Posted By: Ryan Murtha Posted On: 05/30/08 (Viewed 2143 times)
Mirror's Edge
Published By: EA Games Developed By: EA DICE Release Date: TBA 2008 Genre: Modern First Person Shooter Players: TBA ESRB Rating: RP more product info »
In the future, information is not something you can access so easily. At least, that’s what EA DICE’s Mirror’s Edge would have you believe. If you have some vital info to pass around, you must rely on a “runner”, someone who will get your message to where it needs to be without some nosey authority folk sticking their nose in your business. Man, whatever happened to the internet?
In Mirror’s Edge, you play the role of Faith, a runner who faces a heartbreak not uncommon to video game characters: the abduction of a loved one, in this case, her sister. But there’s a bigger plot involved here as well, something that involves the entire city where the game takes place, and all the other runners therein. Runners, by the way, aren’t just your typical everyday courier. They tend to be quick on their feet, agile, and quite fond of acrobatics, much like the guys you see in all those “parkour” videos on Youtube. As you might’ve already guessed, that’s the big play mechanic in Mirror’s Edge. Jumping from building to building, wall-running, and all other manner of fancy footwork are the order of the day, and it’s all supposed to be very easy to pull off - the analog sticks and two buttons control pretty much everything. And all those moves you can pull off are open to you from the outset, but the game won’t drop you into too sticky a situation right off the bat. You’ll start the game in a part of the city where you can advance through using just acrobatic fundamentals, and as you go, the more complex stuff comes into play. It’s all about freedom, and who else can make freedom all the more sweet but “the man”? Police and/or security guards appear to be your biggest threat, aside from potentially plummeting to your doom. You can stick it to said man with melee combat, without which no action game is complete. Besides your typical kicking and hand-to-hand (which can be changed up depending on your position and speed going into battle), you can also disarm enemies and even use their weapons for yourself. However, Faith may not be able to perform her usual tricks with a weapon equipped, as some weapons have different properties and weigh more or less.
Visually, ME looks impressive. As you bound across the cityscape, the main thing you notice is, well, yourself. It’s uncommon in first-person games to see much of yourself other than only your hands holding your gun. Here, you can see Faith’s arms reach out and grab ledges or they reach up to hold on to cables when you zip-line across a massive gap. Her legs and arms flail when in mid-air after a big jump, and you can see her feet carefully tip-toeing across thin pipelines (or meeting the face of an enemy). All this activity works up quite a sweat too, as you can imagine, and you can hear Faith panting heavily as she runs amok. The buildings look great too – windows have a realistic-looking shine to them and the roofs have ventilation ducts and air conditioning fans covered by grates, all realized by the power of the Unreal Engine. ME is also one of the lucky first few games to be using Illuminate Labs’ Beäst LiquidLight tech to power is lighting and shadowing effects.
If this all sounds like a hoot and a half, you won’t have to wait long; ME is slated for a mid-June release date. In the meantime, why not brush up on your parkour skills? Just try not to fall and break your neck...Actually, a better idea would be to just sit tight and wait.
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