Mirror's Edge First Look

For the past several months, EA stood behind many projects, continuing its promised effort to deliver innovative games to the PC and console market. The problem is that most of the games recently released by EA haven't exactly delivered on that promise. The company's strategy to "innovate" has backfired in many cases, hence EA quite literarily succeeded in ruining a few very popular franchises - think Need for Speed: Pro Street, SimCity Societies, etc.

However, as much as we are reserved about EA's inclination to drill for originality in exhausted game licenses, it seems there are certain projects on the horizon, which definitely could bring something unique to the world of video games.

The name Mirror's Edge has been circling the Web for more than a year. It wasn't until recently that EA decided to treat us to in-game media, as well as more information on what this secretive project is about.

Coming from DICE, the creators of Battlefield, Mirror's Edge represents an interesting and fun take on the first-person action formula.

You'll get to play as a character named Faith. As we understand it, Faith's parents were killed and she (yep, she's a girl) was forced to grow up on the street. Faith was taught not to rely on modern forms of communication, partially because the ruthless police state prefers eavesdropping every chance they get. So, electronic communication is out. The society Faith lives in is made to look like an honest-to-God utopia, with streets and skyscrapers so damn shiny and clean you could eat your dinner off them. So, she decides to become a "runner." In case you're wondering, runners are basically messengers, except in Mirror's Edge they are more fast and nimble than you'd normally expect. Now, runners aren't necessarily criminals themselves, but they are forced to work for people who's names have at one time or another been associated with crime. Eventually, Faith gets caught up in a series of events which lead to her being pursued by the totalitarian government. Acting as Faith's guide through all this, is a mysterious character named Mercury (whom we know very little about at this point). (At least they didn't call him Morpheus, eh? - 2Lions) It was noted that Mercury will help Faith in her attempt to outwit and overcome many government agents that are going to want her out of the way.

Our heroine won't be equipped with the standard military hardware most macho male protagonists prefer wielding. More often than not, Faith's best ally is her agility, speed and the knack for parkour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour).

The feel of the game should be unlike anything we've experienced in first-person action games. The free-flowing camera tracks every movement of the main character in a fluent and natural way. As soon as you start walking the camera bobs in-sync with the character's movement. Granted, a lot of games featured such a dynamic camera, but when Faith jogs or starts moving more aggressively, players will notice a few cool innovative aspects. As the character starts running, the camera pans similarly to the way your head would in real life. This makes for a rather realistic first-person depiction of actual sprinting. Faith's arms and legs are shown, moving up and down as she gains speed or tries to leap onto specific surfaces.

This may sound a wee bit chaotic and too much to handle for players. DICE, however, provides a solution so you don't get confused and disoriented while trying to maneuver through the surroundings. In order for players to spot crucial objects and points of interest in the area, the developers created something called Runner Vision. This handy little feature helps gamers distinguish the route ahead, as they dash across building rooftops, in an effort to avoid enemies or reach a certain location. Usable objects and surfaces you can interact with will glow in a bright shade of red - easily spotted in the largely white and bluish environment. Sometimes there won't be time to stand around, lollygagging, so if you notice a red crane on the nearby building, just run towards it. Other objects of interest are marked with red too, such as drain pipes, doors than you can open or smash through, etc.

Using Runner Vision denotes a variety of maneuvers and moves, which you will be able to combine throughout the game, in order to outpace any pursuers. There will be plenty of situations where Faith will simply be forced to face opponents head on, instead of outrunning them. This brings us to combat and shooting. While Mirror's Edge features both, it appears it's going to be slightly different than in other action games. Faith often uses her agility to disarm foes, rather than firing a weapon. Fair enough, she is able to handle a gun when she nabs one, but as we understand it, guns are sort of a temporary benefit that won't do you much good when you've fired all the bullets in the clip. Again, parkour is at the heart of the gameplay. So, most of the time, our heroine relies on her ability to duck, dodge or dive to avoid being gunned down.