"Defiy graivty.."
Mirrors Edge
Written by Puzzler.
1st Review.
STORYLINE.
Mirrors Edge is based in a city which is constantly under serveillance, everything is tracked ellectronically in order to crack down on crime within the city. Information has to be tracked from its sender to the reciever, however, to get around this problem a team of 'runners' has been assembled by Merc, an ex runner himself.
You take the role of
Faith Connors a female lead. Runners recieve pieces of physical information and use the rooftops and alleways in order to stay out of sight. As Faith you must uncover the secrets behind the death of Pope and why your sister has been blamed (Kate Connors).
Via a first person view you must make your way through the city using different modes of transport, it isn't just your legs which you use. You start off by learning the basic with a friend of yours, you must learn how to slide under objects, jump over them, grasp on to ledges and do combinations of wall runs to jumps etc.
Once you have passed this level you are free to continue with the story.
GRAPHICS.
EA have done extremely well with their graphics in this game, and alot of time has been spent perfecting even the slightest details. For example, when Faith gains momentum the space around her becomes blared, hit an object hard and she yelp in pain and the speed will gradually slow. Via first person you can only view her hands, if you look around however you will be able to see her feet and legs. A great FP look if I have ever seen one. Colours are nicely built together but I would say that the surrounding environments can get a little harsh on the eyes at some points. It almost have a comic book feel, the cut scenes certainly.
Which brings me on to real time affects; sunlight is very powerful in this game and can affect you. Stand directly in to the suns firing line and your vision will become impared, stand in the shadows and you can see clearly. Falling from a height also gives a buzz, legs and arms push upwards, sight becomes impaired slightly and the noise of air rushing past you all comes in to affect. Very realistic indeed.
I have noticed however that apart from your own character, enemies seem almost square. Obviously EA have taken too much care of creating the main characters than the enemies etc. Look out for the guys in black combat outifts especially.
SOUND/S.
Very impressive I have to say, EA seemed to have taken alot of time in figuring out the sounds as well as the real time affects. For instance when wall running over an object you can hear the scrapping of the shoes against the object you are wall running. Breathing also becomes more shallow as Faith runs for longer distances, however EA have let us down slightly when it comes to weapon noise. It feels as though the same noise is just repeated constantly, no variation, well apart from when a bullet hits an object instead of thing air.
GAME EXTRAS.
Apart from the main storyline you can collect runner bags, these are located randomly within the chapters and can gain you points or trophys (Xbox/PS3). However I did find that finding them on some of the levels does become hard when police are tracking you down after you ran over a building or disarming an officer, its almost impossible to get some of the bags without being quick handed with the controls.
There is no 'online' mode available for the user, however you can race in time trials with the worlds best if you like.
REPLAY VALUE.
You could probably only play this game once, as the storyline is fun after one play through. If you want to get all of the runner bags you may need to play through the game for a second go, however that is up to the player. Slightly poor
PUZZLER'S CONCLUSION.
The stoyline was deffinately unique in many ways but the whole reason why you are continuing on this journey becomes unknown in some of th echapters? The graphics are good in most areas along with the realistic tones of everyday life going on around you; it can be marked down in some areas but the game shouldn't be looked down at by a handful of gamers out there.
Its good.
PROS
- Graphics are of suberb quality, almost realistic if it wasn't for using a controller
- Use of light and surroundings is well used; you can deffinately use many objects and area of buildings when considering how to complete a level.
- Story is unique.
CONS
- The story maybe lengthy in some forms and sometimes the reasons why you are going to these lengths to find and answer is uncertain.
- There is no online mode but you can challenge your friends 'ghosts' in the different time trials. You time will then be saved and you can add that time to the leaderboards if you wish. No too good.
- The bosses aren't exactly what I would deem as challenging.
OVERALL RATINGS.
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 8/10
Replay Value: 4/10
Value: 6/10
Wifi: No
