Mirror's Edge - PAX Writeup

There was a pretty sizeable queue for Mirror's Edge at all time during PAX, but I was lucky enough to catch it as they were rebooting one of the systems, so didn't have to wait long.

Holy crap that game is good.

It is a mostly linear action platformer played from a first person perspective, with parkour gameplay.

It's visually stunning, with incredible lighting and colouring that really goes against the trend of most games these days. It's set in a very clean dystopia where communication is restricted, and you play a "runner" distributing sensitive packages.

As interesting a backdrop for the action that is, the real meat here is the action. It plays exactly like it looks, the controls are tight and responsive, and it is a lot of fun to play around in. It's linear in that there is, from what I have played, one single correct path, but there are branches around this path, like according to the bloke demoing it, there are 4 ways to get from one specific building to another.

Since I have watched the same gameplay videos we have all seen in the months since it's announcement, I tried to experiment a bit more when I had the chance to play it. There are two moments when, in what looks like a set piece that you have to flee from, SWAT team looking guys swarm you, and you are encouraged to run away, I thought I would see what would happen if I took them on instead. I was able to kill all of the guys. It is harder, but entirely possible.

I managed to pull off some awesome stuff just by trying things I'd not seen anyone else try, and there was a chorus of audible gasps from the crowd whenever I did pull off something extra cool, and that's not me being good with it, it's just the type of game where in normal gameplay, a host of really impressive things happen.

My personal pick for game of the show. Hats of DICE, roll on November.

Mirror's Edge, Xbox 360 - £37.99 delivered
Mirror's Edge, PS3 - £37.99 delivered
Mirror's Edge, PC - £21.99 delivered