Xbox Living

A little while ago, I told you to keep an eye out for the parkour-inspired title Mirror’s Edge.  DICE, the EA studio behind Battlefield: Bad Company, put out this little gem earlier this month.

Mirror’s Edge takes place in a near-future city where the government is in total control of all communication and freedom is at a low.  You play the game as Faith, a runner who’s job is to move information through alleyways and across rooftops. The police have left runners alone, up until now. Things are changing, and Faith is getting pulled into the mix.

The game is mostly about running, jumping and swinging your way across the rooftops of the city.  There are colour-coded objects all over the place which can be used to leap or hang off of as you navigate your way through the city.  It’s like parkour, but at speeds and heights usually reserved for superheroes.  The game is entirely in first-person and lacks any heads-up display (HUD) aside from a small reticle to prevent players from getting motion sickness.

There’s a small shooter element, as well, but it’s mostly about avoiding the police rather than gunning them down.  You’ll earn an extra achievement if you can go through the game without shooting anyone.

The game is much more linear than I was expecting.  The levels are laid out as set courses, with only minor variations in the routes. The game does a decent job of fooling you in this regard, as you’re moving fast enough that you don’t really notice the restraints.  But it’s definitely noticable that you’re being herded along.  This was a bit disappointing.  Although I can certainly see the point of this, I was hoping for a little more free-roaming of the rooftops, like we experienced with Crackdown in 2007.

If you’re starting to get bummed out this holiday season from the depressing settings of Fallout 3, Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead, it might be a good idea to take a run through Mirror’s Edge.  Although its dystopian city isn’t exactly a land of merriment and glee, it’s quite a bit brighter than the war-torn, post-apocalyptic worlds in the other big titles this year.  The bright, sterile environments certainly provide a bit of eye candy while you play.  The game’s soundtrack also fits the mood.

If you’re one to throw your controller at your screen in a fit of rage, however, you might want to pass on Mirror’s Edge.  Most of the game is fairly easy, but there are a few areas where I started to get frustrated.  Some long jumps are a challenge, and repeating them over and over until you succeed can be a pain.  It can also be annoying to get past a difficult jump

Mirror’s Edge is a pretty quick playthorough.  The nine levels of the campaign fly by as you run through them.  The replay value comes in when you complete the courses again, either searching for hidden items that you missed, or completing the game’s time trials.  If you’re a fan of time trials, you may enjoy the game enough to buy it — but if you’re like me and you lose interest after completing each level once, this one’s better left rented.

In short, Mirror’s Edge is a nice change of pace, both in terms of the gameplay’s style and the bright atmosphere of the setting.  It loses points for being a little too linear, and altogether brief.  I really enjoyed this game, but I was done with it after a couple of days.  I could see some playing it over and over, but myself, I would need new levels.

If you choose to buy it, it’s available from Amazon:

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