E3 08 Hands-On Preview: Mirror’s Edge
Mirror’s Edge was easily one of the most highly profiled games by EA at this year’s E3, and it rightly deserved to be.
First-person action that plays like a third-person game, Mirror’s Edge is played through the eyes of Faith, the game’s beautiful heroin and a runner, who’s in charge of relaying important information from one party to another without be caught by the “po-po”, or the law enforcement for those who aren’t familiar with street slang.
The level that was shown at the EA press conference, and in Sony’s demo room, was a massive and brightly lit realistic city setting, in which you were mainly jumping from one rooftop to another (ninja-style), trying to keep your momentum going as best as you could.
Speaking of momentum, the game is all about moving quickly, hence Faith being labeled as a “runner’. The quicker you finish the level, the more rewards you’ll be given, but no details on what type of rewards just yet. There’s also a reaction time button that slows things down in the game for more precise actions and movements, complete with blur effects adding to realism.
There were also some other obstacles like cat-walking a pole using the left analog stick to keep your balance (I actually fell off here and had to start the demo over) and even a time where you had to run against a wall (Prince of Persia style) and jump across to the next platform.
The controls of the game were pretty easy to learn. Since there isn’t a sprint button, you just run with the left analog stick and the longer you hold it, the more momentum and speed you get. There was a button to slide and roll, and another to grab on ledges. The controls were responsive and intuitive, but still it took some time to get use the whole 1st-person view and really know exactly where the ledge was and when to jump off.
Sadly, I didn’t get to actually play any part of the demo in which combat was involved, but I did see some action. I noticed when you use your reaction time to slow things up when in a scuffle with an enemy, the bad guy’s gun turned red, notifying you that you could grab if from them and use it as your own. But be careful, because you’ll only have what ammunition is left in the gun. No bullets or ammo laying around in this game.
One of the neatest features in the game is the Runner Vision, which color codes specific areas of the level as a means of revealing paths to the next area. All levels are said to have multiple routes to advance, but some are faster than others.
The game has no HUD, no health meter, but just a dot in the middle of the screen just for focusing and centering purposes, but which can actually be turned off. And when you’re damaged, the screen will turn red like a lot of other games these days. All you ever see on the screen is the action of the game — mainly your arms moving back and forth while you run or your legs when you take a huge jump.
Mirror’s Edge is really looking to be one of the highlights of the fall, with extremely beautiful visuals, intuitive controls, and just a completely different kind of action game. Gamers should watch out for Mirror’s Edge this October when it hits the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
