via Touch Arcade
A few days ago, EA announced that they’re bringing Mirror’s Edge to the iPhone. At first, I was hoping they were bringing the flash game over, which would have been pretty awesome. Turns out we get the snore-fest pictured above. I could have sworn that the iPhone already had enough dumbed-down versions of decent games. Oh well, what’s one more, right?
I’ve been a little elusive lately, mostly because I’ve been holed up in my “home studio”, aka the guestroom and my home office, recording some songs. I have been taking some breaks from recording with some quick gaming seshes, during which I’ve finished Gears of War 2 and have been plugging away at Mirror’s Edge little by little. Best part of Gears of War 2? Reflective dust particles in the air after opening up an abandoned building. Best part of Mirror’s Edge? Finally feeling comfortable with the controls and looking at everything that stands before you as a challenge and not an obstacle.
Just read a tip-off from Joystiq that GameStop is having a “buy two, get one free” deal on used games and accessories. The code is “BUY2GET1″. What’s nice is that you can buy them online, and there’s a code for free shipping: “SAVER”.
I just bought Mirror’s Edge, Far Cry 2, and Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for $60 total. Not bad, considering that’s how much I would have paid for EACH of them when they first came out.
And Lo! There came a new version of GBC with hi-res images, a poll where readers could cast votes and most importantly… lens flares! Now if you guys can jut start sending me the money I so desperately need, I should be set.
There seems to be a surplus of Faith-based (lol) costumes out there. It makes sense I suppose. After all, Mirror’s Edge was an empowering game for chicks (as mom tells me).
But let’s get down to the nitty gritty, shall we? Go ahead and vote on mademoiselle’s adaptation. And check the gallery for the runners (omg, runners, that’s two! lol) up.
Mark:
The thing that makes Mirror’s Edge remarkable is that like Jessica Alba, it can be so beautiful, but still be so simple at the same time. We’ve talked at great length about the minimalist color schemes, the lack of a large any inventory, and an almost non-existent plot, but nothing beats the feeling of exhilaration that arises when you are at a dead sprint leaping form rooftop to rooftop evading equally skilled enemies on your tail.
Games are all about experiences, and Mirror’s Edge provides an experience different from any other. Unfortunately though, as much as many video game playing types talk about the lack of innovation in today’s games, hardly anybody bought Mirror’s Edge, which was the most innovative game released all year. I hope there is a sequel, and I can’t wait to play it.
91/100
Russ:
I haven’t played the game yet, although I probably will someday. For now, it gets bananas!!
Tyler:
At what point did the Swedish FPS factory D.I.C.E. say to themselves, “Let’s stop making the huge, layered military FPSs we’ve been doing for years and put out a parkour game set in a stark Orwellian future”? It’s sort of a break form the norm, but one that paid off immensely for players. DICE has the rare distinction of being one of the devs that showed a game at E3 that made reviewers anticipate a game that they didn’t even know would be playable for most people. Motion sickness aside, Mirror’s Edge became one of the most acclaimed games of the year.
I thought that Mirror’s Edge was one the best games to look at; that means graphics, art style and gameplay. The way you learn and utilize all of your skills is an experiment in adaptation. In other games you are shooting boxes of bullets at enemies (something most people don’t usually do), but in this game you’re running around, you see your own body interacting as a point of reference and you can infer how far a head start you need, or if you can coil enough to clear the barbed wire. It’s a game that puts you in the character like few do. Awesome….
Looks at that, not one “Faith” pun!
89/100
Wait, what? I just beat this game yesterday and you’re telling me that you already have $10 worth of bonus levels ready to sell in two weeks? Why didn’t you just add them to the game! Admittedly, these levels look spectacular, and I will be begrudgingly buying them but… c’mon EA. I thought you had changed. You had done it, you broke from your usual type of game to do the Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space fare of 2008, and I thought you were really trying. But you weren’t were you? You were just waiting to put the screws to us again.
In closing: Could this content have been put on the disc instead of distributed as DLC? You betcha. Does it have to be $10? Nope, should be $5, max. Is Digital Distribution a double edged sword? Yeppers.
Here’s another snapshot I took from Mirror’s Edge. Apperently, even in the future, janitors lead a lonely, lonely life.
There are few little things like this sprinkled throughout the game, and it adds a really humanistic feel to it. The nameless, lifeless city in which the game takes place is full of primary colors, sharp lines, 90 degree angles, and is generally void of any true life. Much like Portal, it drops little hints like these that remind you that there is real life and emotion beyond the rigid structure you are trying to escape from.
There are also a lot of rats.
Here’s a cryptic screenshot that I lifted from a level is Mirror’s Edge the other night. There’s nothing I saw in the game that has anything to do with November, or any month, for that matter. I thought it may be an inside joke reference to the game’s release, which was in November.
I just thought it was pretty cool.
I picked up this cheever pretty much accidentally while playing a little Mirror’s Edge the other day. I was really surprised to see it in the game. Good surprised, though. Not bad surprised, like when my dad and I used to share a tub of popcorn at the theater when I was a kid. I’ll never be tricked into reaching down to the very bottom while he’s holding it again.
Sorry about the lack of action on Threevue this weekend, everybody. We all spent Saturday and Sunday recovering from our one-year anniversary extravaganza at the Threevue HQ, and if any of us even smelled a keyboard, we would barf. And, although I’m still a little sore from the party, I’m ready to get into a fresh week of gaming.
I did make the mistake of meeting a girl last week, and unfortunately, we started to like each other. This meant that I was forced to do a bunch of lame things, like “go outside,” and “eat food together,” which severely hampered my gaming time*. I did however manage to squeeze out a little Mirror’s Edge, and some Fallout 3, just to get my fix.
How about you guys/gals? Good weekends? Raul, any new Viva Pinatas?
*I’m kidding, of course. Hi, Lindz!
I had a few minutes between school and work today, and instead of doing what I normally do when I have a little free time, I decided to *ahem* jump into Mirror’s Edge for the first time. I only had time to play through the training and the prologue, both of which are the exact same as the demo. It made me think that it would be nice in a case like this, where the game could read that you’ve already played these portions, and will ask you if you would like to skip them. I still would have said “no” and played the levels again, but it would have been a nice gesture.
Playing it again has got me excited to get deeper into it, and hopefully I’ll be in well enough shape to get it going after work tonight. Until then, I’ll just have to keep the Faith (ok, enough Faith bits).
My trip to Gamestop yesterday netted me three brand new and awesome games, of which, due to some trade-ins, only left me about $84 lighter.
I picked up my reserved copy of Mirror’s Edge, which came with the “not-as-sweet-as-I-thought-it-would-be” runner bag, and I got my reserved copy of Call of Duty: World at War as well. Also, I was completely surprised to see that Tom Clancy’s EndWar had arrived, and I couldn’t resist the urge buy it.
So after just barely scratching the surface of Fallout 3 last night, I have these other three, fresh games that I want to play just as much. At least I know I’ll be occupied for a long time to come.
The demo for Mirror’s Edge dropped onto XBLA today, and we laid some fingers on it. Well, thumbs, actually. Our impressions:
Mark:
Beautiful. Beautiful girls doing beautiful gymnastics in a beautiful setting. This is what I thought through the whole demo of Mirror’s Edge. Although I pre-ordered it, I wasn’t entirely sure if I was going to truly enjoy it, but now I can’t wait for November 13, and believe me, I’ll be wearing my free runner-bag proudly.
In my mind, I always related this game to Assassin’s Creed, mostly because of the parkour-style gameplay, but also because it’s something so different right now In this age of shoot ‘em ups, it’s completely refreshing. A huge, almost monochromatic but vibrant city that’s just as major a character as anyone in the game is such a cool backdrop. The controls work well, and most importantly, I feel the game knows what you want to do. It sets you up for success, but doesn’t hand it to you. The little bit of free-running, evading, and fighting/disarming I did was exhilarating, and I can’t wait to explore the rest of the world. Great demo.
In addition to the free messenger bag, pre-ordering the game came with a code to play the “time trial” mode. I don’t have time to play it now, but I’m looking forward to it this afternoon.
Russ:
I don’t like it when 75% of your “demo” is having to play through the tutorial part of the game. That’s more work than play. That being said, the game part of it is pretty fun. The FPS perspective makes for a very crisp and personal experience, and it is pretty fun to vault yourself all over the place. It’s a little hard to figure out where you need to go, but I guess that can also be a testament to how free and limitless the experience is supposed to be.
Also, running around so quickly makes me feel like I’m missing something. Maybe it’s ingrained in my little gaming mind, but I just can’t rush from one spot to the next without feeling like I’m missing out. Overall, it is a unique experience, but basically the same thing as playing Prince of Persia or Assassin’s Creed but in a different view. Unless it has something deeper to it that isn’t seen in the demo, I probably will make this a rental.
Tyler:
Mirror’s Edge looks good. Really, really good. As soon as you push start you are treated to a flash-looking, cel-shaded back story to the game. The animation in crisp, but still… it’s animation. Then the game starts and it looks real. Seriously, real.
Enough about the looks. the game is so smooth it handles like a velvet baby. Movement is tight but with a little bit of sway that compliments the idea of the first person perspective without being dizzying. This is helped by the fact that the layout is fairly easy to pick up and play. The only places I felt a little mired down were where you have to do a reverse wall jump up to the ledge for the first time (which I failed about 8 times) and the part where you jump from one building to the next and must take an enemy out right quick. Turns out didn’t pay attention in the combat portion of the tutorial. My fault.
By the end of the demo I felt completely fluid, though. After repeating the portion 5 or 6 times I got the flow down pretty well and felt damn cool leaping effortlessly around sky scrapper rooftops like a bandit. The parts of the game where you are running from the groups of enemies really rattle you and get the old heart pumping, you get this feeling of ”OH SHIT!, where’s the fucking exit!”. A whole game built around this mechanic seemed questionable only months ago, but now you could say that I have…. faith? (Boo!)
I can not wait for this game. I’m going to play the demo again.
PS – And how about those funny idle animations?
Like Portal did last year, Mirror’s Edge looks to inject a little originality in to the deluge of games coming out that focus on guys with guns. So it’s extra special that the demo hits PS3 and XBLA a little sooner than we all anticipated… ON HALLOWEEN IN FACT!!!
It’s all just too much for me, no really. I haven’t even bought Fallout 3 yet, Dead Space still has to be beaten and I only took down two bosses in Megaman 9. I hate the Christmas rush.
The Liberry at my school has nice computers with fast connections. It’s a place where I can watch fullscreen game videos during lunch in the air conditioning and reclining seats.
So I’m in here today, watching the above video, hosted by Kotaku (their version has way better resolution) and I notice someone behind me watching the video over my shoulder. Usually that would bother me, but this guy was way in to it. I could tell from the clothes, the hair… the gut, this guy played. This was our conversation.
“Dude”
“I know, huh”
(Time passes)
“This shit makes me dizzy”
“Right?”
“When does this come out”
“Dunno”
“Crazy”
Then we watched the second video, both of us, turning and dipping our heads in anticipatory movement of the game’s direction. I’m looking forward to Mirror’s Edge.
Russ Crandall:
Tyler Miller:
Steve McKay:
Giang Cao:
Recent Comments