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"Proud Gashead!"
Regular
on 05/01/2009 at 7:39:00PM
Total Posts: 2721 |
Another release...another with EA in the title. But don't let the shadow of the EA monopoly of making expensive poor quality games put you off, this, similar to the recent EA release of Dead Space, is a real surprising treat.
Looking about at several reviews online and actually downloading the trailers and the demo, this immediately set the seed of interest in my head. Very much what I'd call a "Marmite" game (people will either love it or hate it), I was obviously one that was going to really give it credit.
Set in a totalitarian city, everything is under surveillance - constantly tracking all forms of electronic information in an attempt to lower the crime rate and prevent any rebellion to the way the city is run. Citizens that want to communicate thus have to employ the illegal services of runners, citizens that deliver messages around the city via parkour techniques (more commonly known as free running). You play the runner Faith, who has more than running on her mind. After her police officer sister is framed for the murder of a new mayor candidate that looked to change the way the city is run, Faith is dragged into using her skills to help free her sister and get to the bottom of the murder. Lots of twists, lots of plot - it is one you'll want to play until the end.
The game's genre is a cross between a 3D platformer and an FPS. It's odd to start with as most FPS games don't have much jumping involved in them, but after the tutorial, you do synchronise yourself with the idea of the control layout and it becomes a bit easier. Areas of interest and the direction of the path ahead has been delightfully coloured red, so if you do find yourself getting lost, you just need to look for something coloured red to set your free-running mind back into gear.
Graphically, the game is quite pretty - people look like people, buildings like buildings and the sun quite like the sun you'd see if you'd look into the sky on a hot Floridian day. The story gets told as you are playing through the game and whilst the next level (or chapter as they like to call them) is loading, via a nice graphic novel cutscene. The city is white. Too white. Which makes seeing the red items of your pathway easy, but as it's white on white on white, when the sun shines, it does make it very difficult to see edges of buildings, walls and obstacles, usually resulting in Faith getting cut up by barbed wire, fried on an electric fence and more often than not, falling to her delightful death. Again and again and again!
The story mode isn't where the game needs to stop. It extends itself by giving you level time trials once the game is complete, along with races to play with every level that is completed. This takes the game to a new mentality - finding your ways through the levels with a timer on your back - rather than a joyous stroll through the levels.
You may wonder why it has taken me a while to get to the combat side of the game. I've decided to leave it to the end as in the game, technically that's what combat is - the last resort. Fighting unarmed is not the easiest thing to do, but with your free running skills, it does make it slightly more interesting (i.e. running along a wall and then drop kicking a SWAT member is the face rather than your standard "aim for the head" method of your standard FPS). You can disarm the enemies when they attack you (and believe me they will), as well as shoot them with the weapons you take from them, but the game flows much better when you avoid them as best you an. There is even an achievement on the 360 version worth a whopping 80 points if you complete the game without shooting at an enemy - well worth going for!
In conclusion, the game is very "Marmite-" - you will either love it or hate it. I am one of the lucky ones that really enjoyed playing through the game and will certainly be playing through the time-trials and races it is still to offer me. Although I would recommend the game to you, due to it's love-it or hate-it nature, I really would suggest you try the demo of the game before you make the decision to but it. Although saying that, due to the credit crunch and the January sales, it is kicking around for about £20, so if you just fancy something to play for a few days and can't decide on what to get, give Mirrors Edge a go.
8/10
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hippyman
"Proud Gashead!"
Regular
on 06/01/2009 at 1:26:42PM
Total Posts: 2721
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pb wrote:
> The Time Trial mode is really quite a big part of the game and
> it's the thing that will keep you coming back to beat your best
> time.
I really do need to play that again - maybe do a few more speedruns for the achievements...
> Also, best soundtrack this year.
Still Alive...brilliant soundtrack! Shame it has the same name of the BEST videogame song ever (Still Alive from Portal). Ah well, two great songs side by side on my iPod!)
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pb
"Shoryuken!"
Moderator
on 06/01/2009 at 9:20:19AM
Total Posts: 10397
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Agree fully with the review. Mirror's Edge is a great game and worth buying if you like the demo.
The Time Trial mode is really quite a big part of the game and it's the thing that will keep you coming back to beat your best time.
Also, best soundtrack this year.
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hippyman
"Proud Gashead!"
Regular
on 05/01/2009 at 7:39:00PM
Total Posts: 2721
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Another release...another with EA in the title. But don't let the shadow of the EA monopoly of making expensive poor quality games put you off, this, similar to the recent EA release of Dead Space, is a real surprising treat.
Looking about at several reviews online and actually downloading the trailers and the demo, this immediately set the seed of interest in my head. Very much what I'd call a "Marmite" game (people will either love it or hate it), I was obviously one that was going to really give it credit.
Set in a totalitarian city, everything is under surveillance - constantly tracking all forms of electronic information in an attempt to lower the crime rate and prevent any rebellion to the way the city is run. Citizens that want to communicate thus have to employ the illegal services of runners, citizens that deliver messages around the city via parkour techniques (more commonly known as free running). You play the runner Faith, who has more than running on her mind. After her police officer sister is framed for the murder of a new mayor candidate that looked to change the way the city is run, Faith is dragged into using her skills to help free her sister and get to the bottom of the murder. Lots of twists, lots of plot - it is one you'll want to play until the end.
The game's genre is a cross between a 3D platformer and an FPS. It's odd to start with as most FPS games don't have much jumping involved in them, but after the tutorial, you do synchronise yourself with the idea of the control layout and it becomes a bit easier. Areas of interest and the direction of the path ahead has been delightfully coloured red, so if you do find yourself getting lost, you just need to look for something coloured red to set your free-running mind back into gear.
Graphically, the game is quite pretty - people look like people, buildings like buildings and the sun quite like the sun you'd see if you'd look into the sky on a hot Floridian day. The story gets told as you are playing through the game and whilst the next level (or chapter as they like to call them) is loading, via a nice graphic novel cutscene. The city is white. Too white. Which makes seeing the red items of your pathway easy, but as it's white on white on white, when the sun shines, it does make it very difficult to see edges of buildings, walls and obstacles, usually resulting in Faith getting cut up by barbed wire, fried on an electric fence and more often than not, falling to her delightful death. Again and again and again!
The story mode isn't where the game needs to stop. It extends itself by giving you level time trials once the game is complete, along with races to play with every level that is completed. This takes the game to a new mentality - finding your ways through the levels with a timer on your back - rather than a joyous stroll through the levels.
You may wonder why it has taken me a while to get to the combat side of the game. I've decided to leave it to the end as in the game, technically that's what combat is - the last resort. Fighting unarmed is not the easiest thing to do, but with your free running skills, it does make it slightly more interesting (i.e. running along a wall and then drop kicking a SWAT member is the face rather than your standard "aim for the head" method of your standard FPS). You can disarm the enemies when they attack you (and believe me they will), as well as shoot them with the weapons you take from them, but the game flows much better when you avoid them as best you an. There is even an achievement on the 360 version worth a whopping 80 points if you complete the game without shooting at an enemy - well worth going for!
In conclusion, the game is very "Marmite-" - you will either love it or hate it. I am one of the lucky ones that really enjoyed playing through the game and will certainly be playing through the time-trials and races it is still to offer me. Although I would recommend the game to you, due to it's love-it or hate-it nature, I really would suggest you try the demo of the game before you make the decision to but it. Although saying that, due to the credit crunch and the January sales, it is kicking around for about £20, so if you just fancy something to play for a few days and can't decide on what to get, give Mirrors Edge a go.
8/10
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