Mirror's Edge

Late to the party as usual but if you haven’t played Mirror’s Edge, stop playing whatever you're playing and go and get it now. I don’t care if it was released last November. I need to shout about this game. This game should be played, it should be celebrated and definitely shouldn't be left on the shelf to become an overlooked classic. Let me explain.

I have largely ignored this game since its release. I played the demo and while it did impress I found the controls a little difficult to master so, while I was interested, I didn’t bother buying. I read reviews which were generally very positive, highlighted only a few minor issues and yet I still ignored it. Fallout 3 and Fable 2 amongst others are to blame.

Over the weekend though I decided it was time I played Mirror's Edge and, as the youngsters say in their emails and txts to each other, "OMG!". What an utterly fabulous game. I found myself totally engrossed in Faith's exploits. The gameplay is so fluid that it makes water envious. The Flow, as it’s called in the game, is the way in which you make the main character, Faith, strings together a series of jumps, slides, sprints, wall runs, and massive leaps while maintaining her stride. I had a huge grin on my face when I sped through a level executing a series of moves.

There’s a combat element involved. It isn’t central to the game and so is relatively shallow but it works very well. Hand to hand combat, melee attacks, and FPS style shooting are all present. It isn’t central because it’s possible to play through the entire game without shooting anyone. There’s even an achievement for doing just this. This removes Mirror’s Edge from every other FPS game on the shelves and places it by itself as a bit of a hybrid that contains puzzle, platform, race, fps, and fighting elements. Mirror’s Edge is all the better for it. I thoroughly enjoyed disarming guards and casting their gun away before running off up a wall while I laughed to myself.

I loved the anime style cut scenes and the in game graphics are as unique looking as they are brilliant. The style is something Suda51 would be proud of. The story is good enough to draw you into the world that’s presented and the characters have enough depth that you can take an interest in them.

The story mode is relatively short though there are multiple ways of approaching most levels. There are also plenty of moments when you'll have Faith not moving any of her computer generated muscles while you stare at the tele trying to see where on earth you're supposed to go next. When you do work out a route and execute a perfect selection of moves to achieve that route it's very, very satisfying. I suspect that when I play through Mirror’s Edge again it won’t take many hours at all. But, with the knowledge of the levels comes the speed and fluidity that Mirror's Edge does so very well.

Even if the story is a bit short there's more than just that on offer. The time trials and speed runs add new challenges and again there are many ways to get through the levels. To achieve top ranks will take some time and a mastery of running. These additional modes certainly have that "one more go" factor. An element of gaming that I love. There is also some DLC that I haven’t tried but I’ll probably get at some point now I’ve become a fan.

I don't know whether the controls were improved between the release of the demo and the full game but I had no problems controlling Faith this time. Any time that Faith missed her footing it was entirely my fault and not down to dodgy controls or poor collision detection. Leaping from roof to roof, running along cranes, sliding under pipes etc are all in a day’s work for a Runner and I got pretty good at it pretty quickly thanks to the controls.

The game has a sound track fitting of a AAA blockbuster game and it completes the Mirror's Edge package with a gloss that its name exudes.
This is a truly unique experience. If you have not yet played this game I would urge you, 360 and PS3 owners alike, to drop what you're playing and check this out. You won't regret it.

Plus, if you still need convincing, it's now really cheap to pick up
Xbox360 - £12.99 at dvd.co.uk

PS3 - £12.91 at dvd.co.uk

So .... er .... yea, late to the party. What was released this week? Finger on the pulse as ever eh. So what, if you missed this game and it's a few months old. Just get it. Forget that tempting new Terminator Salvation crap and get something with substance. Thrilling, glossy, substance. For more thrilling glossiness head on over to the Forum AND we still look exactly the same.

Tiger Woods Wii Artwork

An interesting topic was raised by Buckle on the Gameov3r forums today regarding Wii game packaging. In particular the packaging for the Wii version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09. All other formats use the exact same artwork with the Wii version being decidedly less mature looking in my opinion.

You can see the cover shots above. Why would EA think it necessary to do this particularly for what is now such a well recognised series and does it bother you?

You can view the topic here or feel free to leave a comment.

Have your say on the GAMEOV3R Forum

EA Bad Company?

EA's profits have been on the slide for a while now. Years of releasing annual updates to its sports titles are wearing a little thin with gamers. Then buying up talented development houses and stifling their creativity until all the talent departs hasn't helped matters either.

EA promises to learn from its mistakes and change its ways... but in the mean time it needs to increase its profits. One way it's doing this is by releasing a shed load of downloadable content for its games. Want the best weapons for the upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company? That'll cost extra. A dangerous route to go down as all that game balancing comes undone as players buy themselves an advantage instead of just trying to get better.

Anyway, I thought in for a penny in for a pound. Lets help EA with some great rip off money making ideas for their next release... How about only allowing you to save your game 5 times, with additional packs of 5 saves available for a small fee?

Maybe you've got some better ideas to help EA out. Head over to the GAMEOV3R forum and share them with us.

Ghosts of Christmases Past

It has become a bit of a tradition for me to get out my old consoles and computers during the Christmas holidays and this year has been no exception. I've been up into the loft and amongst others I've brought back to life my Megadrive, SNES and my C64. My wife is not happy. But anyway, games I've played so far include the seasonal Daze Before Christmas, Madden 93 - I always play as the NY Jets and I don't know why, NHLPA93 - I always choose to be Edmonton and again I don't no why, Road Rash 1 & 2, Desert Strike, Exploding Fist and Suspended. I even rediscovered the delights of Rollo to the Rescue and have been playing the slightly festive James Pond 2 on my GBA. I just love all this cartridge, cassette, 5 1/4" disk, game swapping madness! I love it as much as I loved playing all the way through the latest games. Must be an age thing.

Two things have struck me while I've been playing on these old machines. No, number 1 isn't my wife hitting me with her high heeled shoes from across the room. No, the first thing I noticed was that so far this holiday I have spent as much time playing all of my older games as I have spent playing just one current generation game, Tomb Raider Legend on my Xbox360, so far this holiday. The second thing I noticed was that Electronic Arts used to release, wait for it, GROUND BREAKING games! They created and published games that other publishers could only dream of or simply wouldn't take a risk on.

We all know only too well the EA licences that now monopolise today's charts, all those once great games that have spawned huge franchises that release and re-release sequel after, often lacklustre, sequel year upon year. But in the deep murky past there are so many great games. Many gamers will remember; Racing Destruction Set, B.O.B, Archon, Bards Tale, Where in the world and Where in time is Carmen Sandiego, Boulderdash 2, Caveman Ugh-lympics, Chuck Yeager's Flight Simulator (a 3d flight sim on the C64!), Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, Power Monger and Zool. I can go on and on...... so I will. There's Centurion: Defender of Rome, M.U.L.E, Wasteland, Crüe Ball, Rampart, Neuromancer, The Untouchables, Robot Rascals, TKO and more. Even the original Fifa was risky. Taking on the might of top down kings Kick Off and SWOS at their own game. Isometric computer footy wasn't new but it had never been able to compete with the speed and fun of the top down twosome. Fifa took everything that was great about Kick Off and SWOS, made it look gorgeous, include tricks and flicks, set the gameplay in treacle and viola! It was a massive risk that paid off and ironically Fifa is now one of the reasons EA take a lot of stick.

Not all of these EA games are classics of the same calibre as Archon but there is a tangible commitment to fun, variety and quality for the benefit of the gamers. How could it all go so wrong and when did EA get all cynical and more interested in their profits than the gamers?

Let's not end this here. After all it is the holiday season and so I'll leave with a jolly thought with tinsel on it. XBox LIVE Arcade has done a good job of releasing games that would have been in our shops a few years ago but that now would never ever have seen a shelf in the local game shop never mind be lucky enough to sit there gathering dust. Better still the new Wiiware channel will go a step further and give developers the freedom to be ground breaking and once again we'll see new innovation, creativity and variety in videogames.