Mirror's Edge | 
 enlarge
| From: Electronic Arts
Category: Video Games
List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $44.00
You Save: $15.99 (27%)
New (18) Used (3) from $48.99
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 257
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: shooter_action_games
ESRB: Teen
Media: Video Game
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Operating System: Xbox 360
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0.1 x 0
MPN: 15612
Model: 014633156126
UPC: 014633156126
EAN: 0014633156126
ASIN: B00149PCAO
Release Date: November 11, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
| |
| Features:
| • | Heroes Emerge - A young woman without a home until she is taken in and trained by the Runners. | | • | Your incredible gifts allow you to swiftly navigate the city while eluding those who would try to stop you. | | • | Go Vertigo - Heights create vertigo, movements flow naturally, collisions are felt realistically, and muscles and tendons strain as you chase and are chased throughout the city. | | • | Slip off the Edge - Perform amazing acrobatic moves from below street level, through buildings, and up to the dizzying heights of hyper real skyscrapers as you face off against your enemies or run for your life. | | • | Unrivaled Immersion - An exciting mix of chase, intense combat, strategy and puzzles draw you into a world like never before. |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Imagine a world where communication channels are highly monitored and the movement of human traffic is closely watched. Mirror's Edge introduces you to Faith, a "runner" in this world. When Faith's sister gets framed for a murder she did not commit, Faith finds herself on the edge of the city, on the wrong side of the law. Mirror's Edge delivers you straight into the shoes of this modern day heroine as she traverses the vertigo-inducing cityscape, engaging in intense combat, fast-paced chases and challenging puzzles. With a never-before-seen sense of movement and perspective, you are drawn into Faith's world.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Mirror's Edge: Holding On By Its Fingertips December 1, 2008
J. M. Zoshak (SE PA, USA)
Two-and-a-half stars out of five.
Mirror's Edge, from EA DICE, is as far as I know video gaming's first foray into the world of parkour. It executes the subject admirably. The innovative engine it uses to simulate running along rooftops and jumping from foothold to handhold to foothold is excellent; neither so difficult that it quickly becomes frustrating nor so forgiving that the player does not feel like he is working hard for every meter of ground. I frequently found myself holding my breath during particularly challenging leaps. The parkour portion of Mirror's Edge could be a game in itself. In fact, it probably should have been.
I bought Mirror's Edge despite warnings that it contained SWAT teams because I assumed that, as one friend described it, the enemies would be there to discourage slowing down. An important part of parkour is the speed with which one travels from point A to point B, and in a game with a plot that has nothing to do with the sport of parkour, there should be something in place to create a sense of urgency. I do not have a thematic objection to the presence of enemies in the game. Indeed, there are many ways that the police in Mirror's Edge could have been utilized well to encourage constant movement, and on rare occasion the game does hit on one or two of them. Unfortunately, the developers do not seem to have recognized their value, and instead incorporate enemies as an unpredictable and frustrating element of their puzzle construction.
In fact, despite the game's early warnings that hostiles should be avoided rather than fought, Mirror's Edge is constantly putting the player in situations where direct confrontration, if not conflict, is required by the environment. The player's radio contact repeatedly warns her to "be ready for a fight" from about the third chapter on. Police appear directly in the path of the player without explanation, even when that path involves overcoming considerable inaccessibility. And these are not the blue-uniformed pistol-bearing cops of the downloadable free demo. These are armored men carrying assault shotguns and rifles, and in some cases 50-caliber machine guns. If there is one message I want to express clearly in this review, it is this: the police are everywhere in this game. Expect the majority of this game to be parkour, but parkour under automatic weapons fire.
Even this could be forgiven, despite the fact that they are armed in this fashion to deal with the threat of a single woman armed only with her speed, if the police had good code governing them. But they do not. There is no stealth system in Mirror's Edge. Enemies become aware of the player when they are activated, regardless of the player's actions or concealment. And once they are aware of the player, they never lose track of her, no matter how insane or hidden her movements. The player will never step out of cover in Mirror's Edge and not be greeted by a hail of bullets. The police can and do track the player around corners and through solid objects.
In many cases, the police do not spawn until the player has wasted too much time in a single area, but this is not universally the case, and there are a few locations in the game that contain enemies from the start and require the player to perform a time-consuming task while there, outside of cover and essentially stationary. The game never explicitly requires combat, but when climbing a pipe or opening a hatch takes two or three seconds, and the pipe or hatch are not protected, failing to deal with the armed men beforehand has predictable results.
In the end, what makes the combat in Mirror's Edge a failure is not its inclusion but its execution. It would have been a simple matter to always have the police in a pursuit role, or if that became too contrived or difficult, to make the player significantly more vulnerable to gunfire while stationary and significantly less vulnerable while moving. Instead, the enemies are often directly in the players' path, and gunfire is extremely erratic, to the extent that the player can make a run under fire without taking a single bullet that on a previous attempt resulted in her being gunned down instantly - and vice versa. If a designer is going to use gunfire in puzzle design, their algorithms for accuracy simply have to be more reliable than that. The demo could be beaten without taking a single bullet by making no more than two well-aimed slide kicks. If the whole game had played like that, this would have been a very different review.
The only thing keeping Mirror's Edge from being a two-star game, despite the excellent parkour engine, is the time trial mode. These are genuinely fun rehashes of the parkour in the game's story mode, often with some changes to the required route to keep things interesting. Unfortunately, in order to unlock these, you have to first beat the story mode of the game. The speedrun mode of the game is just the story mode with a timer attached, and adds no real value. Hopefully, if DICE produces a sequel, they will make the time trials available from the start and will also do something to eliminate or at least reduce the ubiquitous combat content from the original. Mirror's Edge is not the game it should have been.
The final encounter of Mirror's Edge is a short, entertaining boss fight that does not involve combat (only about half the "boss fights" in the game don't), but rather quick and skillful use of parkour abilities. I successfully executed the required maneuver first try and happily watched the villain receive his comeuppance, only to then immediately succumb to the numerous high-powered gunshot wounds to my back. The experience defines Mirror's Edge pretty well, in my mind - a good game ruined by poorly designed content that was irrelevant to begin with.
[...]
 Back to the old jump & run days November 27, 2008
Markus Egger (Spring, TX United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really really want to like this game. Badly. But frankly, I don't.
I was really looking forward to this game, it's ideas, concepts, graphical design, gameplay in a very vertical city. But it just doesn't work out like it should have.
I like the general idea of doing this in first person, and it certainly is the best first person jump & run game I've ever seen. What they did with that is really amazing. But you know what? Once this aspect wears off and you get over that they made a mechanic work that isn't supposed to work, you realize that even though the jumping aspects work well for a first person game, they are horrible compared to a third person approach. Too many times do you fall to your death because you can't tell whether you could make a jump or not and where to jump off. Are you at the edge yet? No idea unless you stop and look down at your feet, which is something you can't generally do as the game is all about momentum.
The first person perspective also means that you can't see all the awesome stuff you supposedly do. I would really like to see Faith (your character) do all this amazing stuff, but all you can see is the world slide by.
The graphics are nice. It's a really unique artistic touch. But it also wears off, and eventually, you are just in a much less realistic looking city than you should be in this day and age. At times, you even get the impression this could be a title for the old xbox. (And I explicitly use the word "impression", because I realize this wouldn't have worked on the xbox, but the art style makes it rather hard for the developers to impress you, since it is too comicy at times).
I was also disappointed that I never really got all that much of a sense of verticality. Sure, you go up and down or climb up on pipes the side of buildings, but too often, you are just on the rooftops which seem to form a new "bottom". Everything is very linear. Since you do not have the choice to go elsewhere (down in particular), it doesn't matter much that you are on roofs.
The real problem with this game is that it isn't fun. It is all trial and error and not often did I get a sense of achievement. At the end of a level you are relieved you did it, but not satisfied. Things just don't often flow well. It is like a throw-back into the old days of jump & run with pixel-perfect jumps you have no way to time. You fall to your death a lot or get shot all the time. Never do you get a sense of "holy moly this was an incredible thing I just pulled off with ease" like you do when you play Prince of Persia (for instance), a relatively old offering at this point.
This is a real bummer. First disappointment of the year. Not a bad game. It is still quite unique. But not the stellar experience I had hoped for.
 Memorable and flawed November 25, 2008
KarKrash81 (Indiana)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is one of those rare games which manages to create a strong sense of amazement and utter frustration simultaneously.
The game is vivid, exhilarating, and identifiably unique. Yes, there have been many platforming games, yet none are portrayed in a first person perspective. The controls are simple and responsive and when you manage to pull of a chain of impressive maneuvers, you're sense of satisfaction and enjoyment will be unparalleled. Playing a game from an established perspective in a new way is flat-out awesome. Some of the greatest moments are when you manage to evade groups of heavily armed cops by the skin on your neck, never once having to actually engage in real combat.
Graphically, the game is vibrant and bright, the antithesis of of the brown, desaturated, and dark games that seem to dominate the market. Framerate manages to stay playable throughout, and effects like motion blur and depth of field create the illusion of speed.
Unfortunately, the game often fails in the gameplay department. While seemingly open and free, the game is restrictive and linear. There were several situations where I should have been able to move through the level, but I encountered invisible walls because the developers wanted me to do a specific chain of moves, instead of the ones I had improvised myself.
Trial and error gameplay rears its ugly head here, as well. I died over and over and over again until I figured out the proper method to progress. For a game that wants you to run away from fights, rather than fight, the number of times you are forced into combat makes things rather difficult, more so than it needed to be.
And finally, the city is gorgeous and sterile. We're supposed to believe that big brother watches everyone and everything. Yet, by the end of the game you'll start to see it's all superficial. Where are the civilians? Where are the drone-like workers in the offices? You'll run through long empty corridors, large lifeless offices, and only get the glimpse of a few people walking in the streets below you. Instead of feeling dystopian and conformist, it feels dead and lifeless.
Despite these flaws, I still think that Mirror's Edge is one of the most memorable games I've played in a long time. Memorable, yet flawed.
 One of the Best Games of the Year November 21, 2008
Farhad Badri (California)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
First off, you have to keep in mind that this game is a first-person platformer. It's not a shooter or an action game, it's a game about running and jumping across rooftops to uncover information. If you approach it from this perspective, this game is absolutely fantastic. It is a little on the short side but there are speedruns, time trials, and online competing via racing people's ghosts that will help keep you playing after the story mode is over and done with.
The levels are creative and despite the genre you never really feel like you're being railroaded along one set path. Things look and feel open and the game does a good job of making you feel like you have some control over where you go, even though this isn't really the case. The platforming puzzles are a little difficult and you will definitely have moments where you fall to your death due to a poor jump, but once you've completed them they feel really satisfying.
The pacing is good. Each level has platforming areas where you can take your time and then one or two areas where there are people shooting at you and you have to get away. These can be a little hectic, especially if you choose to fight your way out, but after a couple tries you'll either have a tactic for that fight or you'll have figured out the best way to get away from the enemies. If you're short of patience the game will become frustrating as I can guarantee that you will have to re-try a couple of areas, but if you're willing to fail and try something a few times then the game keeps going.
The camera movements are very impressive and feel accurate to the movement that the character has. One of the first things I noticed was how fluid the movements felt once you had momentum going - it helps immersion and keeps you within the game much more.
Overall I'd highly recommend the product. The controls take a little getting used to but after the first chapter you will have it down. The game will take around 8-10 hours to complete the story but the experience is unique and FUN, something which seems to be missing from a lot of games these days.
Not a Perfect Reflection November 20, 2008
Sean (Aurora, Colorado)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Pros:
+Unique gameplay mechanics
+Fantastic visuals
+Superb soundtrack
+The first person perspective adds a lot of intensity to some of the game's better moments
Cons:
-Some trial and error moments
-Incredibly short
From the looks of it you'd think Mirror's Edge was the slickest, most original game to hit the industry in a while. It's a first person adventure that has you running and sometimes gunning. Mostly, however, you'll be sliding and jumping. At first glance, Mirror's Edge should be an awesome experience. It can be, but there are a couple of things that keep it from reaching excellence.
The story is told mostly through cutscenes in the game's unique art style. While the story itself is interesting, it probably isn't the reason you've really come to Mirror's Edge. The highlight is the gameplay, mainly because it's so unique.
It can take a while to get used to gameplay mechanics used here. For the most part you'll be ducking, sliding and jumping all over the place. There's a bit of gunplay thrown in there, but it's quite clear that it isn't important (and being an expert on first person shooters won't give you an edge). You can also disarm your enemies and perform melee combat moves on them. It take a moment to get the timing of disarming right, but the game works with the player very well. You can slow things down, but most important, you want to go for disarming someone when their weapon flashes red.
It may seem that with such open environments and worlds that Mirror's Edge would be difficult to know where you're supposed to go. Despite what it seems, Mirror's Edge is actually quite linear. More often than not it's pretty easy to see where you need to go. This is because the game often paints a red picture for you. If you need to scale a pipe or kick open a door, it's usually red. Getting through levels can be a test in trial and error, however. Momentum and speed is important in Mirror's Edge but so is timing and precision. You might find yourself missing several ledges because you were a little off in your timing or your angle. Some jumps can be difficult. Make no mistake about it, you'll probably die. When you get a good stride going, though, Mirror's Edge becomes immensely fun.
In the long run, Mirror's Edge is actually a simpler game than you might expect. The first person perspective adds something to it as well. You'll find that when you need to run from your adversaries or even just disarming them, there's a thrill that the first person perspective adds that you wouldn't get were it in third person. This is also due to the movement of the camera and the fast pacing of the action. It's easy to feel a rush while playing.
Without a doubt, the biggest strength of Mirror's Edge is easily its visual presentation. It's very unique, fluid and detailed. It fits the game perfectly. Even better may be the soundtrack. Nothing feels better than getting into a good stride while the game's music plays. It fits each and every situation really well.
The only real problem is that the fun just doesn't last long enough. Mirror's Edge is an incredibly short game. The campaign is over in a flash. Luckily, there are some extras and you may even find yourself playing through the main campaign again.
|
|
|
