Mirror's Edge Review

[Herbert1405241469 0]

Well I put it off for awhile, but finally decided to pick up Mirror's Edge for the PC. I got the Steam version, just because I couldn't find it at Best Buy and I didn't feel like running all over town to save $10 :\ (I guess best buy has it cheaper than other places for some reason...)Anyway I bought it and played it yesterday, and just beat it tonight. Now, usually this is a bad thing, because I just spend $39.99 on a game that I beat in 2 days, but after beating it, I felt like it was just long enough... The game itself plays sort of like Assassin's Creed, where you jump around a ton, which is novel especially in first person, which takes a bit of getting used to, but after awhile, you noticed the repetitions... Bashing through doors, crawling through vents, and turning valves (which I've had enough of in Half-Life) all get to be annoyingly redundant. The game itself is challenging, and forces you to look at your environment closely to figure out how the hell you have to escape, while doing so as fast as you can because there are usually guards or armored helicopters shooting at you. Imagine any Hollywood film where the hero is running and a hail of bullets fly past, breaking everything around him.... This game puts you in that position. Basically, if you are moving, you are usually not going to get hit, but stopping to look around even for a couple seconds (unless the jumping puzzle is hard, then they back off) usually you'll get sniped or shot up.Graphics are great, though overly simplistic. There are 3 basic colors... Green, red, and white. There is not a lot of variation, though the levels are huge and almost beautiful in a sort of digital sort of way. There is usually a lot of bloom, but it makes for realism when you bust through a door into the open outdoors and your character's eyes have to adjust to the bright sunlight.There is no hud. You can only tell how bad you are by the screen itself. If you are panting and the screen is fuzzy and black and white with red pulsing on the sides, that is a sign that you are going to die with a bullet more or a bad fall. It's very intuitive and well done, though unrealistic, because our poor girl we play as gets shot by a bunch of bullets just has to stand behind some cover for a few seconds to get her health back.Combat is meh. You get several punches and kicks, though later enemies are basically useless on. You have the ability to grab the weapon out of their hand at certain points when the gun flashes red, but that requires skill and "slow mo" you can get after running for awhile. Shooting is realistic. You play as a small Asian girl who knows how to shoot a gun, but isn't built for carrying around a heavy machine gun. So the bigger the gun you have, the slower you walk to the point you can't even jump. A pistol is nice because you can run with it, but you are limited to ammo, as you don't carry any extra, you're stuck with whatever is left in the enemy's clip. So after it's out, you just throw it away and hope you can pick up another one, or just run run run. That's usually the only alternative is to avoid the cops by running, but sometimes you are forced to plow through bad guys.Sound is great, full and rich. The voice actors do a very good job, but they remind me of the acting in some of the Need for Speed games, where they all act cool and mysterious... Not bad, but meh. I've heard it before.The story is alright. It's nothing that hasn't already been done a hundred times. Mix Max Payne with Need For Speed, and you have an idea what it's going to be like. Your sister gets framed for a murder, and it's your job to figure out the conspiracy behind it... and jump your *bottom* off and dodge bullets in the meantime.The only replay value you get out of it is by time trial mode, where you have to run through and find shortcuts to get through the game as quickly as possible, though I am not sure what you get for doing this on the PC. I'm sure in the XBOX version, you get achievements, but that's little motivation for us PC gamers. There are unlockables including concept art, the FMVs you unlock as you play, and the soundtrack, so that's something. There are also hidden bags around the game, sort of like the packages in Grand Theft Auto. Not sure what you get for getting those either.Overall I would say this game is good for $20-30. It's novel, but too short. A level editor or something would be nice.

[Staldon 0]

Mirror's Edge is a unique game ever released. Unlike other games this game offers high degree of freedom of movement of hands, legs, etc. Although it is an FPS game, it would be better called as action-adventure game. Generally games of this type like Prince of persia, Tomb Raider are third person shooter but in this game you get to play in first person mode with hands and legs visible in front. This adds to the feeling of realism. When you jump across the buildings you actually feel it, unlike in third person mode. The game is a bit short but its so much fun to play.

 

That was a nice review Herbert. It would be nice if you would give the rating in the scale of 1-10, so that readers may know your overall liking and review of this game.

[Herbert1405241469 0]

That was a nice review Herbert. It would be nice if you would give the rating in the scale of 1-10, so that readers may know your overall liking and review of this game.

I'd give it a 7.5, just because it was so short and somewhat frustrating at times, and it was just barely starting to feel redundant. Everything was good though