MIRRORS EDGE 3 SKIN

Runner Vision is one of the most prominent examples of Mirror's Edge's unique visual style. The danger with the Runner Vision feature is that it can make the game feel too linear, like it is on rails, but as we saw above, by having these signposts all over the place, you at least avoid the frustration of getting lost and dying repeatedly. It isn't a foolproof system though - sometimes the important areas aren't highlighted at all, which can be frustrating when indoors. Runner Vision (not available on the hardest difficulty) highlights important areas of the landscape that you can use to jump off, cling on to or manipulate by colouring them in (usually bright red). Usually, Runner Vision guides you in the right direction. The further you go, the more likely they are to crop up). Thankfully, these moments don't occur too often (though, as you'd expect, In the trickier platforming sections towards the end, you either have to do them all again or quit to the main menu and reload that way, which is hardly ideal. There's also no option to quickly restart from the last checkpoint (at least none that I saw), which can lead to problems when you clear one in the middle of a difficult section, but then mess up afterwards, falling back down or regressing to a point before the checkpoint. Couple this with the awkward checkpoints and you have a recipe for disaster. Where the linear model falls flat on its face is when things aren't immediately obvious, leading to moments of confused frustration as you're trying to figure out where to go as the cops are shooting you up.

The game is at its very best when the split-second decisions go your way, when you make that leap between speeding trains or smash through the door just in time to avoid being cut to pieces by gun fire. The advantage of Mirror's Edge's linear model is that, most of the time, you know exactly where to go and everything clicks into place to produce brilliant action sequences. when you're running away from gun-toting police officers, you have mere seconds to decide which direction to run. This is where Mirror's Edge's signposted linearity becomes both a blessing and a curse. Due to the uneven dispersal of the checkpoints, you often have to start a substantial distance away from the place you died and, if this happens to be a tricky part (there's a group of cops or a helicopter shooting at you, for example) you're going to be quickly grinding those teeth down to bloody stumps. In a title like Mirror's Edge, where the excitement and thrill of the chase is the primary ingredient doing the same bit again completely negates that. One of the things most likely to put someone off a game as a result of this is being forced to repeat the same section time after time. If they aren't frustrations quickly mount up and mice get thrown out the window. Certainly, Mirror's Edge could have been improved by the presence of an easily tapped F5 at an opportune moment Tire problem with arbitrary checkpoints is that they have to be placed perfectly to be effective. Now, I've never been an advocate of checkpoints, much preferring the good old quicksave Some say it makes games too easy, I say you don't have to actually use it if you think that's the case.

If you don't make that hurdle, you're left to the mercy of the checkpoint system.

MIRRORS EDGE 3 SKIN

Elation follows when you've cleared that final hurdle by the skin of your teeth, but herein lies the game's first problem. When the bullets are flying and the police are hot on your heels, there's a distinct feeling of pressure, panic and excitement that builds up as you get closer to that big jump onto the next building. You do this by running and jumping a substantial amount, and when you get into the flow of things, all this athletics is really exhilarating. Faith is on the opposite side of the law, part of a group of 'runners' -couriers who deliver secret messages by the rooftops of the city, thereby evading the Big Brother-style surveillance of the ruling totalitarian regime.

A mayoral candidate has been executed in his office, the murder weapon being Kate's gun. Mirror's Edge involves a young woman (Faith) struggling to clear her cop sister (Kate) of a murder charge. Every good point is balanced out by a bad one, every thrilling escape from the 'blues' (cops) matched by an infuriatingly placed checkpoint. The thing is, both of these groups are right in their own way. I can imagine the comment pages on various websites right now, the fevered defence of the fanboys and sarcastic jibes of the trolls. You see, Mirror's Edge is a game that will (and has) split the community down the middle. I'll Be Honest and tell you right now this is one of the trickiest reviews I've had to write for a substantial period of time.

Mirrors edge 3