Mirror's Edge is an extremely unique game that truly gives the weight, momentum, and inertia of parkour instead of feeling floaty. It makes it feel rough around the edges, along with some other aspect, but this is a fantastic game that I think everyone should play. If it wasn't so painfully short, and the level design was slightly better, this could've been one of the greatest, most innovate games of all time.
Gameplay:
This game, for the time, was unqiue. Whenever games gave a freedom of movement and a focus, it was typically like Assassin's Creed: just running and jumping by mashing the 'A' button and your character did everything. This game is different. Your character has weight to their moves. They can't perfectly flow through the level with shocking ease. Faith has to wallrun, slide, walljump, and do so many innovate movement mechanics that it is a shame the levels don't let you freely explore. While they are beautiful, a lot of them take place in construction or industrial areas which makes this game feel somewhat front-heavy of where the most striking levels are, and while it has some interesting set pieces like the train spot there simply isn't enough. But still, the movement is so good, and no game really has been able to truly replicate it, even the sequel. Really, the closest I have seen is Dying Light, and even then it doesn't come close. I can see why it wasn't popularize, because feeling 'heavy' in a video game is described as 'jank' but I think it works really well for this game. What doesn't is the combat. Melee combat feels weak, and the hand-to-hand fights aren't interesting. The gunplay is just... Bad. There is nothing to engage with, it really is just mashing the attack on a guy until he drops his gun, grab it, shoot everyone, and move on. There isn't enough depth to make it interesting. It is like someone gave you a delicious steak (the movement mechanics) and then gave you half-baked Kraft's Mac & Cheese on the side (the gun combat). Wasn't isn't half-baked is the soundtrack however. This game's soundtrack is fantastic, one of the best ones out there. I highly, highly recommend listening to it on its own, which I normally don't do. As well, the visuals are stunning. It is futuristic, but doesn't push it too far into sci-fi. It feels like a real city, not fantasy like Glass in the Catalyst. I think the coloring is really good in a lot of parts, if a little strong, but this game's art style is one of the reasons alone to play it.
Story:
The story is good, albeit simple. I like it much more than the reboot, however. It feels like your role, and you feel like someone who just gets wrapped up in a conspiracy, but isn't relatively important. You're a small part of a large world, and I really love that. It has a few key characters but the game's length being so short means a lot of the story felt rushed at the very end. I beat the game in less than four hours, and I left wanting more from the story as, especially near the end, there could've been more. It seems like they were setting up for a sequel, but sadly that sequel never came, so it was never fully realized.
Overall, I would recommend this to people just to try it, it was an important game that put movement to the forefront of games and inspired a lot of series, including Dying Light which is considered one of the best games of all time. There is no other game truly like it either, so it really becomes a unique experience.
Gameplay:
This game, for the time, was unqiue. Whenever games gave a freedom of movement and a focus, it was typically like Assassin's Creed: just running and jumping by mashing the 'A' button and your character did everything. This game is different. Your character has weight to their moves. They can't perfectly flow through the level with shocking ease. Faith has to wallrun, slide, walljump, and do so many innovate movement mechanics that it is a shame the levels don't let you freely explore. While they are beautiful, a lot of them take place in construction or industrial areas which makes this game feel somewhat front-heavy of where the most striking levels are, and while it has some interesting set pieces like the train spot there simply isn't enough. But still, the movement is so good, and no game really has been able to truly replicate it, even the sequel. Really, the closest I have seen is Dying Light, and even then it doesn't come close. I can see why it wasn't popularize, because feeling 'heavy' in a video game is described as 'jank' but I think it works really well for this game. What doesn't is the combat. Melee combat feels weak, and the hand-to-hand fights aren't interesting. The gunplay is just... Bad. There is nothing to engage with, it really is just mashing the attack on a guy until he drops his gun, grab it, shoot everyone, and move on. There isn't enough depth to make it interesting. It is like someone gave you a delicious steak (the movement mechanics) and then gave you half-baked Kraft's Mac & Cheese on the side (the gun combat). Wasn't isn't half-baked is the soundtrack however. This game's soundtrack is fantastic, one of the best ones out there. I highly, highly recommend listening to it on its own, which I normally don't do. As well, the visuals are stunning. It is futuristic, but doesn't push it too far into sci-fi. It feels like a real city, not fantasy like Glass in the Catalyst. I think the coloring is really good in a lot of parts, if a little strong, but this game's art style is one of the reasons alone to play it.
Story:
The story is good, albeit simple. I like it much more than the reboot, however. It feels like your role, and you feel like someone who just gets wrapped up in a conspiracy, but isn't relatively important. You're a small part of a large world, and I really love that. It has a few key characters but the game's length being so short means a lot of the story felt rushed at the very end. I beat the game in less than four hours, and I left wanting more from the story as, especially near the end, there could've been more. It seems like they were setting up for a sequel, but sadly that sequel never came, so it was never fully realized.
Overall, I would recommend this to people just to try it, it was an important game that put movement to the forefront of games and inspired a lot of series, including Dying Light which is considered one of the best games of all time. There is no other game truly like it either, so it really becomes a unique experience.