Mirror’s Edge Offers Unique Gaming Experience

We’ve talked a little bit about Mirror’s Edge in our news in the past, but it wasn’t until the other night that I was finally able to sit down and see what the game was all about. Well, actually, it was more like sitting down and finding a level we could use for benchmarking, because that was the ultimate goal. But I did manage to see what the game was all about.

Mirror’s Edge, for the unaware, is a first-person adventure game that might look like a shooter, but isn’t. In fact, this game seems to have a much higher focus on puzzle-solving, or simply finding your way through a level, than getting rid of people who get in your way. The gameplay is based around parkour, a cool sport that really tests ones own abilities. The difference in Mirror’s Edge, though, is that you can practice it from the safety of your own home!

I wasn’t sure what to think when jumping (no pun) into the game for the first time, but I have to say, I’m actually quite impressed. First, the game is quite fluid. Before you know it, you’ll be hopping over fences, running up walls, jumping from pipe to pipe, like it’s nothing. That might sound a little bit boring, but it’s surprisingly a great deal of fun. In this regard, the game is a lot more “free” than other first person games.

Picture for example, in Half-Life 2, seeing a tall building and knowing you can get up there without the noclip cheat code. In Mirror’s Edge, there’s a good chance that you can get on most buildings. You just need to know how to properly scale them, and that’s half of the fun. Finding yourself on top of a building two minutes after being on the road is simply cool, and the style of gameplay is definitely refreshing.

When all said and done, I’ve only played the game through bits and pieces of a few different levels, but so far I’m enjoying the game enough to want to dedicate time sometime soon to actually play through it. From what I read around the web, it can be quite frustrating at some points, so I’m sure that’s something that would bug me as well, but the gameplay is just too unique to ignore the game for. If I do manage to dedicate time soon to playing it, I’ll post more about it. I’d also like to take a look at things from a PhysX perspective as well, since this is the game NVIDIA is pushing so hard around that technology.