Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Mirror’s Edge Story Trailer

By Jim Rossignol on July 10th, 2008 at 11:55 am.

It’s all very pretty, yes, yes… More in-game footage please! GameTrailers’ interview with senior producer Owen O’Brien, intercut with recycled footage, concept art, and a couple of new screenshots, after the jump.

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49 Comments »

  1. mpk says:

    The voice over was very Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. Bit cliche, but it’s games innit.

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  2. “Framed for a crime she did not commit” – If her sister hasn’t been recruited by the A-Team by the end of the game I’ll be sorely disappointed (What a twist that’d be).

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  3. Ian says:

    I liked the thing until the point when she started babbling about wrongly-arrested siblings and what-not.

    That didn’t make me dislike it, I’m not that daft.

    Still, the thing sounds interesting where previously the police had turned a blind eye and what-not.

    Any bets on the sister having been transporting info that was too sensitive to a government/police official?

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  4. nakke says:

    Oh le sigh at the story.

    Hopefully the gameplay will still be cool and make up for the story.

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  5. Albides says:

    Okay, the trailer worried me, especially when it got to “kung fu fighting part” but the interview allayed those fears. Especially the disadvantages of weapons, the idea you can complete the game without one, and the fact that combat relies on momentum.

    It’s reminding me of a game of Thief played at a constant run and made all bright and blue. (Which is to say, not like Thief at all!)

    Something has to be said for the art direction. I’m loving the clean blues and shimmering skyscrapers. Conveys the idea that it’s all too pristine, that it’s a heavily regulated society. It’s beautiful, yet alienating in the way in which it doesn’t seem to allow for emotional indulgences and natural human frivolity. Just wonderful.

    The story might be shit, but I’m still looking forward to this game.

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  6. Lu-Tze says:

    “Starts the game as a runner” Oh really you say… how does she finish it?

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  7. PetitPiteux says:

    a 2d trailer (quite ‘another world’ like) of a 3D game, thats original… Isn’t that the first time a cinematic is actually less technologically advanced/beautiful/realistic/(…) than its game?

    I actually find it good news, maybe the beginning of the realization that more is not always better…

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  8. “Starts the game as a runner” Oh really you say… how does she finish it?

    Jogger?

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  9. Ian says:

    Perhaps she gets a stitch and you have to wheeze through the last bit of the game holding your tummy.

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  10. cullnean says:

    “Starts the game as a runner” Oh really you say… how does she finish it?

    a glittering demi god of doom

    or she’s really an eternal and its all a deviant plan to bring back the celestials

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  11. Lizard Dude says:

    Is it just me or does she sound exactly like a Warcraft III Night Elf archer?

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  12. sbs says:

    Here is hoping that they get the gameplay right, and also really mean it when they say “easy to learn, hard to master”.

    Would be a shame if it turned out to be oversimplified and/or inflexible.

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  13. MisterBritish says:

    Rhianna Pratchett is doing some of the writing for it. And let’s face it, it’s a classic Hollywood/game setup that we’ve managed to tolerate for years now. At least Faith isn’t an amnesiac.

    Hopefully one of the modes is a multiplayer race type thing, in the vein of those ‘bunny hill’ style maps for UT.

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  14. Kitt Basch says:

    While I was watching the story trailer the word that kept coming to mind was “unnecessary”.

    I think the problem is that they came up with a great concept for original gameplay and gorgeous visuals and then went back and decided there needed to be a plot to it.

    Maybe I’m just getting worked up because I have really high hopes for this game. I love the thought of sprinting away from a fight with a gun in hand, then leaping between buildings, tossing away the gun in mid-air to grab the ledge.

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  15. The Hammer says:

    Ahhh! Confliction!

    Obligatory sigh at the predictable captured sibling plotline!

    Optimistic Leap For Victory at news of Rhianna Pratchett writing!

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  16. Sainted says:

    Well this kinda killed the excitement for me, I really loved the first gameplay movie but this is just… meeeeh

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  17. Saul says:

    We’ve only seen a couple of sentences of the story, so I wouldn’t be pre-judging it. Sisterly love? It already seems like a more original plot than 90% of games. It’s not like there are even any original plots any more. It’s all in the execution and the detail. Looking forward to playing this one.

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  18. 18Rabbit says:

    This game will kill people who suffer from motion sickness in FPS’s. It looks like fun though I hope it doesn’t turn into a giant jumping puzzle.

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  19. James T says:

    While I was watching the story trailer the word that kept coming to mind was “unnecessary”.

    Indeed — a ‘story trailer’ for a game with a story cribbed from Super Mario Bros? Would’ve served ‘em much better to have just shut up and stuck to showing off the actual game.

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  20. SuperNashwan says:

    That trailer has left me feeling anti-excitement. Most of all it’s made me worry that Faith will be too powerful to ever feel vulnerable or hunted. I think it’ll be a massive shame if a game like this doesn’t take Thief’s approach to combat.

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  21. IvanHoeHo says:

    That trailer is nice and all, but they need to hire people who can draw/animate. I mean, I’ve seen better flash videos online.

    Other than that, though, the story is about as original as one can expect in a blockbuster(Hollywood?) action movie/game, so that’s fine.

    Oh, and what’s up with the eyeliner? They should really be careful with that stuff.

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  22. Hmm-hmm. says:

    The gameplay trailer was really all that was needed to hype me, really. I don’t care as much for the story here as for the gameplay. The idea of moving through a world like that seems awesome. And certainly, it should require an amount of skill and experience to master, but given the fact that the developers emphasise momentum and simple controls, maybe it will manage to walk that fine line between frustrating and too easy.

    I guess we’ll see.

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  23. Ian says:

    I wonder how difficult it’ll be to die? Not that people should be striving to do that, but will things be made too easy when you’re in the combat situations?

    A game like this doesn’t want to be broken up by death and re-loads, but making it too easy isn’t good either. Hopefully it’ll be one of those games where you rarely die but it’s a close thing and you often feel that you might.

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  24. Man Raised By Puffins says:

    It’s all in the execution and the detail.

    Indeedy. My only worry about this side of the game at the moment is that it’s coming over a bit over-earnest (à la Assassin’s Creed), but really it’s far too early to be making any calls on how the story will turn out.

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  25. tmp says:

    “Starts the game as a runner” Oh really you say… how does she finish it?

    Unwitting result of secret government project to genetically engineer next generation of super soldiers, the potential source of said government’s downfall and the only hope for freedom(tm) The sister is actually a clone, of course.

    At least Faith isn’t an amnesiac.

    Don’t bet on it, there’s always the implanted memories plot device.

    To be fair the writer stresses in that interview linked earlier that her characters aren’t superheroes, but rather someone real and ordinary who becomes extraordinary through the story events. So guess there’s room for some faith.

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  26. James T says:

    Would you kindly jump onto that building — your sister is in a different castle! …Oh my god, Faith, a bomb.

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  27. Alex Grose says:

    Oh dear, more tattos. It really ruins an appearence for me when there are such obvious & ugly tattoos on display.

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  28. yns88 says:

    GET OUT OF HERE, RUNNER.

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  29. phuzz says:

    “Starts the game as a runner” Oh really you say… how does she finish it?

    On a platform sliding quickly and smoothly towards a pit of flames with the promise of cake ringing in her ears….

    every time I see screenshots of this my only reaction is:
    teh pretty!

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  30. LQB says:

    There is a women protagonist so that’s already setting it apart from 90% of the games out there. Also I think alot of you judging prematurely this games story, at best the video is a cursory overview.

    PS: Also, THANK GOD, a dystopic future where the state doesn’t have soldiers and police walking around with giant body armor, with hueg shoulder pads.

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  31. Jochen Scheisse says:

    As soon as characters are called runners and the story is a tad cyberpunkey, my yay trigger is activated.

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  32. K says:

    It was a nice idea. But it looked so cheap.
    Still excited about the game, though!

    And she finishes by delivering the pizza in under thirty minutes, hurrah!

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  33. jimma says:

    Esurance commercial…

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  34. Ian says:

    “There is a women protagonist so that’s already setting it apart from 90% of the games out there.”

    If only Faith had big breasts and a mighty amount of under-boob, then we’d have ourselves a discussion. ;)

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  35. James G says:

    @K

    Careful, they’ll pick up your comment and we’ll have the game hastily re-packaged as a dominos pizza tie-in. (Enemy agents of Pizza Hut try and prevent you from making a timely delivery of course)

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  36. Marcin says:

    While I was watching the story trailer the word that kept coming to mind was “unnecessary”.

    That’s the vibe I got too. I liked the trailer, but like Garfield w/o Garfield, it would have been just fine with no voiceover. Let the game itself tell it, please. Even if it is as hackneyed as that, it’d come across better if it isn’t force-fed.

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  37. Steven Hutton says:

    @ James G

    I would totally play that.

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  38. Crispy says:

    The story is pretty arse.

    If this were the case you’d just get helicopters with infra red patrolling the skies and shooting everyone on the rooftops. It’s a terrible excuse for why you’re free running. Why can’t you just be… free running?

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  39. Solario says:

    The story doesn’t really bother me, though the motive is still pretty dumb.

    And here’s a spoiler for how it’s going to end: First paraplegic, wheelchair-bound parkour “runner.”

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  40. Bema says:

    When this game was first annouced I was really quite intrested. The first trailer knocked me down to ‘Vaguely Intrested’, and now this one has taken me towards “put off”. Congratulations Mirrors Edge. :/

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  41. Pidesco says:

    This plot really seems unimpressive.

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  42. MisterBritish says:

    @Bema

    How did the first trailer lower your expectations? And are you really going to dismiss it entirely after a 1:30 plot outline?

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  43. nabeel says:

    Runner? I hardly knew her!

    Like I commented elsewhere, I don’t understand why DICE felt they needed to do the animated short in its own style, they could have easily made it using the actual game engine, and it’d have wowed people just like the gameplay trailer did.

    nabeel

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  44. darkripper says:

    Sisters. Dice knows Rule 34 and want to be sure there’s gonna be some sort of lesbian incest slashfiction about the game.

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  45. Jonathan says:

    My opinions are the same as after watching the first trailer. Too much fight and gun. First person melee just does not work. Also hands, panting and motion blur don’t really give me a sense of real movement

    I’m waiting for some more proper in game panting lady action before I’ll get a want on.

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  46. DSX says:

    Very pretty.. reminds me of Bungi’s ONI. Only prettier. And with less robots.

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  47. Ian says:

    The only melee action in a FP perspective that made me think it can really work is the Riddick game.

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  48. Crane says:

    I don’t quite get why everyone is so down on the story. All we know so far is that Faith -thinks- her sister has been framed for a crime she didn’t commit, and is going to rescue her.

    Maybe her sister really did commit the crime. Maybe her sister is working for the government and it’s all a trap for Faith. Maybe something completely different that I haven’t thought of yet.
    If you judged a lot of modern games based on a brief outline of their story, you’d be equally unimpressed. Try describing the story of Half-Life 2 briefly, without spoiling it.
    “Gordon Freeman has returned… And it’s up to him to find a way to overthrow the aliens who rule the world!”
    Yeah. Original. The thing is, there was MORE to Half-Life 2 than that, and for all we know, there’s more to Mirror’s Edge as well.

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  49. Alarik says:

    Story trailer = complete failure (and terrible “animation”) :-)

    Teaser was nice though.

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