Comments on: Mirror’s Edge was a Bit of a Let Down

By: Andrzej Ka?a

Andrzej Ka?a — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:41:16 +0000

I've finished ME few days ago and I fully agree with your post. I had very high expectations, and ME didn't deliver even halfway.

It's just another game that had a great, fresh idea, but got fucked up by clunky controls and awful combat mechanics.

Storyline? What storyline? Meh.

By: Tynan

Tynan — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:34:55 +0000

I thought the game was really well done, but with a few flaws. I played through it twice. One time I played through on normal without firing a shot, and second time I played through allowing the use of weapons. The first play through was the hardest. There were quite a few scenes where I would die over and over again by being knocked out by an enemy. It ended up being that I would have to disarm an enemy or knock him out, and then find cover for a while until I could take the next one out. Taking on more than one was almost impossible unless I had the first one done with a disarm. Other than the story being a bit boring, it was still a fun play through. I also couldn't recommend buying it, but even on my first play through, my friends and girlfriend were amazed at how it seemed like I knew what I was doing. I was running the levels pretty much continuously. There were only a few areas where I had to stop at first to get an idea of my surroundings. The second play through on hard added a bit more time due to the fact that I lost my runner's vision, but I still had a general idea based off my first play. It's a good game, but a bit short, and a bit lacking in certain areas. I hope they make a second that maybe expands on the idea, or adds in some cool runner racing multiplayer. I think it would be so cool to have randomly generated race levels with multiple paths. It would be a completely different multiplayer game than any that we currently have.

I also wanted to mention controls. At first, I sucked at them. I constantly threw myself over edges and would flip around and confuse myself. After I got the hang of it though, it almost felt like second nature. I could run off walls, jump to an adjacent wall, jump again back to another wall, etc without stopping to think. It reminded me of Bionic Commando Rearmed. I was horrible at first, and then soon enough I was swinging with ease.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:11:28 +0000

It's not often I'll steer people away from a game completely, but in cases like this where disappointment is imminent, I'm going to start doing just that. It's just such a drag to get into something that appears to be one thing, and turns out to be another, much more sucky… thing.

It also has a lot to do with timing. If it were Spring, my view on this game would likely be entirely different. I probably would have finished it too, since there wouldn't be much else competing for my gaming time.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:08:19 +0000

I assumed it was only going to get heavier on the gun-play, which is why I decided to just pack it in. Truly a shame, as I had high hopes for this game after enjoying the demo.

I almost think they should have taken a similar approach to what Valve did with Portal. They came up with a great new gameplay mechanic, and essentially delivered a tech demo.

By: Michael Heilemann

Michael Heilemann — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 12:32:40 +0000

I generally agree with you there Matt, though I think it's a bit harsh to not even recommend it for renting. The first 6 levels are alright I think. After you meet the ixnay-on-teh-spoiler-enemies, it goes downhill fast, and it's more frustrating than fun, which isn't really a great angle for a game.

I guess they were too busy getting it done in time to play through and look for difficulty spikes.

Too bad, because they do do some pretty cool stuff, which I think is worth the price of renting.

I of course borrowed it from a friend

By: Luke L

Luke L — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:44:43 +0000

I completed the game in about 6 hours and that's my only complaint; it's too short. The combat gets a lot heavier (especially in the last mission, good thing you didn't carry on playing), but there's normally a much easier way around enemies that avoids shooting. The first person perspective is both equal parts great and frustrating as you point out, but I think it's as much a part of the overall game as the visuals. And once you have replayed a level and know where to turn, then the real fun kicks in with the speed runs and time trials!

I just wanted to provide an opposing viewpoint to anyone reading this. I've found your reviews spot on 99% of the time, but I guess this is just one of those unusual cases.