The aesthetic is definitely the best part of the game. The stark whites contrasted by the red from the runner vision creates a distinct, appealing visual style that also aids in gameplay. But everyone talks about the visuals. Not enough is said about the music. The ambient, often somber songs go well with the world and create a nice zen-like feel for platforming. And there's the sound effects. Faith's movement is accompanied by sound effects that give her a realistic physicality I haven't felt in even modern first-person games.

And the gameplay is exhilarating once mastered. The realistic movement of Mirror's Edge mattered because it emphasized the importance of skillful play. There's no fooling around. You get good and play well or else Faith goes splat. Stringing together jumps, rolls, climbs, turns, and slides brings to life the thrill of hardcore parkour. It can make all the mistakes made along the way feel worth it.

The controls are pretty smart too. They take some time to get used to (not using A to jump felt weird), but they make complete sense. Moving, looking, and jumping are the three most important verbs in this game. The player should always have their fingers on the analog sticks and jump button. I'm sure the game plays fine on keyboard and mouse, but since precise aiming isn't as big of a factor as moving, the analog stick works fine.

Precise aiming is a factor though, and that's a problem. The combat is bad. It's supposed to be bad. Faith isn't a fighter, and she isn't supposed to feel like one. I just wish the game would stop forcing me to fight. Running away from cops works sometimes, but a lot of the time they're right in Faith's path, at which point taking them down becomes a crap-shoot. I like that aiming becomes significantly worse when Faith is holding a gun; that's pretty funny, but even melee combat is unreliable. If non-lethal take-downs were more consistent, and if direct combat happened less often, I'd be fine with it.

Sometimes the platforming can break down too. There are some levels that require the player to slow down and find the proper path forward, and that's fine. It adds some contrast with the more speed-focused parts. But even with runner's vision telling me where to go, along with a button that turns the camera toward the intended destination, I sometimes got confused about which platforms in which order would get me to the goal. Mistakes made during the fast portions could suck, but a successful run was something to behold. Climbing out of a puzzle-platforming section was usually just accompanied with a feeling of "well, that's over with."

I'm glad that other developers seemed to like Mirror's Edge. You don't have to look hard for first-person games that incorporate parkour as a tool in their run-and-gun core loop. Meanwhile, indie games like Refunct try to bring purity to the design by stripping away everything that isn't platforming. That's not to mention all the games inspired by the visuals of Mirror's Edge. We'll probably never get another realistic parkour game like Mirror's Edge, but I'm thankful for the legacy it has left behind.

Reviewed on Jun 25, 2021


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