At Wuup we are always a few months behind, not having the huge budget or time, to review games as they are released. We usually have to wait till we can borrow, find cheap, rent or steal each game to review. Recently i’ve managed to get a hold of Mirrors Edge by Dice (Battlefield 2) for the PS3 and i thought i’d share my thoughts with you.

Mirrors Edge is a game about free running, a sport thats for those who live in urban areas who got tired of skateboards or BMXs, and decided running around on rooftops would be a good idea. Mirrors Edge lets you experience the thrill of this sport without having to train or get off your arse to do it.

The game is set in the near future, in a Utopian city, where everything is really clean and rooftop accessible with loads of red ramps. The artistic look of the world is a love-hate affair, the artistically minded like me really enjoy the simplistic graphics and massive contrast between colours.

Game play is split up between Free Running, Combat and Cut Scenes.

Free running can have a very steep learning curve, especially to those not acustom to the first-person viewpoint (if you’ve played Portal then you shouldnt have much of a problem). Stringing the perfect combo together is still very satisfying, even after the 30th try. Objects which you can use are often but not always highlighted in red. Pressing Circle faces you towards your target (dont press this while on a ledge, its very bad!) leaving you to find your own way, However free running is still very linear not leaving much room for exploration. Whilst you are freerunning you can explore and find runner bags, only really there as an extra its not a necessity.

Combat i found to be the hardest, I’d often choose to run past guards whilst being shot, but sometimes you are stuck in a room for a time and have to fight them, which for me was the most frustrating thing. Frequently i’d miss the disarm window and they’d punch me then shoot me. That being said though once you do disarm a guard and steal his weapon you can dispatch the others with relative ease.

Cut scenes i found were animated oddly, well its really only the face animations that look odd, kinda freaky, like there robots or something. Yet again its a subjective thing, but they do advance the plot and offer a gap between the other elements.

Overall i found Mirrors Edge to be quite an enjoyable experience, if a little short (around 6-7 hrs first play through),  Its minimalist artistic look and mostly smooth gameplay make for a good overall game. Though it is definitly not everyones cup of tea.

Heres a vid!