Mirror's Edges gives players a challenging fast paced gameplay, but ultimately fails at delivering something special
You play as Faith, a raven haired 'runner', which will see you run around the city doing jobs... or in the case of the game.. uncover a secret plot that sees a friend of yours killed. To be honest, the political conspiracy plot to the game is fairly underdeveloped and devoid of any emotion. I never cared about anything that went on in the stylized animated cut scenes (which looked like they were done in flash). From beginning to end, nothing is really explained story wise. The game just begins with you doing what you do, with little to no story concerning why, and the game just... ends... with barely anything achieved.
Story wise is where Mirror's Edge fails, big time, but, it's in the parkour styled gameplay which really shines brightly. You traverse around the gaming environment's by jumping, leaping, running and sliding around rooftops and various insides of buildings. Each level flows nicely, as players paths are clearly marked out in a linear fashion. At times gameplay can be frustrating, as trail and error must be employed in order to figure out how to overcome a certain puzzle.
On top of the first person parkour action, there's light combat and shooting gameplay. The combat is simple, using the right trigger to punch and or kick. Using the Y button can disarm foe's, stealing their guns and dispatching enemies quickly. There is no health, but, having three of more enemies shooting at you will be make you die quick. As I mentioned, combat is simple, but is frustrating. The mechanics are meant to hep the free flowing nature and feel of the game, and when this happens, it works. But when your blistering running speed is halting due to a squad of shooting enemies... having to take each one out by aimless punching at them... it seems tacky. I really didn't enjoy the combat mechanics and would had much preferred having to outrun foe's rather than engaging them in combat.
It's a year old at the time of reviewing this, but the world of Mirror's Edge looks visually impressive. The city is a total wash of white, stylish with assorted colours. Inside, the lighting and textures are clear, pretty and pleasing to the eye. At times, there is texture pop in's, and since the entire city's landscape is white... when harsh sunlight glares, it can be difficult to navigate. Which begs the question, when in a game where direction is so important, why take that sense away? Make it harder? No. To be a jerk.
At the end of the day, I would only recommend Mirror's Edge to someone who a) had money to burn and b) was desperate to play something. I fall into the latter, but, was totally let down by this game as it did not meet my expectations. Mirror's Edge is like a half baked pie, the outer gameplay crust and visuals are well cooked, but the meaty contents of the story and plot are so undercooked, you might as well vomit.
Story: 2
Visuals: 8
Sound: 6
Gameplay: 8