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
