Earlier this week EA Games boss Frank Gibeau said that Mirror's Edge didn't meet expectations. He admitted that although first-person parkour across buildings is fun "Mirror's Edge's' execution fell short." We absolutely loved Mirror's Edge, we thought it was daring, unique, beautiful and - in its own way - a call on the FPS genre to step up with something fresh. But we can see where Mr. Gibeau is coming from and we've got a pretty good idea of where Mirror's Edge needs to improve to capture a much wider audience, and just a few of our own personal requests as well. If At First You Don't Succeed
We're pretty dogged when it comes to beating a game, and we like to think we're pretty good at taking it to most virtual challenges. But, frankly, Mirror's Edge was a bitch at times.
Of course it was hard at the start, the very idea of first person free running was somewhat alien so we expected a challenge. But just when we thought we were getting the hang of Mirror's Edge - even when we thought we'd mastered it late on in the game - it'd throw up a difficulty spike sharper than a sword that's been fitted with a diamond point and left in the freezer overnight.
The most frustrating thing was that often the increase in difficulty didn't seem to come from anywhere other than the fact that Faith seemed to refuse to grab on to that damn red pipe!
At points Mirror's Edge became about dying and retrying until, for whatever reason, you made the jump.
We like the idea, we think the controls worked, but every now and then Mirror's Edge demanded a level of precision that was more frustrating than fun. Give us a chance DICE.
A Whole New World
One of the biggest successes for Mirror's Edge, in our opinion, was the world it created. It was a tranquil, pristine paradise that hid a much darker, suppressed society.
Regardless of the socio-political implications, Mirror's Edge was so visually fresh and airy compared to what came before that we were sad to leave it in the end. Having said that, because the world of Mirror's Edge was so sparse, to recreate a variation on it isn't enough. You could move all those buildings to new locations and turn them upside down for the sequel and it'd still look too much like the original. In a way the dev team has made it difficult for itself, they've created a unique world that is very much part of the Mirror's Edge feel and brand, but one that isn't all that easy to build on either.
That's why we think we need a completely different city to roam. We think it'd have to have a completely different feel as well to stand apart from the original, but then we're torn because we really did love the atmosphere of Mirror's Edge.
We suppose, then, that the answer is to recreate the Mirror's Edge feel in an environment that has a completely different look. Can it be done? We're apprehensive to say the least.
Free-Running
If we put out the idea of an open world Mirror's Edge out there would you all scream in our faces?
Just hear us out for a minute. See, we're not even sure we want open world either. A lot of people have said that complete freedom in a game like Mirror's Edge would be too confusing. Maybe they're right, but then we'd point out Assassin's Creed where it works perfectly.
The difference there, however, is the third person view, which gives a much wider scope than a first person camera.
Ultimately we agree, all white walls with a first person view and total freedom might get a bit out of control, but we would like a greater level of freedom in Mirror's Edge.
Too often in the original we were left with this vast city ahead of us with only one realistic route to travel down. OK we got a basic choice every now and then, but this was usually something along the lines of being able to jump a gap or cross it on a plank. Not much of a choice really, is it?
'Armless
Part of that difficulty spike we were talking about earlier was coming face to face with a gun which, as a slight girl wearing little more than a tank top is always going to be an inconvenience. Although perfectly fine in principle, we found ourselves having more trouble with the disarm mechanic than it was worth in Mirror's Edge and you can only be whacked in the head with a rifle so many times before you've had enough.
Like some of those grab points, disarming an enemy - although nothing more than timing and a button press - at times felt like a game of chance.
Later on in the game, we were faced with rooms of armed police that we had little choice to fight. At the beginning of Mirror's Edge we were given the impression that that wasn't the point of this game and we found much more fun and tension in running from the cops anyway.
These sections too became areas where we had to sacrifice our life over and over again until we had mapped out a full choreographed flight path around a room. While it was nice to see our carefully planned and evolved dance steps work in the end, it would have been even more satisfying to have been able to do it on the fly.
Single Life
This is more something we don't want to see. We don't want to see multiplayer features in Mirror's Edge 2. We think there's enough that DICE can build on in terms of single player to take up all its time and focus, plus we just don't think multiplayer would suit Mirror's Edge.
We can see exactly what a Mirror's Edge multiplayer would consist of: The best we'd get is some kind of race from one rooftop to the next or a capture the bag iteration where players could kick opponents to make a steal.
All in all we don't think multiplayer would have enough dimensions to it to keep us interested, and at a time when it seems every game absolutely has to have multiplayer, it's always nice to see a developer willing to buck the trend for an amazingly trend bucking single player.
We're pretty dogged when it comes to beating a game, and we like to think we're pretty good at taking it to most virtual challenges. But, frankly, Mirror's Edge was a bitch at times.
Of course it was hard at the start, the very idea of first person free running was somewhat alien so we expected a challenge. But just when we thought we were getting the hang of Mirror's Edge - even when we thought we'd mastered it late on in the game - it'd throw up a difficulty spike sharper than a sword that's been fitted with a diamond point and left in the freezer overnight.
The most frustrating thing was that often the increase in difficulty didn't seem to come from anywhere other than the fact that Faith seemed to refuse to grab on to that damn red pipe!
At points Mirror's Edge became about dying and retrying until, for whatever reason, you made the jump.
We like the idea, we think the controls worked, but every now and then Mirror's Edge demanded a level of precision that was more frustrating than fun. Give us a chance DICE.
A Whole New World
One of the biggest successes for Mirror's Edge, in our opinion, was the world it created. It was a tranquil, pristine paradise that hid a much darker, suppressed society.
Regardless of the socio-political implications, Mirror's Edge was so visually fresh and airy compared to what came before that we were sad to leave it in the end. Having said that, because the world of Mirror's Edge was so sparse, to recreate a variation on it isn't enough. You could move all those buildings to new locations and turn them upside down for the sequel and it'd still look too much like the original. In a way the dev team has made it difficult for itself, they've created a unique world that is very much part of the Mirror's Edge feel and brand, but one that isn't all that easy to build on either.
That's why we think we need a completely different city to roam. We think it'd have to have a completely different feel as well to stand apart from the original, but then we're torn because we really did love the atmosphere of Mirror's Edge.
We suppose, then, that the answer is to recreate the Mirror's Edge feel in an environment that has a completely different look. Can it be done? We're apprehensive to say the least.
Free-Running
If we put out the idea of an open world Mirror's Edge out there would you all scream in our faces?
Just hear us out for a minute. See, we're not even sure we want open world either. A lot of people have said that complete freedom in a game like Mirror's Edge would be too confusing. Maybe they're right, but then we'd point out Assassin's Creed where it works perfectly.
The difference there, however, is the third person view, which gives a much wider scope than a first person camera.
Ultimately we agree, all white walls with a first person view and total freedom might get a bit out of control, but we would like a greater level of freedom in Mirror's Edge.
Too often in the original we were left with this vast city ahead of us with only one realistic route to travel down. OK we got a basic choice every now and then, but this was usually something along the lines of being able to jump a gap or cross it on a plank. Not much of a choice really, is it?
'Armless
Part of that difficulty spike we were talking about earlier was coming face to face with a gun which, as a slight girl wearing little more than a tank top is always going to be an inconvenience. Although perfectly fine in principle, we found ourselves having more trouble with the disarm mechanic than it was worth in Mirror's Edge and you can only be whacked in the head with a rifle so many times before you've had enough.
Like some of those grab points, disarming an enemy - although nothing more than timing and a button press - at times felt like a game of chance.
Later on in the game, we were faced with rooms of armed police that we had little choice to fight. At the beginning of Mirror's Edge we were given the impression that that wasn't the point of this game and we found much more fun and tension in running from the cops anyway.
These sections too became areas where we had to sacrifice our life over and over again until we had mapped out a full choreographed flight path around a room. While it was nice to see our carefully planned and evolved dance steps work in the end, it would have been even more satisfying to have been able to do it on the fly.
Single Life
This is more something we don't want to see. We don't want to see multiplayer features in Mirror's Edge 2. We think there's enough that DICE can build on in terms of single player to take up all its time and focus, plus we just don't think multiplayer would suit Mirror's Edge.
We can see exactly what a Mirror's Edge multiplayer would consist of: The best we'd get is some kind of race from one rooftop to the next or a capture the bag iteration where players could kick opponents to make a steal.
All in all we don't think multiplayer would have enough dimensions to it to keep us interested, and at a time when it seems every game absolutely has to have multiplayer, it's always nice to see a developer willing to buck the trend for an amazingly trend bucking single player.
Source: CVG