Skip over navigation

Mirror's Edge

Game: Mirror’s Edge
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360
Publisher: EA

While the pastime still rears its head in films on the odd occasion, the urban sport of free-running is less than fashionable these days.

If the name doesn’t mean a thing to you, think black and white footage of lean French men throwing themselves from buildings on the London skyline, and you might remember much of the output than peppered the television screen a few years back. Free-running is skateboarding minus the skateboard, and in virtual form at least, it is back.

Don’t tell that to Mirror's Edge publisher EA though, as they’d have you believe this new game is about crushing a dystopian establishment, gliding over the rooftops on the wings of a tough urban angel, freeing society from the clutches of a totalitarian government.

And they’d be right too. While Mirror’s Edge undoubtedly takes influence from passé urban athletic forms, it is the games narrative and style that dominates as you loose yourself to this tale of a secret world above the streets, high over the heads of the drones of the rat race and the shrieks of police sirens.

Set in a world not too distant from ours where every human is one without secrets and where the all-seeing eye of the government glimpses everyone and knows everything, you play Faith, a glamorous stain on the sterile cityscape she calls her own. Faith is a ‘Runner’ – who also happens to be free – and her job is to deliver information from one source to another on foot, dashing across the skyline with the authorities at her heel and death a little further behind, it’s snapping jaws goading her on.

Than means a game set predominantly amongst the air vents and chimneys of the tower blocks, with occasional forays into the glass lined offices and world below, and the emphasis is on one thing: running. Running like hell and never stopping, never looking back and never glancing down. Rather than encouraging exploration, Mirror’s Edge wants you to dash past everything you can, leaping and sliding, sprinting along walls and springing over gaps and obstacles.

Need to fight an official? Do it on the move, as all the combat encourages you to deflect foes rather than hang around to slug it out. Pause for more than a few seconds and more often than not you’ll be swamped by aggressive and deadly police officers. Instead you must maintain momentum and flow, gracefully navigating the seas of obstacles that surround you. The pace and drive is the same as in movie Run Lola Run, and visually Mirror’s Edge is equally stylish.

The city that surrounds you is a glinting near-future metropolis, all smooth glass and white lines, and while the glowing graphics can sometimes give you snow-blindness, it’s hard not to be entranced by the unique optical flair.

At times style does override substance, and things are perhaps a little repetitive on occasion. Still, Mirror’s Edge is a marvellous game, and offers an intense and breath-taking experience without needing to rely on too much in the way of firepower and bloodshed. The story is well crafted and the setting captivating, and unless you’re looking to really relax, this game is well worth feeding with your free time.

Titles related to this article

Related/similar articles