John Zeitler

As long as we’re talking about games that are awesome and I’m having a blast with, let’s plug Mirror’s Edge. I played the demo late last year, and finally managed to pick it up over the weekend thanks to some sales. Now, granted, it is short (or maybe it just feels that way to me) and, at first, it’s very much a trial-and-error thing. The controls are less than ideal at first– most of your work is going to be in your left hand, which is a bit unusual to say the least– but you get used to it quickly.

What really has me about the game, though, is the somewhat placid nature of the goals. Faith (the player character) isn’t equipped with a gun, and she’s not that great of a shot if she gets her hands on one, either. Evasion is prioritized far higher than combat, which suits me just fine. It can’t be considered a stealth game, either, because Faith is anything but inconspicuous against the bright, sterile backgrounds. Simply getting from point A to point B is the entirety of the game, and it works wonderfully. About the only thing I don’t like– and still didn’t like from the demo– is that Faith doesn’t care to reach out towards the vertical pipes if my aim is just slightly off of them. Let’s just say that I greatly prefer climbing up pipes than attempting to slide down them having a high-velocity moment of communion with the pavement.

Oh yeah, it probably doesn’t help that I have a mild fear of heights, and that whenever the compass tells me my next goal is across an impossibly-wide gap between buildings, I instinctively shout obscenities at the compass.