GamesRelay

Name: Mirror's Edge

Playing Mirrors Edge is an experience unlike anything you've ever had, I wouldn't say it's a totally original game but it's certainly something refreshing. At it's core, it's a First Person 3D Platform game based on the free running sport Parkour, where brave runners use there environment and momentum to scale buildings, make ludicrous jumps and generally make people think there have a few screws loose.

The game is set in an unnamed city in a world where Big Brother has been let loose and a totalitarian rule is in place. Communications are heavily monitored for any signs of illegal activity and justice is swiftly dispensed. To evade this, a system of 'Runners' are in place that will take any message and deliver it the old fashioned way by placing it in the recipients hand. These runners use the city like their personal play ground to evade capture and get the job done. In Mirrors Edge you play the role of one such runner who goes by the name of Faith.

Mirrors Edge is set against the backdrop of a mayoral campaign, a new politician, Pope, is threatening to take control of the city and bring change to the vice like grip which is kept on the city by its current Mayor, Callaghan. At the onset of the game Faith receives a distress call from her sister whose found Pope murdered, along with only a small clue to the identity of the murderer, it becomes your job to help out your sister by working outside the normal corrupt channels which would seek to cover up the murder. Thus Faith has her mission for the game and all hell breaks out racing towards Faith in her mission for the truth about Pope.

The city Faith must traverse in her mission is a clean and vibrant one, the game runs on a modified Unreal Tournament 3 engine and how she gets round this world is largely up to you. Faith's Parkour abilities allow her to perform some impressive moves as she makes her way across the building rooftops, there are objects to be jumped over, things to slide under, zip lines to slide down and walls to be climbed. All this needs to be done with speed, keeping your momentum going is the only way that you are going to be able to reach some of the far off places with a well timed jump. The fluidity of your movements is vital to your success with this game.

The graphics in the game do a more than adequate job of getting you immersed in Faiths world, not only do you get the sensation of speed but the realistic bobbing of Faiths head as she performs her acrobatic feats really help to get you involved, at times when she has to reach for a pipe or vault over a crate you'll catch sight of her limbs. Another example being when Faith lands from a high jump and has to perform a roll to cushion the impact then the camera will flip over with her and it rarely if ever disorientates you, it just seems to work so natural. The game gives you 'Runner Vision' to help choose your path through the game, this highlights certain objects a bright red colour so you can always see a path in front of you, (though it's not always the best) however, this seems to disappear the more you progress into the game and by then you'll have a rough idea of what the game expects from you.

Obviously Faith isn't going to be left alone on her mission, the bad guys are going to come after her and usually in the form of gun toting police officers either on foot or by helicopter. Most of the time these can be avoided, but, on occasion it's going to be inevitable that you're going to have to fight your way past. This can be done in one of two ways, you can use melee attacks, or, you can wrestle their gun from them and pull the trigger. That isn't to suggest that this game is a FPS, it's not, the use of guns is not the recommended way and Faith will become unable to run while she is carrying a gun, only able to carry it until the bullets run out which usually isn't many. The game actively encourages you not to use the guns, if you manage to complete the game without killing a single guard with gun fire then a PlayStation Trophy is unlocked aptly called 'Test of Faith'. To help you out though you can build up a small gauge which will allow you to use another feature of the game called 'Reaction Time'. This is built up by building Faiths adrenaline and once activated the game slows down in a Bullet Time way making the guns easier to grab or the guards easier to punch for a short time. For me at least, the combat system isn't the best in the world, at times it's down right annoying, especially when you're trying for the 'Test of Faith' trophy, but it's important to remember that most of the time combat can be avoided by a carefully planned route so if you find yourself constantly walking into a hail of bullets then you're doing something wrong.