Wall Run, Turn, Jump, Wall Climb, Turn, Jump: Mirror's Edge Review

I think it's called Parkour...


Once again I'm back with a backlog game review; this time its Mirror's Edge.  I am sure many have either played or heard of this game, as it had won many awards for it's game play and innovation. I am here to say that it does pay off in dividends.


Hopefully everybody has heard of Parkour, which is just freestyle walking, am I right?? No, just joking. It's jumping off walls, climbing like a monkey and all while doing it with fluidity. That's what Faith the main character does and thus, you as well. The first time I spun this up it was amazing and somewhat frustrating, it has a very steep learning curve. It's all about timing. The story overall, while not compelling, did merit that you were out to right wrongs and gave you motivation to move on. Not overly complex, and with a nice little twist. The game is short, but is very frantic, peaks and valleys over and over.


Faith is a messenger or as they call themselves, "runners" in a dystopian society, the last bastion of rebellion under an oppressive rule.  Story goes; your sister, who is a "blue" or cop is framed for a murder she didn't commit, you find the clues and the real killer. The cut scenes did a good job of setting up the story using cell shaded animated characters and action.  Nine chapters each divided by a story and set up for the next chapter, easy movement and pacing for a intense game experience.


Game play. Wow! I wish I had the athletic prowess of Faith and the characters in this game, hopping around like monkeys and flying from rooftop to rooftop. Like I said it's all timing, Faith has a large set of moves and movement at her discretion and while easy enough to hit a button, hard to pull off when your running from the blues and wondering where the hell to go next. Faith has what's called runner vision at her disposal, basically if it has use, it will be colored red. Boards, pipes, doors and stacks of boxes all show the player this is a possible option to get where they are going. Then many times there aren't those kinds of hints and you are on your own. This gives the intense chase sequences a even greater intensity. I am not going to lie I had to cheat a little on some of this levels and find out where the hell I was going. The game points out a building and you are to get there. WTF! Trial and error works but it becomes really repetitive when it all comes down to a missed jump or wall run. Watch a Speed run, it is amazing the amount of time people put into this game to perfect their technique.


Enemies appear as the "Blues," the ruling governmental force, ranging from police officers to full-on riot gear with m249 SAWs. Faith has the ability to disarm her assailants using yet again a timed element when they melee you with their guns and they flash red. This was difficult for me, I either anticipated or was too late to catch it and died many, many times. These are some cool animations, kicks and using the gun butts to your advantage.


The graphics are very reminiscent of Valve's Half-Life 2 or Left for Dead engines, very toned down, simple and clean. The color palette is like six or seven colors, white and grey for buildings, red, orange, blue, black and orange. Gives the game a very polished look and for the sake of game play a little more ease of use for the player.


The Rating System

1 Inu - This Inu is bad. It eats baby birds out of trees, craps in you shoes, and scares any potential female friends away with its ferocious demeanor.

2 Inu's - This Inu has been taken to obedience training, but failed. The dog tried hard, but just never got any of the tricks right.

3 Inu's - An average lovable Inu, sure its not gonna win any awards, but it is a faithful companion

4 Inu's - This Inu is special, he knows all of his tricks, everyone loves him, and he sits by your side every time you come back from the bar... alone.

5 Inu's - This is Inu is legendary. He is a dog among puppies. One day there will be movies made about how awesome he is.


With a steep learning curve with amazing and innovative game play this is a very cool game. It has it's issues and it plagued me though most of the game with missed jumps. The game is not very intuitive either, you have a reticle and it is very strict to the reticle when it comes to jumping to a pole or ledge, if your not pointing at it, Faith won't grab on. I'd jump to a pole only to fall to my death because my reticle was not pointing at the pole right in front of me. The story is short and sweet and won't hate on it, 'cuz it's not really what the developers were going for anyways. It is something special when you finally understand Faith's abilities and you run though a level like a blur, wall running and vault up walls. For this fact I will give this a 3.75 out of 5 INU's, what would make this game even better would be a story and slightly better intuition of the player character.