Mirrors edge has a few gameplay trailers out now, and a plot trailer - so, discuss what you think about it! Gimmick or interesting evolution of FP-games (maybe even the 'next-Portal')?

Personally, I think it looks very interesting and a fun concept that'll be a relatively unique experience. But as with all things, only time will confirm or deny what anyone thinks.

The only possible problem with it I see it 'Simulation Sickness' - its like car sickness backwards - you're eyes tell you you're moving, but your body knows its not. Up to 50% of people can suffer from it, according to wiki.

I find it a very interesting title.

It's definatly one of the more original titles/IPs that are out/coming out this year and i absolutely love the concept.

But i usually don't like saying things before a games released, so let us wait.

i feel it's gimmicky. the pathway's seem too limited, utilizing a "runner's vision" or something so that pathways appear red to help you out... it seems a bit like spoon feeding the route to the user.

addittionally, i think the whole opressive government narrative is silly and unecessary. they couldn't make jumping from buildings a fun game on it's own?

what could have been a really cool expression of the parkour scene is now just some combination of Perfect Dark and Sonic The Hedgehog. and doing some cool climb run sequence is way less cool the 2nd time around.

BallPtPenTheif:
i feel it's gimmicky. the pathway's seem too limited, utilizing a "runner's vision" or something so that pathways appear red to help you out... it seems a bit like spoon feeding the route to the user.

addittionally, i think the whole opressive government narrative is silly and unecessary. they couldn't make jumping from buildings a fun game on it's own?

what could have been a really cool expression of the parkour scene is now just some combination of Perfect Dark and Sonic The Hedgehog. and doing some cool climb run sequence is way less cool the 2nd time around.

See I'm a mix of this and the positive, I think Mirrors Edge looks like it could be spectacular if they just made the route's a little less "spoonfed" (just give us the bowl, we'll know what to do) - and the only thing I see the story as, is just an excuse to run around with a package on top of buildings, and get chased by people with guns, and then kick their ass.

Basically, I'm excited yet skeptical.

ElArabDeMagnifico:

See I'm a mix of this and the positive, I think Mirrors Edge looks like it could be spectacular if they just made the route's a little less "spoonfed" (just give us the bowl, we'll know what to do) - and the only thing I see the story as, is just an excuse to run around with a package on top of buildings, and get chased by people with guns, and then kick their ass.

Basically, I'm excited yet skeptical.

i guess i'm too spoiled by Skate and underwhelmed by this idea. i've seen the potential of a freestyle analog control scheme that allows for true open world gameplay where the point of the game is what you make of it.

but i am probably looking at this game all wrong. it probably has nothing really to do with parkour and is more about a game company who was stoked on the opening chase sequence in Casino Royal, and just wanted to extend that experience into a game. But then they rented Ultra Violet and thought a supressive government of the future was a cool idea. slip slap BAM!!! we get Mirrors Edge

BallPtPenTheif:
I guess i'm too spoiled by Skate and underwhelmed by this idea. i've seen the potential of a freestyle analog control scheme that allows for true open world gameplay where the point of the game is what you make of it.

Ahh, to be honest, I've not played Skate, might try it (generally avoid skating/biking/boarding games because it ain't my thing, heh).

If Mirrors edge is like the roof-top running around of Assassins Creed, but with this momentum/rolling/etc, and a focus on the actual motion of the person (kinda like a base-jumping simulator) rather than the combat, it should be alot of fun, I hope too.

Evoloution. DICE is always looking to be innovative, even if that comes at the price of story.

I am optimistically skeptical about it, I want it to be absolute genius and the best thing in gaming since sliced bread. But deep down I know that will not be the case (NB this is how I felt about Portal too so I could very well be wrong). It is really just a case of sucking in the hype, remaining healthily cautious and waiting for it to come out.

My inteest sort of dropped a bit when the cartoon trailer they showed was just rife with cliches, but the game itself looks very very interesting. I don't even mind if it's a bit gimmicky, since they're trying something new with this.

It's a toss for me. It could end up being awesome, but it could end up being like Assassin's Creed. I really wanted to like AC, I really did, but it desperately needs variety. I'm fearing Mirror's Edge will end up like it.

BallPtPenTheif:
But then they rented Ultra Violet and thought a supressive government of the future was a cool idea. slip slap BAM!!! we get Mirrors Edge

Guess you've never heard of 1984?

I thought everyone knew the definition of 'Orwellian' on this site. Oh wells.

I'm looking forward to Mirror's Edge.

How is it a gimmick? Is the parkour in Assassin's Creed a gimmick? No. It's a gameplay mechanic. Same as Mirror's Edge.

It's always a shame when anyone brushes of anything new as a 'gimmick' and no less so here.

I'm not saying Dice will succeed but at least they're TRYING something new which is more than can be said for 90% of developers.

Also, the graphics are a fuckwin.

I really didn't get it, I watched the gameplay trailers and such... all I saw was Jet Set meets Oblivion... and not "meets Morrowind" cause Mirror's Edge has a lot of little noob-friendly pieces of info (like the paths turning red) that they put in as part of the gameplay and call it something like "Runner's Vision" (a la Flux Capacitor)... the story certainly didn't seem special to me...

Someone explain to me what's so "unique" about this game? I really didn't see it...

Looks like an absolutely awesome and fun game to play, but 'tis a shame about the narrative (All I can garner at the moment is that it's OMG TEH GOVERNMENTS IS AFTER MEEZ!!!!1).

The questions is, does potentially shit hot gameplay need a narrative?

Hey Joe:
Looks like an absolutely awesome and fun game to play, but 'tis a shame about the narrative (All I can garner at the moment is that it's OMG TEH GOVERNMENTS IS AFTER MEEZ!!!!1).

The questions is, does potentially shit hot gameplay need a narrative?

Nope. I don't play Call of Duty for the gripping, original storyline.

Also, why does everyone compare whatever First Person game they don't like to Oblivion, even when it's NOTHING LIKE any Elder Scrolls game ever?

KamikazeSailor:
I really didn't get it, I watched the gameplay trailers and such... all I saw was Jet Set meets Oblivion... and not "meets Morrowind" cause Mirror's Edge has a lot of little noob-friendly pieces of info (like the paths turning red) that they put in as part of the gameplay and call it something like "Runner's Vision" (a la Flux Capacitor)... the story certainly didn't seem special to me...

What 'paths turning red'? I'm sure the orange was the texture, and part of the whole white, red, blue colour theme they have going.

KamikazeSailor:
Someone explain to me what's so "unique" about this game? I really didn't see it...

The momentum based gameplay? Unless I've missed another game with that?

There are red objects, such as cranes, which indicate the safest path. However, safest doesn't mean quickest, and you can go off the rails if you have a better idea.

Some say ME is the Portal of tomorrow. Is Portal a gimmick?

Doug:

What 'paths turning red'? I'm sure the orange was the texture, and part of the whole white, red, blue colour theme they have going.

According to the developers, the colors are the most important part of the game. Without a HUD, the rest of the world literally desaturates in color as the main character loses health... the red paths show a good way to travel along the city roofs... there are no greens or greys in the game, even plantlife is white, to seperate the game from other games and add to the atmosphere of the utopian society...

And I do like some of those ideas, except of course for the "noob factor," which can be turned off altogether according to Wikipedia... which makes that not such a big deal...

Doug:

KamikazeSailor:
Someone explain to me what's so "unique" about this game? I really didn't see it...

The momentum based gameplay? Unless I've missed another game with that?

I read up a bit on what you were talking about with the momentum stuff, and it does sound "interesting" but it doesn't sound wholly unique... the first-person perspective isn't new, the whole "seeing arms and limbs" thing sounds, and more importantly, LOOKS cheesy and fake... hopefully they improve on that, cause watching your character run is more annoying than anything else, looks like she's holding her arms straight out like a robot...

The whole momentum thing could be cool, but I don't see how anyone could form an opinion on something like that unless they've seen it in action... how difficult does the gameplay become, does the momentum add to frustration and take away from fun... does it allow for really cool, super-awesome heroic leaps and turns... or does it make it look like a female-version of Crackdown... (although, Crackdown wasn't a bad game)...

I don't know that it can be called a gimmick, after all... what the hell does EA need gimmicks for? They dominate the gaming industry and destroy any competition... they don't need gimmicks... if anything, this game could certainly raise the potential for Sandbox games in the future, their momentum engine could certainly be built on if its even slightly successful... but, EA would have to stop bullying their independent developers around if they want these things fully produced... so, we'll see what happens...

You can't use a first person perspective as evidence that a game doesn't have new ideas. That's like saying "Lord of The Rings is part of the fantasy genre. That means we can hold the fantasy against it, and say it's unoriginal."

I'm looking forward to it personally, looks like an interesting way of making a first person action game minus the guns.

I'v heard people (my friends) say that it's some sort of cutting edge graphics, but I mean it's just Unreal 3 engine...

L33tsauce_Marty:
I'v heard people (my friends) say that it's some sort of cutting edge graphics, but I mean it's just Unreal 3 engine...

You can do very good things with Unreal 3.

The thing with the better first person, i.e. visible hands, body and feet is someting I would not necessarily call revolutionary but overdue. Ego-shooter exist more than ten years now but how often have I seen a proper done body? You can count those on the fingers of one hand.

For the rest there is not enough information to say if and how exactly it works.
Fighting as example is not the main aspect, but if they make the fights to easy the whole aspect of "running" goes fubar, because you jsut bash through hordes of mindless enemys like in any other game. So except for the ego perspective I will withhold my opninion on the other game elements

So long
Unterhund

So what i gather is that it's a racing game that looks like an fps and a story ripped from pretty much every dystopian government game/movie/book. Added on the list of games i won't bothr checking out untill my friends reccomend it to me, which i don't expect to happen soon.

Asehujiko:
So what i gather is that it's a racing game that looks like an fps and a story ripped from pretty much every dystopian government game/movie/book. Added on the list of games i won't bothr checking out untill my friends reccomend it to me, which i don't expect to happen soon.

You could at least watch the trailer.

Also, the dystopia is a lot more subtle than, say, 1984.

This hands on at E3 got raised my level of excitement for this game even more:
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/blog/e3-mirrors-edge-hands-on-impressions/

Jumping and ducking have a lot of context-sensitive applications, and it takes timing to land your jumps, and technique to maintain the needed momentum.

I loved the ability to just freely run around in Assassin's Creed, but the lack of skill required to do that kind of sucked some of the majesty out of running along several rooftops, leaping to a wooden pole and then falling to the ground (Ok so that was a lackluster example). And it did look overly simple when you'd watch the videos of it, so I was concerned that the level of ease would make this just a gimmicky game of hidden QTEs.

In fact, there seems to be some real depth beyond the style and I was suddenly brought back to the early days of Sonic the Hedgehog. The levels are packed with alternate routes that have been balanced with risk/reward in mind.

It may be the fact I've enjoyed a great deal of Sonic the Hedgehog but running quickly through a level and deciding on a path to increase the speed in which you beat the level, making for a seamless run through of the level (And hopefully we'll get some awesome videos like the 10 minute Quake 2 run) it sounds like there is a competitive offering for those who enjoy that sort of thing.

Combat blends well with the speed-oriented style and it's clear that this won't devolve into a first-person shooter.

And yeah, not devolving into another poorly executed FPS would be greatly appreciated.

To answer the initial question though, in terms of Evolution it's a small step towards immersion, not some giant leap that will revolutionize gaming for all, but also not just a simple gimmick.

I really like DICE, so i've high hopes

I read in the Edge article a while back that some enemies will be heavily-armed shocktroopers with body armour and assault rifles. You're an agile chick with a handgun and all the protection that a tank top can offer. This is nowhere near Crackdown. If anything, it's Assassin's Creed when Altair has no swords and everyone else has guns. If it's straightforward enough to take on a single enemy, you've got no chance against a group.

hopefully they improve on that, cause watching your character run is more annoying than anything else, looks like she's holding her arms straight out like a robot...

Wait, what? I watched a couple of the videos, and you see her hands bobbing into view as she pumps her arms. Which is what happens in real life. Have you tried actually running, lately?

Marking safe routes with red is a decent idea, especially when you're first playing the game. I reckon they need to tone it down a little, tho'. In the videos I've seen, there's far too much handholding. There better be a huge number of alternate routes on offer.

If they can pull it off, then I reckon it should be a good game. I do like how Faith isn't so much of a "freedom fighter", more a messenger. I'm also interested in how they'll handle the time in-between missions. Will it be a Spiderman 2/Assassin's Creed-esque overworld, where you're free to explore, and can start your assignments whenever you like, or will it just be a succession of levels?

I wish everyone would shut the hell up about how unoriginal and awful the story is.

Okay, it has a totalitarian government and her sister being framed.
Maybe her sister really did commit the crime. Maybe her sister is working for the government and it's all a trap for Faith. Maybe the government is actually good, and you're working for the bad guys without knowing it. Maybe umpteen other things.
If you judged a lot of modern games based on a brief outline of their story, you'd be equally unimpressed. Try describing the story of Half-Life 2 briefly, without spoiling it.
"Gordon Freeman has returned... And it's up to him to find a way to overthrow the aliens who rule the world with a totalitarian regime!"
Yeah. Original. The thing is, there was MORE to Half-Life 2 than that, and for all we know at the moment, there's more to Mirror's Edge as well.
Maybe the skeptics are right, maybe it WILL just be one rubbish cliche after another, but we can't know that for sure yet.

I do agree about the Runner Vision thing though; if there's no option to turn it off, it could be a bit too much handholding. And if there's only one decent route through each level, it really WILL be less of a game than it could be.

Marking safe routes with red is a decent idea, especially when you're first playing the game. I reckon they need to tone it down a little, tho'. In the videos I've seen, there's far too much handholding. There better be a huge number of alternate routes on offer.

You can turn them off, at least most reports put out has stated you can. But it would be cool if there was in fact just a slider you could use to tune down the red, Max being so vibrant you can't miss red, and min being back to pearly white with rose petal pink falling somewhere in between.

And as for the story, it's a tool to fuel the environment of the game, while a good story is certainly appreciated, there's nothing wrong with a cliche'd one that gets you from point A to B while enjoying it as much as possible.

I'm just wondering how the first person view will work out on a game where you have to pull out all those stunts and acrobatics on rooftops and the likes.

Here's a video of the presentation of the first level that was demoed at E3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F_o4i4kOvk&eurl=http://www.the-nextlevel.com/