Something unusual has happened, though. A news
helicopter has tipped the cops off about my building-
hopping activities. I suppose eventually a surveillance
state polices itself. So much for living carefully on the
mirror’s edge – looks like I’ll be putting my violent new
set of rules to the test imminently.
Sure enough, when I drop through a vent into a
high-rise intended as a shortcut, I find four cops waiting
for me. Bullets follow my footsteps as I jog awkwardly
into cover and survey my options.
The space I’ve just left is a small anteroom, in which
the men with guns are no more than ten metres away. But
as I turn the corner I find a stairwell, and a tall bank of
lockers. I clamber on top, waiting for my pursuers to pass
so I can hop down behind them.
If I’m going to pull this playthrough off I’ll need to get
used to disarming enemies – and that’s far more easily
done when they’re facing the other way.
But no plan survives contact with dystopian reality.
Philip K. Dick said that, probably.
When I slip behind the last cop to storm past my
hiding place, he turns around at the last second, pushing
against my shoulders. His colleagues open fire as I
stumble, and I drop to the floor. This is no typical DICE
shooter – Faith can only catch three or four bullets before
taking a long lie down.
On the second attempt, I manage to plunge off the
lockers and land on an enemy, Mario style, knocking him
out. But when I reach triumphantly for his weapon,
nothing happens. I can only see a baton on his waist – but
I could’ve sworn he was firing at me just moments ago.
Bewildered and blocked in, I run back the way the cops
came and stare impotently at the anteroom’s vending
machine as red fills my screen. “Digglers doughnuts,”
reads the advertising. “Because life is sweet.” My view
turns on its side as another bullet enters my back.
After a few more tries, the game crashes to desktop, as
if in protest. “You should always try to get away from
hostiles,” Mirror’s Edge’s tutorial tells me. The info boxshows an image of Faith running towards a SWAT team- and then a big, red arrow bending in a U-turn.
My handler Mercury – like the messenger god, or
Merc to his friends – joins in by yelling over the radio.
“Wire’s going crazy, get out of there, Faith.” Even the cops
physically push me onward, like actors in interactive
theatre. This isn’t supposed to be a combat encounter. It’s
a prompt for a chase, to propel me through to the next
area. Everything in the game is screaming at me to run,
and I’m working against its nature.
If I’m going to control the situation, I’ll need more
space. I lead the police up the stairwell, looking back
every few seconds to make sure they’re still following, like
a cat teasing a dog. Using the Mario technique, I’m able to
use my height advantage to pounce on the cop at the front
of the pack as they round the corner at the top of each
staircase. I take out three this way, and shepherd the final
officer out onto the rooftop.
Here I can play to my strengths. I sprint down the far
end, where my opponent’s bullets become distant
annoyances. Then I spin around, ready to charge him like
a jousting knight. Until a door crashes open on my flank,
and two more cops shoot and shoot and shoot until my
light frame is heavy with lead.
Repeating the sequence using the few close quarters
moves available to me is gruelling and unsatisfying work - especially knowing that more forceful tools are, for
reasons unknown, just out of reach. On the next attempt,
though, I manage to take out the entire first squad on the
stairs. Thumping trance escape music still plays, but it’s
quiet on the roof. This time I’m ready for the door to
open, and kick the first cop in the shins. He doubles over
in pain. The second opens fire as I retreat, nicking me in
the shoulder, and I notice my palms are sweating as if I’m
fighting a Dark Souls boss. Every time I stand and face my
oppressors, I’m at a terrible disadvantage.
But then, as the first cop falls unconscious, something
changes. Amid all the familiar smacks, grunts, and booms,
a new noise – the clack of a metal object against a hard
GUERILLA THOROUGHFARE The games that mix parkour with combat
ASSASSIN’S CREED
Ubisoft’s one-button-climbs-all
navigation was groundbreaking,
but recent entries have crept
further from that focus.BRINK
Dirty Bomb developer Splash
Damage applied slick rooftop
moves to multiplayer. It’s now
free on Steam.DYING LIGHT
Dead Island’s zombie-mashing
was upped by open world
free-running and introduced
stamina management.TITANFALL 2
The magic of Respawn’s
wall-running is that it’s
forgiving, giving you space to
line up your shots.PERSONALADVENTURES IN GAMES
DIARY
Run away from the men
with bangsticks. Logic!