First-person parkour doesn't sound like something that would work, but Mirror's Edge pulls it off. Seeing the world through your character's eyes makes her stunts less cinematic, but more immersive, and adds to the thrill of being chased. The game's pristine, brightly-colored environments are stylistically unique and pleasing to the eye, and the almost meditative soundtrack joins them to form an unforgettable experience. The action alternates between platforming sections, where you have to figure out a way to, say, the roof of a building without any temporal constraints, and fast-paced chases, where you have to use your reflexes and spatial awareness to instantly identify escape routes. You will fail a lot, but, thankfully, the checkpoints are pretty closely spaced, so you won't lose a lot of progress. You can also take enemies' weapons from them and shoot your way out of tight spots. This was clearly meant to be optional, and for the most part it is, but unfortunately, it becomes a necessity in the final stages of the game. It's especially annoying because the game was clearly designed with the Xbox controller in mind, and while it is great for parkour, aiming with it is a pain in the arse. On the whole, however, the game is a lot of fun.
The plot sucks. You play as a "runner" - a courier used by various underground groups (because, apparently, entrusting information to someone who is constantly risking death is the safest way to pass it around). Your sister is framed for murder, which, as it turns out, is part of a plan by the city police to end the runner nuisance once and for all. Evidently, I'm supposed to care, but I don't, because the runners are just mercenaries, and their clients, for all I know, are dangerous extremists that the government has every reason to combat. And in the end, you don't even end the threat to the runners, even though you save your sister, which makes me wonder what the point of the whole adventure was.
How is Trial and Error a bad thing in a game? Geez, the gamespot review really... $%#!. Ninja gaiden anyone? That game was fun because it was SO hard. The first prince of persia's were good agility games, the new one ... Read Full Review
The first time i played it, it was great. Seeing through the eyes of Faith, a runner, travelling with her every jump and swing was incredible. All the motions were smooth and the graphics were unbelievably realistic. ... Read Full Review
