Mirror’s Edge

A Game Review
By Peter Olsen

Mirror’s Edge is an interesting game. Its gameplay style is somewhat similar to a 2D platform game, but in first person 3D. I was excited about this game since its first public showing. Its release was not without problems, though.

The first time I saw demo footage of Mirror’s Edge, someone compared the video to old-style platform running. I agree with that, as much of the game involves you (the player) running and jumping across platforms. However, the addition of the third dimension allows more complexity for the maneuvers you need to do. For example, I remember one section that gave me trouble, where I had to run on top of a narrow ventilation duct, then jump up on the wall, turn 90 degrees, and jump again to reach a higher duct.

Mirror’s Edge was first demoed at E3 2008, which was when I saw the first trailer that immediately got me interested in the game. The trailer showed what was to be the first level of the game, which reminded me somewhat of Portal, with the stark, white environment and a new gameplay element.

The PC release of the game was pushed back several months after the console ports, which irritated me at first. But then the company announced that it was because they were working on making the visual effects better on the PC than the consoles. This satisfied me. But unfortunately, not long before the release, it was discovered that the game would use the SecuROM DRM software and activation limits, which I would never allow for a game I purchase. But as luck would have it, EA started to publish its games, including Mirror’s Edge, on the Steam platform that does not contain SecuROM. So in the end, I was able to get the game after all.

Overall, I enjoyed the game. It was an interesting enough deviation from the normal gameplay style of ‘run run, shoot shoot’. I wonder, what will the sequels (if there are any) do?