Mirror’s Edge has divided opinions since the moment it was first announced.
Mirror's Edge
Where some saw a brilliantly daring first-person platform adventure, others saw needless merging of genres which should never meet, and a game concept that would never actually work.
So it’s no surprise to find that the finished game is equally divisive, with players likely to either fall in love with its innovative approach, or bemoan its various flaws and reliance on ‘old-school’ trial and error gameplay.
What has never been in doubt, however, is just how gorgeous it looks. For clear artistic vision, this is a breathtaking achievement.
The startling skyscraper-filled city offers countless impressive viewpoints, and a stylish colour scheme not only looks great, but also serves as an effective guide: progress routes are cleverly signposted with flashes of red, which contrast against the bleached city.
Lead character Faith is a classy heroine; as a ‘Runner’, she works by illegally transporting information around a city where everything is controlled. With the streets manned by the police, the runners operate high above, across the rooftops.
Faith users her arsenal of vaults, wall-runs and zip wires to speed her way round the game world. The sense of motion is incredible, thanks to the surprisingly workable first-person view, and an intuitive user interface which makes it easy to perform impressive moves.
Still, diving around on rooftops isn’t meant to be safe, and the game’s structure regularly offers tricky jumps over vertigo-inducing drops. There’s sometimes an element of trial and error to the proceedings - but at least the reloads are short when a mistimed jump sees Faith plummeting to earth.
In its quieter moments, Mirror’s Edge feels endlessly full of potential, but it’s when the narrative kicks in that the problems start. Suddenly you find yourself watching jarring cut scenes, and next thing you know the police are following, ruining everything by shooting at you all the time.
The police are intended to provide a sense of urgency, and in a sense they work, but ultimately the implementation is flawed, limiting the extent to which you will experiment with this fantastic game world, and instead simply funnelling you down the nearest red route.
It’s also strange that the game’s strong visual style is completely undermined in the cheap cartoon-style cut scenes, which reduce Faith from stylish and aloof heroine to a slightly annoying little girl.
Still, when it flows (which it does increasingly with repeated play), Mirror’s Edge is a total joy - comfortably one of the gaming highlights of recent times.
You’ll have to wade through some frustration to get to that stage, but once you start speeding across rooftops linking one move to the next, the pay-off is oh-so worth it.
My advice is to stick the game on the easy setting (which means the gunfire is a little less intrusive), and just enjoy the free running. By the time you have finished the story mode you will be ready to begin the timed speed runs - which, arguably, is where the fun really starts.
TITLE: Mirror’s Edge
PLATFORM: Xbox 360 & PS3
GENRE: First-Person Platform Adventure
PRICE: £49.99
RATING: 8/10