We've got Faith... do you?

Whose bleedin' bright idea was this eh? Platforming hasn't worked in first-person games since Joseph Turok first fell repeatedly into The Bottomless Pits Of Foggy-Coated Dinosaur Doom on N64, and even with the power of next-gen hardware, there's no reason they should work now. Right?

The Edge of originality

Wrong. With Mirror's Edge, Battlefield developers DICE have proved that, while yes, a behind-the-eyes viewpoint and platforming gameplay are an odd fit, it can be done – and ruddy well, too. You've just gotta have faith...

And funnily enough, Faith is the name of Mirror's Edge's acrobatic heroine. Coincidence? To continue the (rather tenuous) analogy, we'll say not... but regardless, she's a memorable lead for a game which, on the whole, reignites the belief that originality in gaming might not quite be dead after all.

For such a cutting edge game, Mirror's Edge is actually, rather strangely, built on old-fashioned gaming principles. It's platforming is of the sort Mario abandoned long ago – in it's most basic form Mirror's Edge is pretty much straightforward, momentum-driven run-and-jump parkour; get your timing wrong and you'll plummet to your doom. Get it right and it's instantly, acrobatically satisfying free running that would make the Prince of Persia jealous.

The environments themselves are spectacular. Much of Mirror's Edge takes place atop stark white skyscraper rooftops, set beneath a blazing blue sky – and in honesty, that's when Mirror's Edge is at its best. Carving lines between sterile piping and power generators, leaping chasms between buildings, launching yourself clean off fifty foot-high cranes and stretching last-gasp for ledges (and at one point early on, even the landing struts of a hovering helicopter) is both visceral and empowering. But occasionally Mirror's Edge mixes it up, too, with neon-lit underground tunnels, plush building innards and even a fast-moving train. It's never less than breathlessly chic, and effortlessly cool.

Hit n run

Sadly, combat in Mirror's Edge can't claim to be of the same high quality. It's ironic given DICE's FPS roots, but gunplay here feels imprecise and unforgiving. There's precious little of it, however, and the few times you'll find yourself needing to take on enemies you're far more likely to employ slow-mo disarms with a well-timed button press during Runner Vision. Faith also has some swish melee moves on the R trigger which work best at high speed – but for the most part, Mirror's Edge is all about running away from trouble.

And there's such a sense of urgency to it. That's perhaps the standout thing about Mirror's Edge – it feels like gaming's version of a chase film, with perhaps the year's standout sound design. Such is the quality of audio in Mirror's Edge that it creates panic even in the sterile, totalitarian environment; a simple change of pitch and intensity of beat heightening tension and propelling you forward, even before gunfire begins to erupt around you.

As a story, Mirror's Edge is hardly Oscar-winning stuff, but as a context, it works – and twinned with the soundtrack you'll be desperately legging it away from 'the blues', soaring across the cityscape and balletically bob-weaving between bullets on the way to uncovering the conspiracy that has your big sis framed for murder. And when you're done with the plot, you can return for speed runs and time trials, which offset the somewhat short sub-10-hour playtime.

Stylishly must-play

Unflinchingly next-gen to the naked eye but decidedly old-skool in its gameplay, Mirror's Edge has no right to work as well as it does. Short, sometimes frustrating and likely to cause not a small amount of motion sickness, it's still one of the year's mostly empowering, fast-paced and stylishly must-play titles. Faith rewarded.

GAME's Verdict

• Fast-paced, slick and empowering first-person platform play.
• Stylishly sterile visuals.
• Possibly the best, most panic-creating sound design of the gaming year.

• Over far too quickly.
• Surprisingly poor gun combat and a couple of especially infuriating jumpy bits.
  
• Can cause motion sickness - you've been warned!

Review by: Mark 'Sprint N Slide' Scott
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Review Published: 19.11.08

Mark walks the Edge...

It's one of the big trends in modern adventure games to go with an easy-to-pick-up control scheme that makes the experience playable for as many people as possible. Assassin's Creed famously made free-running easy, with main character Altair sprinting, climbing and soaring across rooftops as players simply held the Action button and upwards on the analogue stick. The upcoming Fable II meanwhile will feature simple-sounding one-button combat that has many fans of the first game's fighting system worried. And Mirror's Edge is another one that would appear to be ditching the usual conventions and control complications.

Minimal Edge

But unlike the competition, Mirror's Edge is minimal everything. Gameplay; gameworld; soundscape; the lot – all intensely stylised to offer the cleanest, crispest and most focused package possible. Its first-person pick-up-and-parkour with true next-gen horsepower, and it's shaping up to be something special.

First, the look – in both senses of the word. It's a striking art style that Mirror's Edge boasts – the stark white skyscrapers of Edge City polished to a suitably mirror sheen (hence the name) and the bright blue sky stretching out in the distance, the aesthetic is completely still; sterile, almost – and a world away from the hell-for-hand-grenades grittiness of most modern first-person titles.

And that's the second thing that strikes you about Mirror's Edge; you actually look through your character's eyes. It's nothing new of course – Halo, CoD and the like have been doing it for years – but this is the first time in living memory that a game has opted for a first-person perspective without a gun at the foot of the screen.

Not everybody runs

But then, Mirror's Edge clearly isn't your usual shooter. There's very little shooting in Mirror's Edge at all, actually – with main character Faith favouring running, sliding, jumping, climbing and the occasional martial arts move in her quest to make it through Edge City alive.

Faith, you see, is an information runner, tasked with ferrying sensitive details around a society that may seem utopian, but is actually built on government repression and media censorship. Being a bit of a nonconformist, you start Mirror's Edge in control of Faith away from prying eyes atop one of the game's many skyrise glass towers, which handily serves as an opening tutorial.

As with most first-person titles, Mirror's Edge sees you moving with the left analogue stick and turning with the right stick. But unlike your typical FPS, Mirror's Edge is a game of perpetual motion. Moving forwards slowly builds up speed, with L1 governing upwards moves and L2 the downwards ones, and within minutes you're accelerating across rooftops, vaulting over fences, leaping up ledges, sliding under low-lying obstacles, balancing on pipes (with the help of the SIXAXIS on the PS3 version) and jumping across the chasm from the well-aired video – all the time keeping an eye out for the red-coloured objects that signify Faith's safest route through a level, and occasionally slowing down time to line up your leaps and avoid frustrating falls.

Free-flowing

It's a completely unique premise that sees Mirror's Edge play like a curious combination of Ubisoft's free-flowing Prince of Persia and Bizarre Creation's slick, high-score action game The Club. Controlling Faith is an acrobatic, empowering experience that players of all skill levels will take to with ease – but for hardened gamers there will be the advanced techniques (180 wall-jumps spring to mind), the option to turn the red guide colours off, and the ever-present challenge of finding new routes through levels for the fastest time possible.

There's more to Mirror's Edge than sanitised skyrises too, with a spectacular neon-lit sewer amongst the other areas we've seen. And wherever you go, you'll have the ever-ominous threat of the gun-toting authorities, who Faith will need to disarm with swift and decisive martial arts moves. It's a simple game at heart, then, but Mirror's Edge might prove deceptively deep, stylishly original, and fully deserving of the hype that's gradually building around it.

Preview by: Mark 'Parkour' Scott
Preview Published: 05.09.08