Mirror's Edge

Mirror's Edge is a slick first person action game that adds a little bit to the genre in order to make it fresh and interesting. There are stunning visuals and intense action sequences that could lend itself to a John Woo film. The game released on November 12, 2008 and is currently available for the Xbox 360 and PS3. EA Digital Illusions (DICE) is at work porting it to Windows to be released January 9, 2009.

In a nondescript, beautiful city in Mirror's Edge, the government keeps tabs on its citizens like Big Brother in 1984. The environment is actually on the border of a utopia, but with the government spying on all communication that pass through its city. The protagonist, Faith, is a "runner." Runners are the messengers of the future who practice parkour to deliver underground messages to revolutionary factions in the city. Parkour is the art of moving around as quickly and efficiently as possible. The aim in the game is to go undetected. Faith and her fellow runner, Celeste, enjoy great anonymity as their boss, Mercury, gets them jobs and he radios backup if needed.

A phone call from Faith's sister, a murder, and a mysterious piece of paper called "Icarus" start the chain of events that have Faith chasing assassins, escaping from thugs, and eventually reaching the Mayor's computer servers that provide surveillance throughout the city. Faith soon learns that a private security firm, funded by the Mayor, is training their own runners to kill the underground runners that are facilitating those revolutionary factions.

Mirror's Edge

This is a different first person game. It's not Halo or Doom. You don't go around shooting weapons and killing bad guys. Well, you kill bad guys, but not in continuous, violent ways. As a runner trained by the best in parkour, you rely on stealth and acrobatics rather than machine guns and knives.

The developers wanted to focus on the environment and have done two things that innovate the first person shooter genre. First, there is a large emphasis on camera movement. The camera moves and bounces to how Faith is acting on the screen. For example, the harder and faster she runs, the jumpier the camera gets. When you roll or flip, the camera spins accordingly. Motion sickness? It's possible.

Second, Mirror's Edge utilizes Runner Vision. Since the game is mainly about finding the best routes possible or escaping from tight situations without major gunplay, you get to see what Faith sees. And that's not just because it's in first person. As you frantically run through, over, or under obstacles, you are given route options as Faith sees them and must create sequences of actions in order to succeed. The routes change a different color and it's possible you might get two or three different ways as you look around. One will always be the best route, but not always the safest. On the other hand, the route you choose might be the least efficient route, but it's pretty safe. Then again, who wants to be safe in a first person game anyway?

You can use guns, but they slow Faith down depending on the weight. Once the bullets are used up, you must discard the worthless weapon and move on. Fighting is your main method of dispatching bad guys. Faith is also trained in martial arts and is very efficient in rendering anyone who impedes her progress senseless.

Mirror's Edge is a different kind of first person game. Weapon and hand-to-hand combat take a second seat to that actual action in the game. It almost seems that the action is non-stop and makes you wonder if Faith's heart is going to explode at some point.

Mirror's Edge is a welcome change to the never-ending supply of sequels, rehashes, and rip-offs and this game is especially something different from the makers of the Battlefield games. Do you remember the action sequences in the game Shenmue? Just think of a six hour ride through a totalitarian city when you never know when and if you are going to fall or slip or go through the wrong door at any moment. That's Mirror's Edge.

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