Irrationally Geeking Out over Mirror's Edge

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst has been in the news again recently thanks to a new story trailer and a beta announcement. The game won’t release until May 24th, but there’s already quite a bit of information to sift through. Catalyst will be a full-blown reboot that more or less ignores the events in the first game. The city of Glass (which finally has a name) will be open-world with supposedly no loading screens, but will maintain similar controls to the original.

So those are the facts. Since the reveal at E3 2013, DICE has shown off a few trailers, some screens, and even made the game playable to a select few at EGX 2015. Dtoid’s own Joe Parlock wrote a reassuring reflection on Catalyst's demo back in September, but most (including me) haven’t been able to experience the title yet.

That said, I’m going to take all my hype, bottle it up in the form of a blog, and try and forget that Mirror’s Edge exists with the intent of going into Catalyst like a newborn baby.

The original Mirror’s Edge caught my eye initially with the gorgeous landscapes and the idea of a first person game without a gun always in your hand. I never got around to playing it until a couple years after release, but that’s beside the point.

Mirror’s Edge had one of my favorite in-game atmospheres ever. Period.

Talking Atmosphere

DICE’s unnamed city accentuates everything with energetic shots of orange, yellow, green, and blue. Set against a white canvas, everything just pops. Add in a dash of fantastic lighting, and you’ve got one of the most unique looking cities in media. The insides of the buildings are just as vibrant as the outsides, along with some sublime architecture that turns the dial to 11. Red is primarily used to identify objects you can hop onto, which is infinitely more fitting than a marker or pop-up. This is the type of scenario that would get me to buy a VR headset just for the immersion factor.

But here’s the catch; ever since I heard David Wise’s masterful rhythms in the original DKC trilogy, sound design has taken priority over everything for me. It sounds ridiculous, but at the end of the day, the positive stuff I remember from games always has a sound attached to it. DICE could’ve tossed a couple sound bytes into this glorious city and called it a day. What did they do instead? They took a musician that made tunes unlike anything I’d ever heard, gave him full control of the soundtrack, and turned Mirror’s Edge from a game with memorable visuals to a game that I’ll cherish forever. Solar Fields, the composer, made songs that gave Mirror’s Edge an identity all its own.

When Faith slowed down, so did the music. When things got hectic, the sound design followed suit. There was a reason for every crescendo, a reason for every synth solo, and most of all, a reason that corresponded with the city. You know how people talk about the “flow” of how a game plays? I felt that flow with the audiovisual side of things, and not just the control. This was a world that made up its own rules; it didn’t model itself after anything, and that made it all the more amazing.

Oh yeah the gameplay was great too. As in, it’s pure genius. Probably should’ve mentioned that earlier. Some annoying bits and really rough combat, but otherwise very fun, even when the game slows down. The pacing is incredible.

Talking Narrative and the Game’s Core [SPOILERS]

The Mirror’s Edge narrative was an uninteresting cliché fest. Why? Whenever the game introduced new characters, it was actually introducing slabs of granite disguised as polygons.

The character that acts like a jerk? In a “twist,” you find out he was the main villain all along.

The guy who almost shoots you, but then stops and contemplates life when you don’t shoot him? He helps you in the final chapter.

The one likable character that isn’t Faith? He gets killed. Big whoop.

Mirror’s Edge wasn’t about the story. Everything was a set up to lead you into these well designed, diverse, and fun places to run, set against a beautiful atmosphere. Mirror’s Edge shined brightest when it let you loose into these brilliant areas and told you to either run or figure out how to reach a certain location. When you distill this down, you’ve got a game that encourages multiple playthroughs just to figure out how to get through an area faster. With that comes a better understanding of how much heart went into making this world in every facet of design. That’s why the original is so renowned. And now we made it to the sequel.

Catalyst

For a really long time, it looked as if Mirror’s Edge would never have a sequel. DICE moved back to the big moneymakers in its repertoire, and following the late 2008 release and early 2009 DLC pack, they never returned to Faith’s city until a new title was revealed at E3 2013. I may have audibly screamed in happiness at the reveal. Regardless, another 2 years followed with little to no information aside from a brief trailer at E3 2014. Last year, they finally confirmed the new title, gave a (now delayed) release date, and released a new gameplay trailer. Most importantly? In September, DICE confirmed the return of Solar Fields for the soundtrack. Please and thank you.

Things have been falling into place; we now have a much better idea of what the reboot is going for, and the release isn’t too far off. I’ve watched the trailers too many times too count, and at this point, I seriously need to stop before I get burned out. Thus the point of all these words: I need to get this stuff out of my system before I explode and lose interest.

I know I’m judging a book by its cover, but this isn’t a great introduction.

“I once knew a young woman who would defy anyone and anything in order to do what she felt was right. And you’re clearly not her. You’re broken.”

“Ha, no, you didn’t think Faith. You never do.”

Earlier I talked about how much I love the setting of the original. Catalyst’s world looks like an awesome evolution of the city capable of the moments the first game lived on. I would love to find out more about this universe and what makes the city tick; the secrets underneath the surface, if you will. There’s a story moment in the gameplay trailer that encapsulates what I want out of it all, but these quotes are the exact opposite. The focus seems to be on Faith proving herself against a generic villain, and for all I know, the character development might actually be really strong. Great stories need great characters, and that’s where DICE seems to be placing emphasis. These quips are incredibly cheesy and don’t warrant greatness in the slightest, but the overall narrative could be solid. At the same time though, none of the characters seem even slightly likeable. Just… I don’t know. It’s not what I want. Admittedly, that is coming from my whiny 2-year-old self, but I’m on the Internet, so that’s not out of line, right?

I could have said I didn’t like the story trailer and left it at that, but I want the narrative to actually be something memorable. I’m hoping for something specific, which is never a good idea. At the end of the day, the story could still be rough, and in that case I would just skip the cutscenes. No harm done.

Onwards.

If the gameplay trailer was a drug, I’d be dead from overdose at this point.

This is how you do a sequel to Mirror’s Edge. Just… wow. DICE showcased almost everything I wanted out of a new title in the series.

First of all, the combat looks much improved. It looks like fighting will no longer be such a pain; the foes that Faith goes up against seem easy to dispatch. Keeping the flow seems to be taking prominence over strategically taking out bad guys, which is a great direction for a character that runs for a living. In fact, Faith in general looks more nimble, but still grounded in the original moveset. Her slide maneuver takes her a longer distance than before, and she can climb those silly pipes from the original at a much quicker pace. She retains the speed-building mechanic, which makes chase scenes that much more exciting. It looks like the controls will improve on the original’s base, but not to the point of alienating fans.

After Faith climbs up the Elysium building, she finds a guy from Splinter Cell, along with a set of labs that clearly are not “agricultural research.” All of this is followed by the key phrase, “What are they up to?”

Erm. I’m building my perfect game here. Never a good sign.

Finis coronat opus.