Mirror's Edge

A classic example of some awesome ideas that just didn’t pan out the way that was originally intended. The list of moves could be more expansive -- maybe by adding a fourth button to the mix -- and the world feels entirely too constricting for what could be a huge open city. Couple those gripes with some unappealing combat and a sometimes buggy design and Mirror’s Edge falls short of my expectations.

Though the gameplay itself provides a fresh and entertaining experience, the overall game is too often bogged down by its own experimentation. A game you should certainly play but don't necessarily need to own immediately.

Mirror’s Edge for the Xbox 360 is an enjoyable game and has several heart pounding moments scattered throughout its’ nine levels.

It’s safe to say that despite its short (and irritating) story mode, repetitive gameplay and terrible indoor sections, Mirror’s Edge is a real kick up the collective arse for the first person genre.

Mirror's Edge is many things: invigorating, infuriating, fulfilling, and confusing. It isn't for everybody, and it stumbles often for a game that holds velocity in such high esteem. But even with all its foibles and frustrations, it makes some impressive leaps; it just doesn't nail the landing.

Meanwhile the wafer-thin story is told through ugly, badly acted cartoons that spoil the carefully presented atmosphere.

With only eight chapters Mirror's Edge is a particularly short game and the only thing that extends this is the trial-and-error gameplay. You're constantly left feeling as though Mirror's Edge needed something else to sustain it.

Dodging bullets and narrowly escaping capture (as well as an addictive Time Trial mode) make Mirror's Edge worth playing if you have the patience to survive its concrete jungle. Yet Faith's limited punches and kicks result in tedious combat, linear routes make the city surprisingly small and accidental deaths force you to restart numerous times.

As a first-person experience, it’s wonderful. As an engine, it’s well above par. Yet as a whole game, it runs a hell of a lot but doesn’t really go anywhere. A disappointment maybe, but a unique starting point for a franchise that only leaves us hopeful for what DICE can do with the next instalment.

Mirror's Edge is a shining example of when a game concept idea doesn't live up to its idea. The movement controls are solid and the graphics top-notch, but everything else just doesn't work. The level design begins excellent and grows progressively worse. The combat is awkward and tedious, and even as the levels grow less fun, the game throws more and more combat at you, as if hoping to distract you. To top it off, the title is remarkably short and the plot deeply unsatisfying.

Mirror's Edge can't quite bring all of its strengths together to produce an enjoyable game. It tries to take a big leap forward, but instead stumbles and falls.

A prototype for others to follow, but the concept doesn't support an entire game. [Jan 2009, p.72]

But for every bit as brilliant Mirror’s Edge is, it’s also equally as frustrating. For every time you exclaim in joyful accomplishment by nailing a series of jumps and lifts, you’ll lament missing a ledge by the width of a fingernail for what feels like the hundredth time, just as much.

The perfect word that can really sum up Mirror’s Edge is unfortunately, disappointment.

In the end, Mirror’s Edge is a great set of core mechanics wrapped in a mediocre game. When everything is going smoothly, the experience can be exhilarating. Unfortunately, the flow is cut off too often by frustrating gameplay (e.g., dying 20 times in a row on the same jump).

The highs in Mirror's Edge are undeniable, and Digital Illusions deserves credit for some of the bold choices it makes here, but the first-person perspective that helps make it so singular is also its biggest liability. Momentum is the biggest strength of Mirror's Edge, and it's unfortunate that it trips over itself so often.

There's not a lot to redeem Mirror's Edge beyond its immersive atmosphere. The clipping is probably the worst thing about the game - it's simply inexcusable to have a game rely on something so much only to have it not work when it should.