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Angel
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« on: January 31, 2009, 09:02:01 AM » |
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Hi Guys
I'm just finishing up Mirror's Edge (PS3) and I'd thought I'd post my thoughts on this game.
Firstly, the game is pretty. To say that they have used high quality textures is an understatement. Most of the textures are very high resolution and the world is constructed with a 'blurring' effect to simulate a real environment. The colour theme, although minimalist, really comes together well. That said, there are areas where it seems like the production was rushed, for example, the textures of Faith's hands are a step below that of those used by the environment, in fact, they remind me of the textures used way back in Counterstrike.
Secondly, the game does well to immerse you in the role of Faith, a ninja-like runner with fantastic acrobatic abilities. As Faith, you get the ability to wall-run, jump from impossibly high ledges and roll to safety and hang from pipes on the top of skys****ers. That said, Faith's move set is strongly reminiscent of the Prince's in Prince of Persia. In fact, one of the things that keep popping up in my mind is Prince of Persia in First Person. The camera jitter, peripheral blurring and grunts during the game only serve to heighten the illusion that you are, in fact, Faith being chased by a dozen cops over the city skyline.
Now, game play. This game is FRUSTRATING. I'm sorry, but if you've read any reviews that only call Mirror's Edge 'challenging' and expect this to apply to you, then chances are, unless you're an eight thumbed super chimp with the reflexes of Neo in the Matrix you'd be so pissed off in certain sections of the game that you'd want to bodily hurl your controller down from your nearest neighborhood skys****er. The challenges are repetitive and oddly check pointed, with the in game 'hint' system giving you just about as much help as Steven Hawking's PhD dissertation. What this means in execution is that you'd more often than not find yourself in an area of the game with no idea how to proceed, and the 'hint' pointing you off the nearest ledge. The odd checkpoints means that you'd also often have to retry entire sections of an area just to get to that last bit where your 'hints' fail you and you plummet to your doom. The problem is compounded by the fact that in certain areas you're assaulted by a hail of bullets and an army of cops that, although are quite possibly most horrible shooters in existence, somehow suddenly become quite competent in killing you if you even try to see if there is a logical way out. Combat is largely one-sided with either you taking down the enemy in one go, or you making the acquaintance of said opponent's rifle butt. The boss battles are very specific, which require you to have done it exactly as the programmers have decided you should do before the game decides that you have a chance of taking them down. In short, be ready to die. Lots.
Finally the overall experience. The game proves to be entertaining at the start and the story is fair although it manages to come quite close to using some tired old cliches. You'd probably find that its a fresh take on a platformer and while the experience is fresh it will be quite fun to play. Overall, with my multitude of deaths, its only taken me a few days to get to the final chapter, which means that this game could be considered to be a trifle on the low side, but there is an attempt to inject some replay value by the creators with the inclusion of speed run challenges. All in all, its a game worth playing, but maybe only if it comes down to the price of a platinum title. A caveat for players: If you suffer from virtual motion sickness, this is NOT the game for you.
Cheers,
Angel
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