Mirror's Edge [360/PS3]

[Eight Rooks]

Came early from Play. Rules said to make a new thread, so...

Clocked two chapters or so and I think I can say if you didn't like the demo the full game is not going to persuade you differently. Presentation, visuals, audio, controls, gameplay - all pretty much exactly the same, with some minor new things (no collectibles in the demo, for example). I'm both agreeing with the reviews and not; I like the cutscenes for the most part, and I don't mind the voice acting, but some of the dialogue is annoyingly forced (Edge were right, IMO; the "it's not news, it's advertising" crack is trying way too hard). I don't have any opinion on the gunplay, since I haven't tried any yet - I want that achievement for clocking the whole thing weapons-free.

It is a lot more trial-and-error than the demo level(s), and somewhat frustrating the way it's fairly old-skool; pipes, valves, platforms, bottomless pits... do this *bzzzt* wrong, you're dead. Do it again. *bzzzt* wrong, you're dead. Do it again, etc., etc. But when it works, my God, it's awesome. Possibly some of the most cinematic, exhilarating chase sequences I've ever played through in a videogame. The interiors aren't entirely bad, too - plus it's neat you do go down to ground level now and then, which I wasn't sure about.

Not perfect, then, but very entertaining. Can't wait to play more. So I won't.

[Eight Rooks]

Double-posting, sorry, but yes, I agree with the reviews again - Christ the game gets annoying sometimes. DICE must have been wary of turning it into Assassin's Creed, but still, the direction-finder is very, very shaky - I've lost count of the amount of times I've died simply because the route onwards has been so bloody convoluted and the O button is no help. Even when it's largely my fault, as in I should have been looking behind me to carry on rather than forward, say, the game's quite nasty in bringing pursuit right up on your tail if you don't move the right way inside a few seconds. And given Faith's so fragile, this gets pretty frustrating. "Which way next...? Ah, crap, wrong way, they've caught me, dead. Restart. Which way next...? Ah, crap, that wasn't it either. Caught me. Dead. Restart. Which way next..." and so on.

Not to mention combat itself. Had the first forced fight against SWAT and O_o ; I dread to think what it's like on Hard. The disarm window is staggeringly quick and they kill you in two strikes with their weapon (faster than being shot!) - if you don't get the combos just right, or hit the disarm at exactly the right moment, you're more or less instantly screwed.

But it's still holding my attention. Flawed, but oh so good - the combat animations are certainly satisfying when you finally do get it right... slide kick to crotch punch to one-two fists for the win, ahhhhh yeah. And there's plenty of big moments - smashing through windows on your way out, swinging across several bars perfectly first time, doing one of the giant leaps... little ones too. Wall run to reverse to jump hasn't stopped being fun yet, or the rush when you get some flow and speed up, or the odd artistic moment the game does get right - very nice viewpoint at the end of Chapter 3.

After the stupendous level of polish and visual design on Dead Space ME is something of a letdown, but so far it's still living up to most of what it promised. Dunno about game of the year material - not on what I've played thus far - but it's one of the highlights.

[Largo]

The game is certainly flawed, but enjoyable and thats all you can ask for really these days imo, i cant really add much to above but to echo that a lot of it is trial and error, ive died more times than a gears of war insane play thro.
The scope for more speed tho is what the games all about, the online leaderboards give you an option of racing against the fastest (or anyone you select) and your friends too at a touch of a button which is nice. And getting the perfect 'run' in is addictive, i expect to see a lot of pro play on youtube from this game
Not sure about a mirror but some of the story twists are as transparent as glass (did you like what i did there?)

Anyway my 10 cents, i like it

Oh yeah *edit* this t-shirt, im wearing a white marks and spencers large tshirt, and ive got plenty of room, but this mirrors edge t-shirt which is a large also, is skin tight, jesus who the hell do they measure up for this stuff....

[chosen_one666]

The whole trial and error aspect of the game is really starting to annoy me now.

Try, fail, die. Repeat ad infinitum.

When you get into the swing of things and the game flows like it should it's sheer brilliance. When you're not, and keep having to repeat the same part over and over again it becomes a test of how long you're willing to endure the frustration before you put the controller down and turn the console off.

[Eight Rooks]

Thing is it doesn't get me quite that badly. I tend to put up with trial and error because I'm still enjoying myself despite the frustration - I very, very rarely give up in the middle of something that's holding me back. There's enough options, enough things to do that I don't end up yelling at the screen - not yet, anyway. It's never just one jump, or just one enemy, it's a longer section, like the first SWAT fight - so I can always think "Oh, perhaps if I did such-and-such I'd find it easier" and the fun of experimentation takes the edge off the frustration somewhat.

But the linearity and the trial-and-error does hurt it, I agree. In terms of just pure freeform fun this doesn't come close to Crackdown - the perspective and the parkour element rather than moonboots gravity gives it its own identity, no argument there, but it really feels as if there should have been much, much more of a sandbox side to it. I like the game a lot, but I don't love it at the moment, even when it gets things "right".

[RuBiQ]

im on chapter 3 now and its been fairly enjoyable, the graffics are not exactly breathtaking but i dont play a game based on if the graffics are brilliant or not.

Some breathtaking moments of OMG im about to fall but made the jumps etc which were fun to watch. Its not gonna break any new barriers in gaming but its a novel idea and i think it works quite well for what it is. Id prob wait till its cheap on here/on the internet rather than pay full price tho

7/10 from me.

[Eight Rooks]

Heh, the best "OMG OMG OMG" moment for me was probably her teetering-on-the-edge animation.

[Ouenben]

bah just got a disc read error while on chapter 1!

[Largo]

Once you complete the game it unlocks "Speed run" under time trial too, the world best times are nuts

[SuperBeatBoy]

I haven't had any problems with dying much. The main problem i have and is echoing everyone else. Finding where your suppose to be go is really difficult. The game doesn't really give you a good indicator of where your suppose to go in the later chapters. Faith may know where she is going but we as the player certainly don't. I think DICE screwed up on that.

The story is completly forgettable there isn't any sort of character developement whatsoever. Which is a huge shame as the world they have designed certainly could have had it.

Other than those gripes, i'm absolutly loving the gameplay itself. Its a breath of fresh air really and her acrobatics are wonderfully designed and work superb.

[Goemon]

Trial and error puts a lot of people off in games but I think it really depends on the game.

A lot of old school games come from the die and repeat idea. I guess they've made ways to try and blance the game because if they made it too straight forward it would be too easy and boring.

I'm still looking forward to this, I still convinced by the idea of if you put the time in - the reward will be there.

[Sixty]

I'm tempted to choose Easy difficulty just because fighting guards is so messy and unenjoyable. In some ways it's refreshing to play a game where the main character is just a normal person, because in real life an unarmed woman obviously wouldn't stand a chance against a fully armed guard and would die in just a couple of shots, rather than soaking up bullets. In general, an area with two or more guards in it is sigh-inducing, but it's the only way it could be given the nature of the game.

I'm really looking forward to finishing it so I can go back through the levels and try to find the most efficient routes (and the time trial stuff, which I haven't looked at yet and don't even know how it works). Despite complaints of linearity from some there's been a number of times I've been running and can just tell there are shortcuts around or better ways to get through but I haven't had the time to find them. Sometimes you can try things and it's a delight when it works, but I'm definitely feeling to get the best out of it you'd have to study it a bit. That may not be something everyone will want to do, of course, but it appeals to me.

You have to wonder where DICE will take the idea from here. The groundwork is there for a killer sequel if they address the first game's flaws. This is just fine for now, though.

[Eight Rooks]

Meh, the thing is people will convince themselves they like anything. I had that rammed through my skull after reading one too many GameFAQs posts insisting there was nothing difficult about GunValkyrie's control system...

There is a definitely a lot to like about Mirror's Edge, however. Its weaknesses are just very obvious - it's trying to sell you on the idea of high-speed first-person gymnastics through an urban environment and very little else, and when anything gets in the way of that it's extremely jarring. It's not sold as an old-skool "leap the bottomless pits" game, it's not sold as an "exciting gunplay" game, so when these things get thrown in your face (for all they're somewhat sub-par) you can't help but get frustrated and wonder when you're going to get back to hurtling over the rooftops. And it's not sold as a free-roaming openworld sandbox, either, but it is presented in such a way as to make you think it might be, so when you go looking for that kind of thing it's a letdown when you realise you're just on a very pretty amusement park ride and stepping out of bounds doesn't get you any kind of reward. The visual design really isn't that deep, it's downright ugly in places, and there are a hell of a lot of pointless empty rooms that just feel lazy and rushed.

For all this I do like it quite a bit. Like people have said, get it right - do what the game wants you to do - and it can be a hell of a lot of fun. Fail and it's almost teeth-grindingly frustrating. There is some scope for experimentation here and there, but not much, whether you're doing the story or the time trials.

[Super Monkey Balls]

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

[merf]

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.

can't see how something in development this long gets put out like this, its not that its bugged or lousy, just deeply flawed.

I'm sure there is a great sequel in here.