Best Games I Never Finished: Mirror's Edge

I have to admit that I completely forgot about this game until really recently.

It was one of the first games I owned for the PS3, and it wasn’t until I saw a play through appear on YouTube that I remembered what a gem it is.

For those who have never heard of it, Mirror’s Edge released in 2007 and received wide critical acclaim for its ingenuity and originality. Set in a eerily blank dystopian world, you play from a first person perspective as the protagonist Faith . Within this world you are a Runner, your job is to deliver messages throughout the city to revolutionary groups who oppose the current totalitarian system.

The plot soon thickens when Faith gets entangled in the political conflict, but in all honesty the narrative of this game isn’t that crucial. What is crucial to the enjoyment of this game is the gameplay itself.

To progress you have to complete missions successfully without dying, so essentially moving as swiftly as possible from A to B whilst occasionally getting shot at.

The game is centred on free running, a way of moving freely and swiftly across the rooftops of the city, and as you play from Faith’s perspective, it soon gets incredibly exhilarating. The game includes ‘Runner Vision’, where everything  in the city is muted except the objects that can be used to navigate your way across the city which stand out in bright primary colours. Whilst the effect is useful for gameplay, it is also visual striking and adds to the atmosphere the developers were trying to create.

To play the game well, you have to focus on momentum. The smoother you can negotiate obstacles and jump gaps, the more speed you gain, hence the more effectively you travel through the environment.

Though it does take a lot of practice and patience, when you get it right it’s pretty impressive. This, combined with the first person perspective, makes for some really exhilarating gameplay. The free running, while the games finest feature, was also the reason I had to take a break. You need to get to the point where you can instinctively control Faith without stopping and thinking “what is the button to go under a pole, rather then try and climb it? Where is the guy who keeps at shooting at me? Where am I supposed to go now!?”.

When you do finally work out the route after the sixth time of dying, the game does get much easier and you become completely absorbed. The better you get, the more exhilarating the gameplay becomes, also meaning it becomes incredibly intense incredibly quickly. Particularly as later on in the game you have access to a gun.

The effect of the first person camera ultimately means you can only see where you are travelling to, and I found this did make the whole game feel so extreme that after a while I was forced to take a break.

Since seeing bits of this game again though, I definitely want to replay it. The visuals and artistry are fantastic, and the stylised environment is sensitively and carefully constructed to be harmonious with the gameplay.

If you can get good at this game then it is stunning, so I would recommend putting in the practice.

 

Rosie Howard

Opinion: EA-Star Wars

EA have acquired a deal with LucasFilm and Disney enabling the publishing giant to develop core Star Wars titles in a multi-year, multi-title agreement.

This follows the earlier announcement that LucasArts was to be closed down, which had cast doubt over the future of the Star Wars franchise in the gaming market. Now, EA have the power of BioWare, DICE, and Visceral Games to carry the brand into the next generation of gaming.

But what could each studio bring to the table?

BioWare

With the massive success of the Mass Effect franchise, it’s clear that the Canadian studio could handle the task of creating a huge sci-fi universe to enjoy. The studio isn’t unfamiliar with licensed franchises, either, with Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights being born from the Dungeons & Dragons universe, as well as having developed Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The developer’s most recent franchises, Mass Effect and Dragon Age, are very similar in several respects, such as character development, romances, and dialogue options. While these components give each title that recognisable BioWare flair, incorporating these elements into another franchise could give the impression that the studio is running out of ideas.

It’s a risk that the developer might have to take if they choose this direction with their SW title: stick with their well-established styles, or try something new.

Creating a Star Wars title with a large cast of characters, epic scope and an immersive world could lead to the birth of a highly successful licensed series of games – something that the industry has arguably lacked for a rather long time.

DICE

Best-known for developing the Battlefield series, they will probably be the first asked to create a title similar to their flagship franchise. Given that Star Wars: First Assault was an FPS already in development before the LucasArts closure, DICE seem like the best fit to either continue the development on the title.

They could even give fans the shooter they’ve been waiting for since 2005 – Battlefront III. Imagine Battlefield, but with tie-fighters, AT-ATs, and epic sci-fi battlegrounds, and you’re on-course for a potentially awesome game. A Star Wars FPS seems inevitable, and EA would arguably be foolish to let another studio take the reins on that potential.

Visceral Games

Also tipped for developing a Star Wars title in the future, though the direction they might take is entirely unclear. The developer most recently became recognisable for the Dead Space series, though the studio’s previous titles almost entirely stem from already-established franchises, including games based on The Lord of the Rings and Ian Fleming’s 007.

From their history, it seems like Visceral could take a more traditional ‘action’ route with the Star Wars name, possibly somewhat akin to Star Wars: 1313, which (unfortunately) went down with LucasArts. One thing that would really make a Star Wars title stand out from the crowd is something that I wish was present in the original films: grit.

The lost ‘StarWars: 1313’

For me, the Star Wars universe lacked a dark heart that could have made it more interesting and engaging. The narratives were too epic sci-fi cliché, the Sith too typically ‘evil’. Visceral could flesh this out to a more mature audience by expanding on the backgrounds of potential villains as well as the Sith allure, perhaps in a similar style to ‘unitology’ found within Dead Space.

Expanding character alignment beyond simple ‘black and white’ and into the more complex and engaging ‘morally grey’ could create an interesting character-driven action title that would depart from the typical Disney formula that the casual titles are likely to take.

What next?

The future of Star Wars in the core market sits entirely in EA’s hands, then, and its studios certainly have the credentials to create a potentially stellar game if given the creative freedom to do so. However, with EA’s clear focus on action and shooter titles, innovation may be low on the list of priorities, likely resulting in each studio sticking to what they do best.

With the Star Wars franchise starting a new chapter under Disney’s reign, now might be the best time to break free and give the core fans what they’ve been waiting for.

 

Jack Merrell