Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Grows on you"

Mirrors edge is a unique game, with a setup that you'll be hard pressed to find mimiced elsewhere. The story follows Faith, a messenger in a Orwellian touched future, were surveillance is everywhere and the police overwhelmingly an arm of powerful corporations. After nearly being gunned downed while delivering an innocuous message, Faith encounters her sister Kate, who has been framed for the murder of a Mayoral candidate.

The mechanisim of Mirrors edge is entirely first person, with stomach dropping leaps and parkur acrobatics carrying Faith from rooftop to rooftop. The voice guiding her is Merc, who at provides more commentary than omniscient directions. The path forward is given an overall tone, and Faith has "runner vision" where ineractive objects glow a blood red color. While the setup is a tad repetitive, its uniqueness grants it a lot of leeway. The backdrops are city skyline de jour, having the appearance of a futuristic skyscape painting. The effect is still real enough that you'll get an adrenaline rush when you fall.

The voices are well acted, though rather calm considering the gunfire and the near death falls. The sequences are cel-shaded in the style of XIII, though almost too cartoony.

The story shapes up well, though it is rather short, and the gameplay is exciting, and just frustrating enough you'll be compelled to complete levels just for the expereince of doing so. While some of the graphics are somewhat flat, thats a small nit in an otherwise fantastic deviation from the status quo for adventure games.