Review
Mirror's Edge (Xbox 360)
Trial & Error
by QMarc80
(Playstation3, XBox360) - Reviewed on Playstation3
Tonight I beat Mirror's Edge. I would have beaten it the other day but had to put it down so that I wouldn't go insane from the vertigo and retries.
You are Faith. Your boss's name is Merc. You are a Runner. You are an information courier that is in the wrong place at the right time. I don't want spoil anything but you, of course, have to save someone by going to multiple places and performing amazing feats of strength, stamina, and skill.
Combat is intuitive and smooth. You can easily take down your enemies. The only flaw that the game seems to have is that there's no lock-on targeting; so be careful when you're choosing your move for your initial contact. There are times when you'll be fighting one enemy and another enemy will attack. This is bad. You have, literally, no defense when you fight multiple enemies. The only exception seems to be when you have to use a weapon. Usually by the time you use a weapon it's later in the game and you'll most likely need some way to get the edge on the swarm of baddies heading your way. Keep your attacks fluid and make sure not to miss often, as it will cause you to become aggravated. The A.I. is fairly good. I played the game on the "Normal" setting. There was a slight challenge when I was faced with four or more enemies. Some strategy had to be created to yield positive results. As I said before, trial and error.
Combat isn't the only thing you have to become fluent with. You need to be able to perform at the rate a cheetah runs. Using your agility you need to climb, jump, run, wall-climb, crawl and vault to safety. This becomes increasingly difficult as the game progresses due to the nature of the puzzles. There are very few parts of the game where you won't know where you're going. I can only recall, maybe, a handful of those moments. Be prepared to miss your landing platform from time to time and learn multiple pathways as you fall to the street.
Overall this game could have been better. It could have been way worse, too. I enjoyed it for the most part. Clearly there are issues with the story and, by the end of the game, you're ready to put the controller down and start playing a different game. The ending is bland. It's one of the shortest endings you'll see this year. I can tell you that much. It leaves you wanting more, yet there is nothing. I finished the game in under eight hours and now I'm not sure what to do with it. Maybe time trials? Maybe a race?
(Yes. I borrowed your "Bottom Line.")
-Photos provided by Google.
Comments
First of all great review. i was with you while you played the game and beat it and i agree totaly with everything you said. The ending was a little disapointing you play a game and go threw so much trial and error only to have the ending be so little.
I won't be pickin this one up anytime soon.
I'm happy I didn't buy this!
What!? 7/10 are you crazy?!!? The game deserves at least a 9/10.
Good review, but you focused a lot on the combat. I've only played the demo and seen a bit of the second level, but isn't this game more about evasion than combat? I know you can disarm enemies and use their guns, but aren't you then supposed to basically throw the weapon away and keep running? Correct me if I'm wrong.
Either way, the visuals are sick, and the sense of movement and freedom to interact with the environment is cool and totally unique in the first-person arena, so I'll be picking this one up.
Jackson, hit it right on the money! That's my booooooooooy!!!
Jackson you are right about the combat but at ceartin points in the game it is just about impossible to not use the weapons that you steal from the police when you attack them.
@GamerDude: I would have given it more if I had thought it deserved it. I actually was bouncing between a 7 and and 8 for it.
@Veggie: The reason why I focused on the combat is because once you get to a certain point in the game you get a lot of it in. It's true that the game is also for evasion and tactics, but when you have to kill everyone in the same room as you to even be able to progress through the level, it becomes a combat-oriented game. It becomes more of "Oh, I have to evade these guys to kill them?" instead of having an alternate way of completing a level.
@Marc Well, it is your opinon I would of just gave the game a little more credit.
9 out of 10 for 7 hours of gameplay and no real online fun?? 7 of 10 is just about right.
rental at best
@Voyou: There's online fun, the time trials go farther than most games and give ghost data, letting you race your friends, albeit not in real time. Also, it's very possible for 7 hours to justify a 9, depends on how good the time is. See: Portal.
Though I don't disagree, the trial and errordom of this does drop it below a 9 in my eyes.
i am sorry but time trials and ghost data is not online fun to me. I did not enjoying running for fun in real life, why the heck would i enjoy it in a game? I dont know, i could see time trials being fun for a small amount of time, but then i would be left asking the same thing Q asked me, what they heck do i do now? I am sorry but if after 7 hours, you complete the game and then ask, well what the heck do i do now in the game, then this should have been a rental title.
(bows)
A-thank-a-you! A-thank-a-you!
You spend more time through trial and error form getting from point A to point B and see yourself dying 50 times before you can get to the next destination. The game misjudge your intent move for something else ie: a wall run can be mistaken for a jump and therefore causing you to die more times than need be. Combat system is clumsy and awkward at best and does not work well with total game play. The story is OK enough to get you through the game but not to creative. To top it all it's about a 7 to 8 hrs of game play of 9 chapters and not much replay value. Mirror's Edge is worth a rental and I hope that EA learns form this one for it's sequel.
It's a good thing GameFly is sending it to me now.