Gameplay 2/5
The platforming aspects of this game handle surprisingly well for a game where you are stuck in first-person view. Running along the rooftops and performing wallruns, speedvaults and various other parkour moves is pretty fun. Running builds up momentum which allows these moves to send you farther and faster and keep your momentum up. Where the gameplay falls apart, is with the combat system. It's a system designed to kill you if you engage more than a single enemy at a time. This isn't a problem early on since most enemies only carry a pistol or uzi and can be taken down with a quick combo or ignored altogether. Later however, the enemies tend to always travel in groups of two or more and are equipped with shotguns, assault rifles or heavy machine guns. These enemies require a bit more than a couple punches to take down and while they can all be disarmed with a single well-timed button press, their friends are usually done killing you before the disarming animation is finished.
Story 3.5/5
I actually wish the story was fleshed out just a bit more as it was rather good. It moved too fast for my liking and I didn't really feel like any of the characters got any development besides Faith. It's a bit of a shame there won't be a sequel really.
Graphics 4/5
The game is actually quite beautiful to look at. As opposed to most video game cities, which are dark and dirty, this city is vibrant and clean with solar panels on just about every rooftop. The 2-D animated cutscenes are also quite nice but almost all of them take place at night or in the shadows making them dark in comparison to the rest of the game. Only major concern with the graphics is that the enemy characters only have a few character models. One for each enemy type in fact. A few variations for the basic pistol packing officer would have been enough to make me feel like I wasn't beating the crap out of the same person ten times per level.
Sound 4.5/5
This is where the game really shines for me. The music in this game is amazing. The sound effects are incredible as well. The footsteps all sound as heavy as they need to be and when you get up to full momentum you can hear Faith catching her breath when you stop. Even the sound of falling from a rooftop and hitting the ground sounds sickeningly realistic.
Difficulty 4/5
This game is not a first-person shooter. It is a first-person platformer with guns in it. When you acquire a gun, you get no indication of how much ammo you have and you cannot climb or move at high speed. The game pretty much wants you to never fire a gun unless you have to, which I was fine with until the end of chapter 8 where you must fight a downhill battle against enemies that travel in twos with increasingly powerful weapons as you descend. I died so many times on this level simply because I didn't want to have to use a gun to complete the game. After making it past the uzi, shotgun and assault rifle enemies, I was greeted at the bottom of the staircase by two heavy machine guns. No matter what I tried, I just could not get past them. After that I just used guns and breezed through the rest of the game. If you use guns, the game is just a bit too easy. If you play the game the way it's meant to be played (no shooting enemies), it can be frustrating beyond all reason.
Overall 3/5
Mirror's Edge has its good points as well as its bad points and I can't help but feel this game just wasn't meant to be played on a console. I love the visuals and the audio but the combat aggravated me to no end. I definitely recommend this game for anyone looking for a challenge or just something that looks and sounds great. Rent it if you want to play it on a console. Though if you want to buy it, get it on computer where the controls would be easier to use.
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