Mirror's Edge Review

   

Mirror's Edge Cover

     Hello everyone and happy Wednesday, hope your life is filled with happiness and puppies, lots of puppies.  Okay, so as mentioned in last weeks post, I will be reviewing possibly the best free-running game of the generation; Mirror's Edge.  Developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and produced by Electronic Arts, Mirror's Edge was released on November 12, 2008 on Xbox 360 & PS3, while it was released for PC on January 13, 2009.  The game received many awards but criticism was mainly focused at the short story and overall play time.  However the game introduced many new concepts to the parkour genre such as first person running along with a mix of combat and running, making it a unique experience among games.  The game also displays a new form of free running including sliding under barriers, tumbling, wall-running, and shimmying across ledges allowing a greater sense of movement along the roofs and occasionally streets.  One of the little things I loved about the game is that there is no heads up display, allowing a more realistic first person view.  The player can also see their arms and legs, instead of just being a floating head jumping over buildings. So the plot of the game is set in the nearby future in a dystopian city where the inhabits live in a peaceful crime free environment.  However, this peace is held up with that of government tyranny in which a militarized police force keeps the population in check via fear and force. 10 years prior to the game, a numerous amounts of highly populated riots were held against the government tyranny.  Faith was part of these riots when she was a little girl, her mother was killed by the police, commonly called "Blues". The riots were eventually ended by the Blues, but there were those who were condemned to death or prison if caught. You are Faith, a member of the Runners, those who deliver messages and packages across the city, employed by the criminally condemned who serve as their clients. The game starts out with a  introduction narrated by Faith explaining her identity and so forth.  After a quick training course, you run across the city, encountering Blues along the way and then deliver a package, followed by a escape away from the Blues.  While at Merc's headquarters (Merc is the man who arranges the Runner's contract and also trained Faith) there is a heavy audio traffic coming from a office building, that Faith's sister, Kate is in.  While trying to get a read on the situation, Merc pops back in from a contract he was running, Faith tells him to monitor her while she runs to the office building.  After running across town to the office building and encountering several Blues along the way, Faith enters the offices to find her sister in the large office of Tomas Pope, human rights activist fighting for more freedom in the oppressed city.  He is dead, and Kate was set up and will be framed for it.  You flee the office after a conversation with Kate and grabbing a piece of ripped paper supposedly from Pope's journal reading Icarus".  It is up to Faith to prove Kate innocent and find out what Project Icarus is.  Throughout the game the player will thrive to discover these secrets, aside from the main story there are also time trails that can be undertaken to test ones ability in their skills of free running.  I really enjoyed the game and would give it a 9.4 of 10.  Great game and I hear a second one is coming out within the next year or so.  I hope you all have enjoyed this review and I will be back next Wednesday with another post.  Until then, have fun.  This has been Jacob Arnold, signing off.

Mirror's Edge Trailer, watch in 720 HD for full effect