).

Environment - The game gives us a beautiful bright city to explore, with urban places decorated in colors that vary between white, red (mostly because of the “Runner Vision”), yellow, blue, orange and even green. The blue sky and the shiny sun gives a sense of peace and freedom that contradicts with the citizen’s way of life controlled by the government’s surveillance. But it’s important to notice that the city doesn’t offer a free world to move around, Faith is limited to certain areas that the game as established for her, but the range of combined parkour actions are unlimited and players can perform them as they wish while going through the demarked places. 

Source of the image: https://polycount.com/discussion/167300/mirrors-edge-catalyst-level-design-v-s-art-direction

A screenshot that shows us the vibrant surroundings of the city “made of glass”

Time attack racings (extra) - In Mirror’s Edge, the player can also complete time trials in many different playgrounds (that can be unlocked during the story mode). The best and fastest timers will be registered in an online leaderboard. Players can also download “ghosts” from other participants to try beat their time record. This gaming mode can be very challenging but fun, offering a range of different levels that will evaluate your performance when the given time ends, which makes players want get better and better every time they play it.

                                                                                                                                                          

Final analyses in many lines: “In Mirror’s Edge, lies a world that might represent a mirror, shinning back a possible image of the future that many of us ignore or pretend that is impossible to become a reality (But despite this… the game campaign is a little short, if it was longer and if it had more areas to explore, especially in an open world set, it would be a 10/10 game!)”

My Final Score: 7/10

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror%27s_Edge

https://en.wikiquote.org

http://mirrorsedge.wikia.com

https://www.giantbomb.com

https://www.playstationtrophies.org

My Gaming Experience

A.K.