Reviews: Mirror's Edge

A while back this summer, I saw my friend Jimbo playing a game at my friend's apartment, a game that was all about parkour and jumping across buildings and such. It looked pretty cool, I asked him the name, (Mirror's Edge) and when I got down to New Orleans, I gameflied it. (yes, it's a verb)

Much as from what I saw, it is a very entertaining game. A first-person shooter without the shooter, as it says. Running across rooftops, climbing up barriers and over fences, it's pretty much all the parkour stuff I wish I could do...but am far too lazy to do, and I'd rather not die. It's definitely an "out-of-the-box" game, with different ways to get to your location but with that carries a bit of frustration, there were a few points where I was pretty irritated about not being able to find a path to the next area. Most of the time though, I turned it off, and when I came back I found a route pretty quickly.

My only real complaints about Mirror's Edge are the plot and length of the game. The length is quite simply, short, a trend I've been noticing with several games recently, I thought Gears of War and its sequel were both pretty short, although quite entertaining particularly in multiplayer mode. This is a game I could have finished in a few days, having only played a few hours. And the plot? Well, I am a sucker for dystopian-style environments, but it was pretty predictable and fairly hackneyed.

It's not too hard to get used to the controls, they did a good job with it and after a few minutes you can play the game quite naturally. The graphics are gorgeous, particularly when playing on an HDTV, the city environment is really quite stunning. I'm not sure if the cleanliness and brightness of the city were meant as a contrast to the oppressive government (probably so), but I would have liked a mission or two in the dark, or rain. Or both, I know it's cheesy, but hey, the plot was pretty cheesy anyways.

All in all it's a good game to play, I recommend checking it out if you can. It's for Xbox, PS3, and PC. On my ratings scale (Buy, Gamefly, Avoid) I'd give it a Gamefly rating. Definitely worth a rent, and while the running trials help to extend the longevity of the game, the plotline is so short that if you buy it, you'll be wondering if you can return it after 2-3 weeks. I can see this being a game that would be quite enjoyable to re-play 6months after you finish or so.