In a world where the media and information itself is heavily regulated, this first-person adventure game puts you behind the eyes of Faith, a runner... a messenger of sorts who excels at using the city's rooftops as a means of getting from Point A to B. You can run, jump, leap, slide, roll, climb, and grab your way from building to building, using rooftops, air ducts, flagpoles, and air conditioning units to perform acts of acrobatic insanity as you traverse the dangerous city, always pursued by the authorities.

When Faith (you) witnesses a crime, it's your (Faith's) job to solve the mystery before the crime is covered up... which necessitates eliminating you.

Anyone who enjoys first-person games, where you play through the eyes of another character... as well as those who enjoy employing a Matrix-style ability to slow down time and provide yourself with a greater opportunity to provide logic-defying acrobatic maneuvers.

The concept of the game was great. A first-person adventure where you're traversing rooftops is a unique setting and dynamic for a game to employ.

The graphics were a little lacking, and there's very little variety in what you're able to do. Basically, you run. Run from the cops, run for a rooftop, run to a checkpoint, etc.

But perhaps the most frustrating thing about this game is the fact that you're so often being pursued by very persistent law enforcement, that the game necessitates you to run blindly in the direction you THINK you're supposed to be going, often requiring a leap of faith (pun intended) as you hurtle yourself off a rooftop and pray that you're headed in the right direction. Even with the red flashing checkpoints on the easier levels, there are more than a few times where, not having the time to stop and investigate - you're leaping off of buildings and just barely missing handholds... always falling to your death and restarting from the last checkpoint.

By the time I had finished the game, I was pretty much done. There's not a lot of opportunity for replay value, unless you're a glutton for punishment and want to try it without the flashing red guidelines, which I can only imagine would be an exercise in frustration.

Overall, I'd say Mirror's Edge was worth playing, but I probably wouldn't recommend buying it. Rent it from a video store, borrow it from a friend... or MAYBE get it on sale when it hits $20 on sale. But I wouldn't recommend you spend the full $50-$60 it was first sold for. There just isn't enough there to make it worth the investment.

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Created Jul 10, 2009 at 5:16pm • Submit your own review...