Rock, Paper, Shotgun

E3: The Trailers – Mirror’s Edge

By Alec Meer on July 15th, 2008 at 8:56 am.

A few quick-fire, wordless posts showing off the finest E3 visual-currency for you. Comment to come later, no doubt. First, Mirror’s Edge, with a second one beneath the cut.


Un Autre Mirror’s Edge:

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56 Comments »

  1. 15/07/2008 at 09:13 MustardMan says:

    um… So, I’m all about age restrictions and such (post “hot-coffee”, y’know, we gotta watch out for the CHILDREN), but I’m 35, and can’t view this video. There must be some SERIOUS naked building-jumping and stuff here, and my mind is REELING at the restricted content I’m not allowed to see (at 35). I’m glad I can’t see it – thanks for stopping me from becoming corrupted, gamevideos.com.

    Still pure here! (*whew*)

  2. 15/07/2008 at 09:28 Theory says:

    There’s a HD, unwatermarked version of the second trailer here.

    It’s kind of odd how Faith can strafe as fast as she can walk.

  3. 15/07/2008 at 09:30 Ian says:

    @MustardMan: Yeah, there’s a part where you use a pile of orgy-goers as a spring-board to a higher level.

  4. 15/07/2008 at 09:52 Björn says:

    Looks like it could be good fun. I really enjoyed the running about in Assassin’s Creed, so if this has fairly open spaces to run around in I’ll probably like it.

  5. 15/07/2008 at 09:57 MustardMan says:

    ADDENDUM:

    OK, silly me, I was trying to enter my month/day/year of birth, and figured that I was being asked the month first for the first (and only) field. Not only am I American, but I’m kinda simple. Apparently.

    Yes, it asks you how old you are, and you answer that field. Then you can see the vid. I WOULD ask, “What the hell kinda age verification was that? When I was 12, I woulda answered that I’m 43.”, but I don’t want to tip off the 12-year-olds here.

    Anyway, regardless, my stupid virgin ears are still pure. I’m just dumb…

  6. 15/07/2008 at 10:08 MustardMan says:

    Back on topic, and my last comment, I really want to play this, it looks kinda Portal-like-ish, in a way…

    That being said, did we ever see any trailers of Portal? Wasn’t the surprise of discovery part of the great experience? Part of me thinks that game devs shoot themselves in the foot sometimes by giving away too much too soon…

  7. 15/07/2008 at 10:14 MisterBritish says:

    I wonder if that ‘puzzle’ was an alternative route or the only way through? Levels look fairly linear from that one example, hopefully there’s at least a few choices of how to go from rooftop to rooftop.

  8. 15/07/2008 at 10:17 Tom says:

    Nice to see a real person playing that first vid, rather than a match-perfect version. Also: Faith casts a reflection when she’s hanging off the chopper!

    I’m very excited about this.

  9. 15/07/2008 at 10:34 gulag says:

    I’m glad to see some urban exploration stuff in that second trailer. It’s starting to look like a very compelling mix of UE and Parkour/Free Running. Of course it’s impossible to develop anything totally free-roaming, but I hope there are some alternative routes through levels and a time trial mode.

  10. 15/07/2008 at 10:41 Nikica says:

    The art looks fantastic, and the gameplay too, can’t wait, yay…

  11. 15/07/2008 at 11:04 Quirk says:

    Looks good. It’s going to live and die by its control system, though. The control system makes the difference between a Prince of Persia and an Assassin’s Creed…

  12. 15/07/2008 at 11:23 Someone says:

    Why did nothing happen to her when that guy shot her in the face 3 times?

    Other than that, looks pretty fun.

  13. 15/07/2008 at 12:22 Jockie says:

    Looks a bit like a straightforward platformer (without the cuddly anthropomorphic animals/ plumbers usually associated) shoved into 1st person then touted as something innovative and new to me. Still looks fairly entertaining though.

  14. 15/07/2008 at 12:38 Tom says:

    That’s what i was thinking Someone.
    Well this is the proof! Faith CAN’T BE HUMAN!!!
    :)

  15. 15/07/2008 at 13:31 MeestaNob! says:

    Now that I’ve seen this being played I’m far less certain of it than I was when the first trailer came out.

    In the near future, no one can shoot you at point blank range? It’s… immersion breakingly bad, to be honest.

    Worried.

  16. 15/07/2008 at 13:56 Alex says:

    Maybe they weren’t cops, but just people hired by a friend of hers to play with her a bit, so they were firing blanks.

    Or maybe they have really bad aim.

  17. 15/07/2008 at 14:10 cyrenic says:

    @Someone

    The same reason nothing happens to Chell when a turret shoots her in the face 3 times :P.

    I imagine there’ll be a way to ramp up the difficulty if you want.

  18. 15/07/2008 at 14:24 Mman says:

    Beyond that slightly dodgy story trailer a bit ago (made me wonder why they didn’t use the game graphics for it), this just keeps looking better for me, and the end of that gameplay demonstration was awesome (I was thinking “are they going to do that?”, and they did). Even the music seems cool already.

  19. 15/07/2008 at 14:30 Ian says:

    Is there not a possibility that they’d made the guy playing invincible so he didn’t too shit at his own game?

  20. 15/07/2008 at 15:03 Koldun(as) says:

    Oh it looks gorgeous, so fluent, real and intense. Even if it requires a pilot’s license to use the controls – I’m getting it. My only hope that it’s non-linear enough and if it’s not, than at least some replay value, please!

  21. 15/07/2008 at 15:12 Jonas says:

    An entire next-gen game built around the concept of Jumping Puzzles™. Isn’t it sort of funny that everybody hates jumping puzzles, especially in first-person games, but everybody (including me, don’t get me wrong!) loves this game?

    Also, I love the level design.

  22. 15/07/2008 at 15:18 Ian says:

    I think everybody hates jumping puzzles when there’s a high chance of infuriating, splattery death.

    Time will tell, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Mirror’s Edge.

  23. 15/07/2008 at 15:22 Jonas says:

    Heheh yeah good point. It does look pretty good – I remember DX: Invisible War as the first (only?) good example of mantling well implemented in first person, it looks like they’re going all out on Mirror’s Edge, and it looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. Also a bit scary though.

  24. 15/07/2008 at 15:29 tmp says:

    Meh, “combat” still looks ridiculous. Camera placement makes girl in soft running shoes appear roughly a head taller than fully armoured enemies, and said enemies are apparently rendered completely helpless with a tap on the nose. So much for terrrifying and strong opponents…

  25. 15/07/2008 at 15:43 Muzman says:

    Jonas says:

    I remember DX: Invisible War as the first (only?) good example of mantling well implemented in first person

    dear lord. *Cough* and if memory serves *double cough* and probably more besides.

  26. 15/07/2008 at 15:45 J. Prevost says:

    said enemies are apparently rendered completely helpless with a tap on the nose.

    Well, last time Mirror’s Edge was posted about, the complaint I saw was that “OMG, I thought there wasn’t going to be lots of people fighting with guns in this game.” I guess that means that “OMG, when you are close enough to punch people before they can fill you with lead they fall down” is progress.

  27. 15/07/2008 at 15:53 Lu-Tze says:

    As far as “Linearity” is concerned, this smells like a rental to me… I think it will be well hidden and the pressure of armed forces will push you ahead (and with this being an early level, I think that the options will be more elaborate, varied and subtle as the game goes on) but on a repeat playthrough it will be obvious that what seemed like free choice and opportunity was in fact the only possible route in many many cases. So yeah, i’m expecting the first playthrough will be amazing but when you pick it up the second time it will be all so much of the same.

  28. 15/07/2008 at 16:20 tmp says:

    I guess that means that “OMG, when you are close enough to punch people before they can fill you with lead they fall down” is progress.

    I don’t know, it feels about equal on the scale of suck, really. That is, if the enemies are supposed to be menacing to the point where i’m expected to feel threatened and run from them… then inviting me to run into them as that’s the easiest way to eliminate the threat, that’s rather self-defeating as far as whole game concept goes.

    I think it’d work out quite better if the enemies were instead highly skilled melee fighters, not equipped with firearms but very likely to defeat you if they get close enough — with single stroke it creates good incentive to run *from* them as intended (much like Pacman rules would make you generally try to avoid the ghosts) … removes the complaint about presence of guns and potential gun fights turning things even easier, and makes the whole totalitarian police thing tad bit more believable than the current cliche “keel her, KEEL her!!” bumbling idiots.

  29. 15/07/2008 at 16:29 Someone says:

    @cyrenic
    at least in Portal there were those red-injury-effects when the turrets shoot you (like when she jumped off the roof),here there’s nothing.

  30. 15/07/2008 at 16:45 Jonas says:

    Muzman: I said well implemented ;)

    I realize it’s probably a matter of preference, but until IW, I’d never played a first-person game where I felt I could trust the mantling enough to eg. jump over a deep gap to grab onto a ledge on the other side.

  31. 15/07/2008 at 16:54 cyrenic says:

    @someone

    Ah, I’m assuming there will be injury feedback from getting shot, like when she jumped. I’ll attribute that to an incomplete build or a dev “bullets can’t hurt me” mode.

    I thought you were referring to the apparent ease with which the player ran up and ninja kicked the guy. The easy difficulty levels will probably be rather forgiving about that stuff, I imagine.

  32. 15/07/2008 at 17:02 MetalCircus says:

    Anyone who acctually cares enough to put thier real date of births into these things is a moron. Just lie you bloody idiots. It’s quicker.

  33. 15/07/2008 at 17:05 Saflo says:

    So yeah, i’m expecting the first playthrough will be amazing but when you pick it up the second time it will be all so much of the same.

    Yeah, like that piece of crap “Half-Life”.

  34. 15/07/2008 at 17:53 MetalCircus says:

    Seems as though they played the opening 15 minuted of half life (with the roof top jumpy bits) and expanded on it majorly. Looks like fun.

  35. 15/07/2008 at 18:41 GeorgeR says:

    I like the concept and I’ve said it before but I keep thinking of Breakdown whenever I see stuff on Miror’s Edge. I know its going to be radically different but still.

  36. 15/07/2008 at 18:46 KindredPhantom says:

    It looks to be an interesting and enjoyable game.
    I really like the music they use for the trailers.

  37. 15/07/2008 at 20:22 kadayi says:

    You might not think it, but I’m 108 years old and was born on new years day ;)

    As for the game, still looking good and I’ll certainly be getting it, assuming it dogs out reasonably well in the release time previews. Personally I tend to be a little more forgiving of these E3 itrailers/demos in terms of what they show. The guys have fixed slots and can’t afford for technical hitches or unexpected ingame player death to foul up their show.

  38. 15/07/2008 at 20:29 Hmm-hmm. says:

    As far as “Linearity” is concerned, this smells like a rental to me… I think it will be well hidden and the pressure of armed forces will push you ahead (and with this being an early level, I think that the options will be more elaborate, varied and subtle as the game goes on) but on a repeat playthrough it will be obvious that what seemed like free choice and opportunity was in fact the only possible route in many many cases. So yeah, i’m expecting the first playthrough will be amazing but when you pick it up the second time it will be all so much of the same.

    Well, first of all, in an earlier interview it was mentioned there’ll be different modes in the game. Perhaps some of these will include special areas which allow more freedom of movement.

    Aside from that, which is just a guess, one can only hope they haven’t made it all too linear. Still, the dev guy specifically mentioned they wanted to have a certain linearity to drive the story forward.

  40. 15/07/2008 at 20:37 Devan says:

    Yeah, on one hand it would be pretty boring if the guards have aim that bad in the release game. On the other hand I think it would be just as bad if they hit you more often and you just shrug it off. But on the other-other hand, I don’t want to be on the verge of escaping when I get one-shotted by a lucky handgun round from three rooftops away.
    Hmmmmm

  41. 16/07/2008 at 01:41 Mman says:

    Taking a closer look at the trailer (most trailers nowadays do very little for me, but something about this one has led to me watching it several times). The sewer section seems to be based on a Japanese sewer: http://www.funonthenet.in/content/view/199/31/

    Which stuck out as I’ve always wanted to see a level based on something like that.

  42. 16/07/2008 at 02:58 Jonathan says:

    Shes unarmed and outnumbered 4:1 by gun bastards. Just how easy is the entry exam for coppers in totalitarian regimes? Really I think the trick to making them scary and unfightable is not to give you weapons a la Call of Cthulu. They could justify it with MGS style finger print locking and they could give you just a shove attack that would knock them to the ground for a second and a much longer incapacitate move I get the feeling Runners are fair weather pacifists as they don’t just carry Tec 9s. Also, a whole lot of shooting and scripting for a 5 minute trailer for a game about acrobatics and movement.

    Still more impressed than with the first trailer, the movement still looks off to me though. It looks like she has serious neck problems . I also like how she appears to open locked doors using just her elbow.

    Edit: Only just noticed the second trailer. Linear, too much fight but very nice art and a good sense of pace.

  44. 16/07/2008 at 05:14 Muzman says:

    Jonas says:

    Muzman: I said well implemented ;)

    I realize it’s probably a matter of preference, but until IW, I’d never played a first-person game where I felt I could trust the mantling enough to eg. jump over a deep gap to grab onto a ledge on the other side.

    Dems fightin’ werds you know.
    But seriously there’s got to be some skill involved, if you’re going somewhere off the beaten track. You picked the game where complex architecture is basically impossible and your options for movement are generally tiny. In Thief there’s actually a point to being able to climb on everything as there’s usually lots of places to go, but any essential climbs are easy.
    As far as Mirror’s Edge goes, what I want to know is, for instance, if you have to balance on that pipe between buildings or if the game does it for you, and then if you fall you can grab the pipe and overhand your way across instead if you have to.
    If that’s not the case the game will lose some of its appeal for me.

  45. 16/07/2008 at 05:17 DSX says:

    @cyrenic nice read, I like how the use of weapons actually is a deterrent since it reduces her abilities when armed. Ok, I’ll go first. Mirrors Edge = “Prince of Matrix”

  46. 16/07/2008 at 05:24 Erased says:

    The dev’s most likely had god mode on to ensure no fuck-ups would happen during their show.

  47. 16/07/2008 at 15:14 Senethro says:

    Erased is bang on the money here. Quit bitching about the guards.

    The only thing that got me was when she landed after that long slide down the cable. Didn’t see much forward momentum retained.

  48. 16/07/2008 at 15:18 MisterBritish says:

    In the first trailer they had the same cable slide section and faith sprinted off without stopping like in this one. So it’s obv. dependent on the player.

  49. 16/07/2008 at 16:08 bluespacetiger says:

    In the gametrailers version of this video you can see in the bottom left hand corner the words “god mode” in small white text. See for yourself: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36349.html it appears after about 4:50 into the video.

  50. 16/07/2008 at 21:12 Steelfist says:

    WAIT WAIT WAIT….

    Am I going insane, or does the song go “Im still alive” at the very end, after the camera has zoomed out from the city?

    Listen carefully…

  51. 16/07/2008 at 22:48 The Shed says:

    3:34. That left hand is totally a man’s hand.

  52. 16/07/2008 at 23:05 Noc says:

    Also, on the enemies: in the video, she takes on one at a time pretty easily if she can get close. But it takes a bit of time and keeps her stationary. If there’s a group, though, I imagine one would shoot you while you’re taking care of another. Unless they pull an Assassins Creed and have enemies patiently wait for you to finish what you’re doing before attacking one at a time.

  53. 16/07/2008 at 23:08 The Shed says:

    Noc’s right, clearly she can only dispose of enemies effectively when its mano-a-mano. This is a pretty good thing for keeping the realism and combat tactics flowing.

    The second trailer there is damn cleverly done, when she smashed through that first door I was so damn confused for a few seconds.

    There seem to be quite a few parallels betweent this here Mirror’s Edge and one Condemned: Criminal Origins. Both are First-Person Focused, doing new things in regards to combat and movement (Condemned and ME emphasised these respectively), with an interesting scripted narrative and concept in place. It also seems ME could suffer from the same severe linearity Condemned did. A wait and see I guess, although it should easily be worth a rent.

  54. 17/07/2008 at 00:13 Jahkaivah says:

    Laughably poor marksmanship that even a stormtrooper can be proud of.

  55. 17/07/2008 at 19:28 Jahkaivah says:

    Just noticed, near the begining of the trailer, because of the whole transition thingy it looks like she arm whacked the door OF ITS HINGES.

    THAT’S AWESOME.

  56. 18/07/2008 at 13:21 bobince says:

    It’s deadly linear and overly signposted with all the red, but it’s “an early level” so that’s probably to be expected. Hopefully this and the Pathetic Gunmen get better once you get past the tutorialising.

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