Introducing Faith, an athletic women who lives in the fictitious society of Mirror’s Edge. This is a world run by a totalitarian government, out to control everything its citizens, do or say. Faith is a runner – people who live outside of society – a network of secret couriers carrying sensitive information around the city, mostly across rooftops at high speed; it is the only means by which communication cannot be observed or tracked. What these messages actually contain is never really revealed, but these are simply used as a means to introduce the real story.
In Faith’s first mission across the city, she discovers the dead body of the favoured political candidate for mayor of the city, a man who wants to change the oppressive grip the current government has on society, something not really favoured that much by those in charge. Unfortunately she also discovers her unconscious cop sister along with her discharged gun – a frame up. So, it is down to Faith to clear her sister’s name, and down to the player to aid her in that cause.
The controls, whilst simple to understand, take a while to acclimatise to. Hitting the top-left shoulder button makes Faith go up and hitting the bottom-left shoulder button makes Faith go down. The actions Faith takes all depends on the obstacle she’s near at the time. She’ll jump over obstacles, slide under pipes and girders, run along walls, slide down ropes and generally be a bit dramatic when it comes to moving about the city. After a bit of practice, these moves can be made to flow into one another, transforming the action into a thrilling adrenaline rush, with mad momentum. However, the game doesn’t always interpret the player’s intended actions as desired, and this can be a bit of a kick in the teeth.
When things aren’t flowing well, Mirror’s Edge can be awfully frustrating and maddeningly difficult; sometimes it’s better just to walk away for a while and come back to it later for a fresh try. The timings needed for jumps require absolute precision and cat like reflexes, and this isn’t always easy due to the first person perspective the player is given. Combat in particular can become somewhat grating. It doesn’t take much in the way of punches or bullets to take Faith out, even when playing on the easiest of difficulties.
That said, Faith is a runner, not a soldier – she’s far better off avoiding combat encounters rather than engaging in them – the game is about leaping from rooftop to rooftop rather than clocking up the frags. That’s not to say that it isn’t without its satisfaction; despite the constant hair tearing, and likely broken control pads, there’s a real sense of accomplishment gained after mastering a section of a level that’s seen Faith plummet to her death two-dozen times already. Although Faith will die a lot, DICE have done well with the checkpoints and save feature. These are never more than a few minutes apart, so the need to re-trace her steps through an entire map is thankfully done away with.
This perhaps isn’t an entirely positive thing; the puzzle like design of the levels allow for different paths through the city – the shortest of which requires mastering the more complex of Faith’s movements. The trouble is, the game moves at such a pace that there’s little time to go sightseeing and seek them out, given the urgency of getting Faith to her destination. This is a pity as the simplistic, almost over-exposed lighting of skyscrapers that litter the metropolis gives kudos to just how versatile the Unreal engine is; as silky smooth as Faith herself.
Thankfully there are a few rest-bites to be had in the form of cut-scenes between levels, which advance the storyline in a cel-shaded animation. These look somewhat different from the main game engine, but are no less pleasing to the eye. Once unlocked, these can be viewed again whenever the mood takes you, as can the ambient soundtrack that accompanies Faith throughout the game.
It won’t take long to complete the nine-levels of the storyline, and would probably take a lot less were it not for the trial and error nature of things. Once this is done there’s not much reason to replay the game, instead there are a dozen or more speed-runs to master, and for the very best and quickest of runners, online fame and fortune awaits. To get to the top of these leader-boards is going to require hours and hours of practice, even hitting the lowest of qualifying times needs a lot of planning as to the best way to traverse the municipality of obstacles. It’s a nice addition, even though there’s no true multiplayer gaming to be had here.
Mirror’s Edge is without doubt a beautiful game, that can both thill and frustrate with equal measure. Those willing to live with the evils of pixel perfect button timings will get a lot of pleasure from the game. Those who put such games back on the shelf after five minutes are probably better off looking elsewhere. DICE have produced a new, edgier heroine, so move over Lara Croft.
