M
irror’s Edge is worse off with guns.
That’s the received wisdom, anyway.
The theory goes like this: DICE, upon
inventing the running simulator,
panicked a bit. Any new series is a
challenge for a AAA developer – a cacophony of
newness, where a sequel builds on past successes.
And this game, more than most, was an expensive
unknown – one that stripped away the familiar
paraphernalia of first-person games. Sticking Colts
and SCARs in Mirror’s Edge was a way of anchoring it
in something safe. The guns represented reassurance,
both for the Battlefield developer and an audience it
worried wouldn’t quite get it.Perhaps the studio was right to be worried – Mirror’s
Edge didn’t sell particularly
well by EA’s standards. But
a core fanbase really, really
got into it. They
understood it was a game
about momentum, and that
the guns were antithetical
to that goal. They
encouraged you to slow
down and take aim,
breaking the pumping
pulse the game offered
at its best.
People never really stopped talking about Mirror’s
Edge, and when the time came for DICE to have another
crack at the series, it seemed to agree with the consensus.
For Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, the studio changed almost
nothing about the pace or moveset of Mirror’s Edge. But it
got rid of the guns. In its place, DICE designed a melee
system that would capitalise on momentum. You could
gather speed, spring off a wall, and plough all that forceinto the face of an enforcer. A suite of attacks was built to
weaponise your catalogue of slides and spins. The idea
was that you would use your enemies’ armoured weight
against them, sending them stumbling into your waiting
foot for a roundhouse finisher.
In practice, most players weren’t particularly hot on
that either. In the wake of Catalyst, combat is still
considered the weakest element of Mirror’s Edge. I’m left
wondering if we gave up on the guns too soon? What
wouldacombat-heavyrunofthatfirstgamefeellike?KicK! punch! it’s all in the mind!
I’m going back to The City – to the time before it gained
the addendum “of Glass”. I’m going to play through
2009’s Mirror’s Edge and take every possible opportunity
to start a scrap. Wherever there’s an option for flight, I’ll
pick fight first. In each
instance, I’ll keep firing
until the enemies have all
fallen over or the ammo
runs dry – whichever
comes soonest. Faith might
have got us this far, but it’s
time to meet Fury.
I’m on a job. The
runners in The City exist in
the membrane between
civilised and criminal
society. They’ve opted out of the safe-yet-controlled
culture down below, but stay sufficiently distant from real
trouble that the police leave them alone. That precarious
position limits their career options to, essentially, private
postal work. And so today I’m carrying a bag across the
rooftops to a comms tower, where another runner,
Celeste, will take it to its destination. I’m hoping the
package doesn’t have a “this way up” on it – I’m doing a
lot of forward rolls.therULes
1
Whenever
somebody attacks
Faith, fight back.
2
Take every possible
opportunity to use
theguns.
3
Only run once all
other options have
been exhausted.
WheReveR TheRe’s
An oPTIon foR
flIghT, I’ll PIck
fIghT fIRsT
I worked hard for this result.
So why don’t I feel proud?EXTRA LIFE
NOW PLAYING I UPDATE I MOD SPOTLIGHT I GUIDE I HOW TO I diary (^) I REINSTALL I MUST PLAY