Spring Break
'Mirror's Edge' has sharper-than-glass images
Travis Moore
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: Focus
When "Mirror's Edge" was announced, gamers paid attention. Everything about it felt like a gaming revelation: the stripped-down display, the splashes of color on the eggshell cityscape, the fact that somebody was finally developing a game based on parkour (a physical discipline all about overcoming environmental obstacles quickly and efficiently). Now, "Mirror's Edge" is on shelves, and while it takes a bold leap in the right direction, it stumbles on the landing.
In a city under iron-fisted totalitarian rule, information has become heavily monitored. You are Faith, member of an underground community of acrobat couriers (called Runners) who sticks it to the Man by carrying messages for their underground clients across the sterile, white city. After her sister is framed for murdering a politician, Faith must put her skills to the test, and her life in peril, to find the true culprit.
The story is trite, but the HUD-less interface and inspired art design combine to create a more believable world than narrative ever could. It's a real shame that such a seamlessly cohesive system is hardly ever used to significantly progress the story. Instead, we must rely on cheap, choppy cartoon sequences to fill us in between levels (think low-budget Esurance commercial and you're halfway there).
It's worth noting that the writing is pretty sharp, and the voice acting ranges from tolerable to genuinely endearing (although some of Faith's comments are pointlessly snarky). Unfortunately, the story is handled clumsily and with such meager exploration of the characters and their cause that we're given little reason to care for anybody at all.
Thankfully, the story's offenses are minor, especially since most of the game handles like a dream. Left bumper is your "up" button, left trigger your "down," and both are used in conjunction to handle every flip, roll and twist. It feels impulsive, instinctive and it's simply sublime when it works; within minutes you'll be able to pull off acrobatic feats of stunning bravado, watching the city mold to your will as it passes submissively beneath you. It's during these moments, when the path forward opens continually, that the game truly shines like the gem it should be.
In a city under iron-fisted totalitarian rule, information has become heavily monitored. You are Faith, member of an underground community of acrobat couriers (called Runners) who sticks it to the Man by carrying messages for their underground clients across the sterile, white city. After her sister is framed for murdering a politician, Faith must put her skills to the test, and her life in peril, to find the true culprit.
The story is trite, but the HUD-less interface and inspired art design combine to create a more believable world than narrative ever could. It's a real shame that such a seamlessly cohesive system is hardly ever used to significantly progress the story. Instead, we must rely on cheap, choppy cartoon sequences to fill us in between levels (think low-budget Esurance commercial and you're halfway there).
It's worth noting that the writing is pretty sharp, and the voice acting ranges from tolerable to genuinely endearing (although some of Faith's comments are pointlessly snarky). Unfortunately, the story is handled clumsily and with such meager exploration of the characters and their cause that we're given little reason to care for anybody at all.
Thankfully, the story's offenses are minor, especially since most of the game handles like a dream. Left bumper is your "up" button, left trigger your "down," and both are used in conjunction to handle every flip, roll and twist. It feels impulsive, instinctive and it's simply sublime when it works; within minutes you'll be able to pull off acrobatic feats of stunning bravado, watching the city mold to your will as it passes submissively beneath you. It's during these moments, when the path forward opens continually, that the game truly shines like the gem it should be.
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