Mirror's Edge: An Exercise In Innovation

I recognize that by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed Mirror's Edge, with few issues and exceptions, I am somewhat in the minority. Few individuals extensively trashed it, but...well, hmm...as much as I hate to use numbers and other quantifiable methods for something I'd otherwise deem unquantifiable, most people probably ranked this game between 70 and 80 percent. I'd probably put it around 90%, right around my stance on Mass Effect. Above all, the game's length and "trial-and-error" play style are slightly problematic, but we'll touch on these later on.

Let us begin with the story, something mostly uninteresting and only lending the gameplay a flimsy mechanic to work with. You're a Runner named Faith, an individual tasked with carrying messages and transmissions across the rooftops of a totalitarian state, where all other forms of communication (radio, satellite, television) are heavily monitored to the extent that we've found ourselves in a situation comporable to a modern day reenactment of Marathon. As with carrier pigeons, often the oldest technology proves to be the most reliable. As with most games involving a totalitarian state (not including, say, Overlord...and I'm still waiting for the video game of 1984) runners are involved with the "underdog" movement, carrying messages for the opposition, in favor of a mayoral candidate that promises to bring change.

The story is so boring, or, perhaps insignificant, that let's just call this individual "Harvey Dent." As one might suppose, Harvey's attempt to bring "power to the people" isn't about to go unopposed. To save another five to ten minutes of boring exposition, there's a couple people in the police dept that support this candidate, under one of which Faith's sister works. Guess what? In the vein of most video games, the Princess/Pe'j/the President's daughter Ashley/ your sister is captured.

And guess what? Now the whole issue is "personal." Surprise, surprise. And you'll spend the remainder of the game attempting to clear her name.

What you will care about is the gameplay and the lovely aesthetics that Mirror's Edge has to offer. For those who like to read reviews of products of which they have next to no previous knowledge about the product being evaluated, Mirror's Edge is a first-person title that *gasp* isn't a shooter. In fact, it's...*drum roll* a platformer!!! Granted, this idea is not utterly foreign, one only needs to look at the majority of FPSs that have offered some mild platforming sequences to see that it has been done before. However, this is usually the ubiquitious criticism found in all these titles, not only the creation of the platforming elements, but the refusal to revert to third-person when confronting them.

So...effectively...Mirror's Edge is the full-fledged effort to create an entire game centered around a genre/niche/perspective that has often been the game development "kryptonite" of other titles. A comporable equivalent would be a game that is made up of one giant "fetch-quest" (this is not to say that such a feat has not been attempted several times). To say Mirror's Edge is basic platforming however, would be to make the same claim of the wonderful Prince of Persia series...a generalized mistake. Specifically, the game hones in on the parkour scene, or "freerunning" as it is otherwise known. This involves flips, jumps, leaps, and other acrobatics strung together, and usually performed in an urban setting where one has props (bars, building edges, etc...) to interact with.

The core elements to success in Mirror's Edge are accuracy and momentum...closely followed by balance. One must smoothly chain together sliding under water pipes, jumping onto adjacent ledges, and climbing poles in such a fashion that one hardly finds oneself coming to a "dead halt." Indeed, most of the games actions and elements cannot be approached without some degree of built-up speed or momentum. Indeed, the moments where one can stop and grasp a feel of one's surroundings are few and far in between. Linger too long at many moments, and you'll give the mounting police forces something to put in their sights. The only instances where this isn't the case are the blatantly puzzle sequences that depart outright from the free-running sequences. Sometimes you'll be tasked with a semi-puzzling sequence while on the run, and at said points, expect to die...a lot. Sometimes this will result from haphazard leaps of...pardon the pun...Faith, while others will involve a slew of bullets being hefted in your direction.

While there are few enjoyable feelings as great as expertly navigating a course on time trial mode, the antithesis can be said of one's first play through an area. Trial and Error, the "plug-and-chug" twins of slovenly gameplay are ever-present in Mirror's Edge. Many times you'll approach a jump with absolutely no idea of the outcome, reassured only by the "Runner vision" highlighted in bright red. However, this tends to show up less and less toward the latter levels, as the developers assume you can pick out the items (ramps, pipes, climbable fences) from the remaining inconsequential set pieces. Occasionally you'll be asked to "get creative" when dealing with a *SPOILERS* train and a helicoptor *SPOILERS DONE* but otherwise, expect to stick to your bag of tricks.

Aesthetically, D.I.C.E.'s skyrise platformer is equally technically proficient as well as artistically inspired. Character models are slightly less detailed than the environments, but considering that you'll spend of the time with people chasing after you, this is inconsequential. Most of the face-to-face interactions are handled in the cutscenes, which will be discussed briefly. The first person view is expertly accompanied by vision blurring and depth of field effects that only heighten the feeling that you are truly seeing things through Faith's own eyes. You'll spend a lot of time staring at her hands and feet, so these are well detailed. However, it is the artistic style utilized that really shines. All surfaces are either excessively shiny, reflective, and clean, or painted a solid and bright color. Effectively, it's a town of shiny windows, and whitewashed clean buildings, occasionally highlighted by blocks of neon shades. It's what every totalitarian/seeming utopia should look like. Crisp. Clean. And doused in red wherever you're suppose to interact in the interest of subverting it. If you want avoid a coup, (facist dictators take heed) don't allow anything to be painted red. It will ultimately be your undoing.

The voice acting is functional, but not stand-out, and the sound effects are sparse, but perfectly capture the moves and pacing and momentum of Faith. The soundtrack, however, is probably the best of the year, and a likely contender for the best soundtrack in a game ever. It is ambient wonderfulness at its best, which picks up to a buzzing Electronica pace when confronted with a...time-sensitive or combat oriented scenario.

Overall, Mirror's Edge is an attempt at innovation, and while this should not force us to give it a "pity grade curve," perhaps one should recognize these risks taken to achieve the positive aspects, the newfound ideas that Mirror's Edge manages to pull off well. After all, if we cannot promote innovation at the outset of a franchise, no matter how infantile or imperfect it may be, it'll never live to see itself fine tuned.