Mirror's Edge [360/PS3]

[Darwock]

Not region free on 360 or PS3? I presume you mean 360..?

[Eight Rooks]

Eh, this is spiralling further and further down my ranking scale. Who thought making combat this realistic would be any kind of fun? Walk into a room with four SWAT team guys in elevated positions and you're dead inside a couple of seconds the moment you show yourself - not exaggeration, not whining, just simply stating a fact. No idea where to go, there's an enemy covering every alternative route up who'll kill you while you're dragging yourself onto a catwalk or whatever, if they don't you've got a split-second to disarm them before their friends all shoot you... I'm really starting to see why Edge would rate this a 5. Trial and error in the worst way - and no, speed runs do not make up for it. The game just keeps denying you the chance to play it the way you're "supposed" to, the way it was sold, forcing you to run blindly around massively over-powered enemies who'll kill you the moment you stick your head out. It is so good when it works - but it's working less and less as it goes on, and the good bits are getting to be less and less of a payoff for the bad. Biggest disappointment this year, it has to be said. I can't think of another game I feel let me down so much.

[fuse]

NTSC-J'ers, this is not region free as I discovered this morning.

Cheers guv, glad I put in at P-A rather than chancing the Game order with the t-shirt now. Even if it's still not shipped because GoW2 has gone out of stock

[Darwock]

Sounds like the demo is a better experience than the game, I think I will keep it installed and forget about buying the full copy.

[Soundwave]

Well reading this has thankfully just saved me wasting cash on it...all the more towards my PS3 fund

I wanted to love this game but going on your opinions so far it sound like I wont so it's off the wish list.

Neil

[analog dog]

bloody hell this is a frustrating game, its so nearly genius but even early on I've not got a clue where to go and keep getting shot.

Press circle (on the PS3 and your view will lock to where you are supposed to go)
It's great to see that fresh ideas are met with almost total disdain around here.
Dice have taken a daring step forward in this tired genre and all people moan about is the combat,hardly anyone is mentioning the accuracy of the free running controls,the fluidty of movement or the really beautifully rendered environment.
I agree that the combat could be a little more refined but this game never claimed to be an FPS,celebrate it for what it is,an experiment in pushing the artform forward,not just another identikit shooter.

edit;this moan is not directed at you merf

[Eight Rooks]

Yeah, how dare I moan about the beautifully rendered environment and the daring choice of turning everything white with a few random splashes of primary colour here and there. (Not to mention the randomly scattered bits and pieces of level furniture that look like a second-rate HalfLife mod from a couple of years ago.) How dare I moan about the game continually forcing me down into boring, poorly designed interior environments where I have no opportunity to, you know, actually use my free-running abilities. How dare I moan about the game making it compulsory for me to fight enemies who can kill me in a matter of seconds unless I perform split-second reaction tests correctly over and over again. How dare I moan about the direction finder when it virtually never does anything beyond show you the general direction you're supposed to be headed in and sometimes won't even do that. Oh, I'm sorry, was that moan not directed at me either? <_<

I've said multiple times I love the game when it works - when it actually lets me play it as a parkour sim without any intrusions to break up the flow. It does not work very often. End of story.

Oh, and having just seen the "twist" - yeah, sadly, the story is ridiculous. Christ, even Banlieue 13 managed to work in a better narrative than this.

[analog dog]

I'm just putting a different perspective on things rookie wasn't pointing at you either!
I think that DICE should be applauded for taking a step forward into the unknown.
Parts of it worked,parts did not.
I think it's a great effort,bravo!

[merf]

totally agree with 8rooks above, I gave the devs my &#163;40 because I wanted to love this so much, I wanted to reward them for trying for something new but they've let me down.

the core free running mechanic is brilliant, but as is said above I get to use it for 10 seconds then get shot, then get a little further then get shot, repeat til level done.

its so frustrating, if the mechanic was crap I wouldn't care but you can see where this game could be brilliant, why the f*** have they taken such lousy design decisions and ruined it totally.

I'm sure the sequel be great if they listen to the feedback, which does seem pretty consistent in the reviews, I'm just narked that I'm going to pull my hair out getting value out of this, though I suspect I will enjoy the time trial bits if no c***s are shooting you every 30 seconds.

[Morph]

wow thats what you call passion , you've every right to moan its a shame the game has some seriously solid foundations but the bad flaws make it sound like the game was half baked however I really hope they eventually make a follow up that is properly baked and does its foundations justice. Will definately pick this up at some point. I guess it wouldn't be the only game that doesn't do it self justice lets not forget Assasins Creed, Ninja Gaiden 2, Force Unleashed..

[watusi]

Up to chapter 8 and loving every second of it so far. I'm playin on easy though after reading all the complaints about combat and the police. Takes the edge of that and means the game is back to focusing on the free running.

[mr_sockochris]

Done 4 chapters today, loved every minute so far Not quite sure what people are complaining about the police for, they've given me no problems whatsoever, and I haven't even used a gun. You're not Master Chief, you're a woman with limited combat skills and zero body armour so either draw them out so they're on their own and easier to dispatch of or just run away like you're supposed to do....

[Eight Rooks]

You frequently cannot run away. The game forces you to fight them. I'm not using a gun either, I want that achievement (trophy in my case) - if you can stab the button in the split-second it gives you to disarm the SWAT troopers with assault rifles, good for you, you're obviously blessed with extremely fast reflexes. I'm not. Mess it up, they swipe you with the backhand, you're staggered for three or four whole seconds, you're dead. Walk into a room with four SWAT guys up on a catwalk, stand still for a couple of seconds, you're dead. Leap up onto the catwalk, they shoot you while you're scrambling up (regardless of whether you do it at speed or not), you're dead. Run away from them - oh, wait, I have no idea where I'm supposed to be going because the direction finder is pointing straight up through the ceiling, you're dead.

I'm not saying any of this isn't realistic, I'm asking why am I being forced to take part in so much brutal realism resulting in me dying over and over and over again inside dull, boring interior levels when all I want to do is get back out there and leap over the rooftops? I'm getting better at it, sure. Split the enemies up and it gets easier, sure. They can still kill you like that if you screw up; it's staggeringly rigid trial and error with precious little opportunity to experiment at your own pace; that is not what this game was being sold on and I'm not sure how anyone could find it that much fun.

Practically two-thirds of Chapter 7 was compulsory combat, for crying out loud. Sure, maybe if you were shockingly fast you could get to the exit before they react, but every time I tried I just got shot in the back and died. Couldn't move on until I'd hunted down every single enemy and got rid of them and it took me about thirty tries. It was fun up to a point, enough to keep me going at it, but it wasn't what I handed over my &#163;40 hoping for. I don't call any of this moaning or even complaining - it's dated, clunky and unfriendly game design that feels five years out of date.

EDIT - by the way, this only applies to the SWAT troopers, and only really those with the assault rifles. The basic police in particular are no threat, no argument there - the disarm window is huge. Although that's another issue since the game doesn't really convince me it'd be that much easier for an athletic, capable young woman to grab a relatively small pistol off someone versus a large automatic weapon...

[SuperBeatBoy]

I love it but like Rooks has said, the counter mechanic is broken on the swat guys. I have got it timed down exactly right, it looks red but i keep getting smacked in the face. The only real way to do it is to slow down time and even then you really have to be pin point on time, if not she just hugs mid air.

I just don't bother with it, even though it was hyped to be. I just kick their arses instead, i do love wallrunning into an attack combo when i can.

[honeymustard]

Can you not press square to slow down time so you can disarm them? That's what I did in the demo I think.