DICE jumps head first and pulls us along for the ride as they attempt to reinvent the first person perspective.
Much of this is down to how new everything about the game feels. A lot is made of the so called "first steps" moment in certain games-your first steps onto Hyrule Field or the first steps out of the sewers in Oblivion, but never has it actually been the steps themselves that make these moments. Actually moving in Mirrors Edge has a learning curve and almost immediately you notice the subtleties that every other first person game lacks: the simple head bobble with every motion, the necessity to accelerate into a run rather than immediately speed into it, the sight of Faith's arms and legs when sliding, climbing and even when moving or simply looking around, the perfect motion blur-not just while turning but through sprinting as well. These are necessities in a game like Mirrors Edge because moving is what its game design pivots on. It would be hard to make a game about simply running around with the movement system in Halo because the contextualisation with the environment (the auto grabbing, the shimmying) and more importantly the flow and progression of movement is simply not there.
Perhaps what is most overlooked about Mirrors Edge is a feature that is so haphazardly dealt with in every other game in the genre. Not since Metroid Prime has a game so perfectly nailed first person platforming and it is for the same reasons as Metroid Prime-the momentum, the sense of weight, the immersion of the interface that it does so. Mirrors Edge's placement of the jump button on the left bumper is a brave decision, but one that thankfully frees up the right stick for synchronisation. It's a pleasure to see a first person game move away from such stagnated traditions (right trigger may still be for attack but the left trigger for crouch?!) and it's a focused and carefully judged control scheme that emphasises viewpoint more than actions.
And it is these features that Mirrors Edge requires most. The rooftop runs needing the B buttons focus in the direction of your target, the right bumpers 180° twist to not only allow for wall jumps and bar rotations but also to allow or a quick twist due to a slow, albeit necessarily slow sensitivity and the X buttons slow motion ability to allow those with a partiality for continuity to keep their momentum while judging the best route available. Jumping, sliding, wall kicking and wall running are your means of progression however and your ability to string them all together without a slow down of your momentum in any of them results in chases that can be as varied as you want without compromise. Even falling can be strung into the flow with a correctly placed L trigger squeeze resulting in either a roll or a slide on landing.
It is in these rooftop chases that Mirrors Edge delivers its best moments. The runs themselves are outstanding and the variations that can occur-be it through focal landmarks, chasing down targets or even being chased yourself-results in moments you wish would last longer. Sadly, after liberating beginnings Mirrors Edge increasingly sets you in ever larger enclosed spaces- the Portal like environment negotiation more akin to a puzzler than a platformer. Though Portal in design (and surprisingly in incidental humour) in focus the game is always about the free running so such sections become claustrophobic due to frustration. Even Faith herself seems irritable; her fleet footsteps and constant acceleration better suited to free flowing avoidance rather than stop-start progression. The fact that these sections take so much longer to actually figure out let alone accomplish mean that they seem to occur far more frequently than the parkour jogs.
Tied between the two are combat sections. With your role in the game as a courier you are advised to flee from all adversaries and it is indeed a far more satisfying and liberating feel to do so. Should you choose (or be forced as the game progressively loves to) to engage in combat then you can apply a basic selection of punches and kicks. It's a smooth enough system and the ability to punch on the run gives you the welcome chance to stun but you are still vulnerable to combatants who are all armed with guns. This forces you to approach combat differently because the old methods of either gung ho charging or from a distance point shooting are impossible. As your enemies almost always come in groups it is necessary to hide or dart around to try and draw out and isolate enemies so you can get the jump on them. It's a different approach and one that only feels half as satisfying thanks to some mediocre AI, but kill or disarm (with a finely timed button press) your enemy and you can obtain a firearm to level the playing field.
Gunplay is relatively disappointing in Mirrors Edge though. While it is again refreshing to see the absence of an iron sights viewpoint as well as even an aiming reticule, the general implementation is mournfully by-the-numbers. While shooting has never been its focus one of the main hypes about the game was how its viewpoint would change the first person shooter. Many of Mirrors Edge's features become lost when holding a gun and your jump distance and sprint peak weirdly fall down to the levels of Master Chief. It's a nice touch how heavier weapons affect your movement and abilities more than pistols as well as how weapons are both single use and feature no ammo counter, but these are half steps that really needed to be fully addressed if some of Mirrors Edge's greatest innovations were to gain influence.
For all of these supposed innovations however Mirrors Edge features a selection of bizarrely archaic game staples. The baffling inclusion of exploding barrels makes little sense given the cleanliness of the environment presented and their potential gameplay benefit is simply non-existent in a game that otherwise discourages gunplay. Inexplicably Mirrors Edge also features valve puzzles in what is surely the most ridiculous design choice in recent times. Their only potential benefit to a game about constant movement is allowing the game to load seamlessly; a concept which again proves to be unfounded thanks to Mirrors Edge's at times horribly placed mid-level loads.
Even with all these hesitations Mirrors Edge's single player is still a brisk but exciting thrill ride and much of it still has to do with how invigorating the running sequences are. For those looking to go beyond Mirrors Edge's short 8 hour campaign a time trial mode is available allowing you to race through the fastest sections of the game. As a substitute for actual multiplayer it's pretty limiting. The actual online competition for best times is now more down to refinement than experimentation, as the maps stark layout lead to rather obvious shortcuts. Those with a slightly grander aim can speed run entire levels on completion, but don't expect it to reach the popularity of Quake or Metroid any time soon. While the single player is short, the hidden bags and pull to go without firing a gun for the entire game ("Test of Faith" achievement) will please completionists and a fairly accommodating hard mode is available for those who want to dabble in Mirror's Edge's utopia just that little bit longer.
And linger you may want to. After you get over the initial disbelief that the Unreal Engine can produce something other than brown you can't help but marvel at the clinical tautness of the world on offer. It's as functional as it is stylish (a rare thing indeed) as its cerulean skyline and clearly defined structures allow for easy navigation. Even inside the game is striking; with distinct colour duets uniquely accompanying each interior and Mirrors Edge can join the group Eternal Sonata formed of having sewers that are as clean as its outside world. An almost arrogantly stylish piece of design comes in the form of Runner Vision; a for-your-eyes-in-their-mind feature that presents all potentially useful objects in a stark red. It's optional for those with a panache for going solo but it acts as a visual pleasantry as much as anything, particularly in the rooftop sections that can look rather bland with only cool whites and blues in the majority. In keeping with the flavour, but not achieving quite such successful results is Mirrors Edge's stark and abstract use of lighting. While this static lighting is well produced, in the deepest areas of the city the lighting team have only placed lights around where you need to go, resulting in periods of almost total darkness as you slowly rotate around looking for a glimmer of light. Turn runner vision off and it becomes horrific as none of the pipes or beams (that were once coated in red) are even noticeable. Fortunately, such ill feeling can be catered thanks to Mirrors Edge's cool, ambient soundtrack. It all seems to be based around the made famous "Still Alive" track that sadly only appears for the credits.
With the uniqueness of the world on offer it is immensely disappointing to witness a story that only barely scratches its surface. Instead of focusing on the wider themes of the city and its restrictions Mirrors Edge opts for a conspiracy clad tale that involves the protagonist's sister as a kind of emotional pull. The trouble is that you have no real connection to main character Faith; the cartoon style cutscenes clash with the games natural presentation of her and it simply adds to the numerous visages we have of the character on box arts, packaging and trailers. What's more the story is simply overly formulaic-with deaths, betrayals and twists making it obvious that there was no other way the story was actually going to get you excited. What is perhaps key to the story's failure is that the route you take to get to each point is simply far more entertaining than the story points themselves. It provides a strong contrast to linear JRPG's like Eternal Sonata where the journey to each plot point is simply a dungeon trawl that makes you want the story all the more.
For all its faults, all its disappointments and all its incongruence's Mirrors Edge is an achievement like no other. Its seamless integration of platforming and lone racing give it an almost delicious balance between Mario and Sonic that no platformer, let alone one in 3D and in first person has ever accomplished. Truth be told, if this were set in 3rd person it would not receive nearly as much praise. It's a stripped out experience that focuses solely on the platforming (even when it is at its darkest) but it's such an involving and immersive stripped out experience that it becomes fully fledged through intimacy. And for all its numerous gripes, in reality they are secondary to a core design that is simply evolutionary, albeit not revolutionary to the perspective. It may break a few mirrors in the process, but on final reflection it achieved what we thought was impossible and is a true example of how risk can lead to a worthy reward.