Mirror's Edge Review

We all know EA for its sports games. In fact EA just released its most visual appealing Madden game by far. EA is well known for making visual appealing games. Although EA is better known for their sports games, EA has other well known titles such as Medal of Honor. Now EA has created another action-adventure game called Mirror’s Edge that is indeed visually appealing, however, a game needs more than eye candy to appeal to gamers.

Mirror’s Edge takes place in a somewhat futuristic setting. Players take on the role of Faith, a runner who transports and delivers sensitive information to prevent those who would use that information to further their own needs, as well not allowing the government from getting any more powerful than it already is. During a mission Faith discovers a plot that has framed her sister and is now becoming hunted. Faith must now scour the city running from rooftop to rooftop to discover who is responsible for framing her sister and why.

Think of the gameplay of a more mature Sonic the Hedgehog. Players must run from point A to point B in a first person view perspective to get to the end of the level to advance the story and occasionally fighting a boss. Players use the environment to guide them to tell them which way to go. Combat mechanics seem a bit awkward and somewhat unfitting in the game. Players use stealth to gain the upper hand on enemies or to not get noticed. When players enter a confrontation they can either knock them out with their fist or disarm their weapons and use it against them. The combat mechanics in this game are sloppy and slow and really slow down the fast paced action of running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. When players have no choice but to fight it makes the adrenaline that is already pumping to a sudden halt, due to players having to slow down and having to take down the enemies before proceeding.

The game’s actions are very simple, you’re either running, jumping, or fighting and for all of these actions are you need are three little buttons. Usually when it comes to action adventures you either have a lot of buttons to pull of some amazing moves, or a lot of moves that you may have to constantly open up the main menu and switch out items or special moves to perform the specific move or action that you need performed. With Mirror’s Edge it keeps everything simple and sometimes simplicity is good depending on the story and the longevity of the game. With Mirror’s Edge very short campaign mode with the level only taking minutes to complete, keeping the action fast paced and simple was a smart move for this title.
The visuals of this game do not disappoint, the world of Mirror’s Edge is filled with color and the environment alone feels like it’s going to pop out of your TV and really gives you the great feel of running with your adrenaline pumping. The environment is also interactive giving players an arrow by turning objects red which indicate players to either jump from this platform, climb out pipes, ladders, to even landing on something. The cutscene visuals are a bit of a disappointment. Although the cutscenes have a hand drawn anime feel to them, most of the lighting in the cutscenes is usually dark; therefore players can’t enjoy the visual appeal the cutscenes offer.

The soundtrack is perfect for the adrenaline pumping high speed running throughout this world. As the music keeps playing, players will feel more pumped going through the level going at incredible speeds, it even fits well with the combat sequences.

Overall, Mirror’s Edge is a decent game, you’ll definitely have to watch your step and make sure you perform jumps just right to keep the adrenaline pumping. The game really doesn’t have much replay value except for some DLC that gives you new trials to beat. The only replay value this game has is if you want to go through the trial mode, or try to beat your old time on the campaign. The story itself really isn’t all that interesting and doesn’t contain enough originality to keep the players enticed to the story. The gameplay will keep players going for its adrenaline pumping action, but will get cut short but it’s slow and sloppy combat mechanics. Of course this is a EA game and EA really doesn’t do many games with original concepts and Mirror’s Edge is a decent game and keeps true to EA’s visual appealing games that their famous for making. This game is a rental at best for how you go about the levels is pretty cool, but after you beat the main story there really isn’t much left to do after that.

Mirror's Edge Score

Graphics 9/10

Sound 9/10

Gameplay 6/10

Replayability: 4/10

Overall: 7/10

Darksiders Review

Buildings destroyed, mankind has become extinct due to the Great War between Heaven and Hell. Whatever is left of the human race, well there no longer human there something else. This is what would be known as the Rapture, the apocalypse of biblical proportions, and the four horsemen of the apocalypse have descended down on earth. But however only one made it and he will be the main character of this game. You are War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse in this tale of biblical proportions known only as Darksiders.

As stated earlier you are War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse raining down on earth to bring upon the destruction of Earth. However, not all is at it seems as none of the other horsemen have descended with War and soon you discover a conspiracy between the forces of Heaven and Hell become stripped of all your powers and must go on a quest of revenge and redemption to discover who called upon the destruction of Earth. Once you are banished War is stripped of his awesome powers to find the one responsible of unleashing the Destroyer.

The gameplay is mixture between the Legend of Zelda series and the God of War series. You will hack and slash your way through levels similar with the help of any magical spells you find similar to a God of War game. Players will also go through dungeons and levels that will require a bit of puzzle solving and gaining items that can help solve puzzles which can also double as weapons, similar to a Zelda game. Using these tow formulas brings a perfect balance without having one formula over powering another or having the game relay too much on puzzle solving or too much on fighting. The game uses a perfect balance of fighting and puzzle solving. Upgrades and finding new items also are used and melded from both of these games. Upgrades and new moves are bought with the use of Souls while new weapons to get through the area and secret health upgrades are found off the beaten path.

The visuals for the game are very colorful and magnificent. From the details of the destroyed environment all around you, the weapons that War uses, the environment, to the clothes War wears and the armor that the angels and demons fighting one another wear. The visuals truly give the apocalypse feel and do not disappoint and the environment truly looks destroyed from the highways, the buildings, to even the cars and streets. Visually this game truly delivers the apocalyptic feel that the games story tells. Visually however the game also somewhat reminds me of World of Warcraft, from the clothes War wears it gives him the look of a Death Knight and the sword looks very similar to the starting Death Knight blade in World of Warcraft.

Overall, Darksiders is a pretty good title. It provides a perfect balance of action and dungeon puzzle solving taking elements from two great titles. Providing a visually appealing game with a story of bibilical proportions. With the visual appealness of World of Warcraft, the perfect mixture of God of War and the Legend of Zelda this game is a great title to play. Although it doesn’t have the longivity of a Zelda game, there are some Zelda elements that players that played the series can’t help but notice as well as elements from God of War. Even after beating the game theres the Apocalyptic difficulty to play through and try to beat as well as trying to pick up any achievements/trophies you missed along the way of this bibicial tale.

Darksiders Score

Graphics: 10/10

Sound: 7/10

Gameplay: 9/10

Overall: 8/10