Review: Mirror's Edge

Leap of Faith

Touted as one of the most original concepts in video games, DICE’s Mirror’s Edge gives you control of a free runner named Faith. The game is very straightforward but at the same time very innovative. The story itself is pretty simple; communication is heavily monitored by a totalitarian government thus making the only way to securely send messages is through a network of ‘runners.’ As Faith, you must make it from Point A to Point B using your free running skills to avoid police, obstacles and to complete missions for your underground resistance movement.

Parkour

I won’t spoil too much of the story, because where the game shines is the gameplay. The innovation comes from the sheer control of the Faith and the amount of varied moves that you can perform based on your environment. For example, the game will automatically adjust Faith’s movement speed depending on if you’re about to jump off of a building or if you’re running away from guards. Although the game is linear, the amount of different paths you can take to get to your path are as limitless as your imagination and the game rewards you for being very creative. Its first person perspective makes it really feel like you are Faith, performing the crazy parkour moves. Each one of the games missions drops you in a new environment and it is up to you to figure out the fastest and most efficient route to get to where you need to go.

As amazing as the gameplay is in Mirror’s Edge, there is no short list of flaws in this title. One major flaw is the length. It can easily be completed in one afternoon and the Time Trials don’t add too much depth besides a few extra hours of gameplay. Another complaint is that the game is inconsistent, with the some levels being downright frustratingly slow and some blazingly fast.

Even with its flaws, Mirror’s Edge still manages to be an exhilarating experience that any gamer should try out for themselves. You’ll probably want to rent this though.