By Quintin Smith on February 14th, 2011 at 3:13 pm.
Edit: Superior translation added, courtesy of RPS reader Shadewind.
All aboard the speculation train to Miseryville! VG24/7 reports that Swedish site Press2Play has posted an article (Googletranslate version here) detailing a brief chat with DICE General Manager Patrick Soderlund in which he describes that development of the sequel to the 2008 parkour-inspired adventure game has “stalled”. Then again, he also says that “the parties involved in the Dice now works with another” and that “Patrick himself seems to Mirror’s Edge near the heart”, which makes the whole thing sound more than some botched romance.
Dammit, Google! Don’t worry, readers. Read the RPS fan translation after the jump.
My straight questions get straight answers. Patrick notes that Mirror’s Edge didn’t sell according to expectations and that this has prevented the sequel – which actually has been under development. EA was shown a prototype but distrustfully declined. The project has stopped – involved parties at Dice are today working on other things. Patrick himself seems to hold Mirror’s Edge close to heart but Dice unfortunately doesn’t do charity work.
It is, of course, disconcerting that EA are afraid to do Mirror’s Edge justice with a sequel and realize the winged potential that was only waiting for its chance. In a world where sequels to shitty games are piled on top of each other, it appears in our dreams as pure injustice.
14/02/2011 at 15:17 Diziet Sma says:
Canned is a bit harsh, I just took it to mean they were working on a more guaranteed franchise right now. That is, not to say, they won’t return to the project.
I hope that’s the case, I love Mirror’s Edge with a passion. As I posted elsewhere it’s one of the few games I have bought on 3 different platforms and if it came down to it I would not be opposed to playing a continuation of the story on a lower budget platform such as a portable device. Although I’d much prefer the vertigo inducing nature of the PC(etc.) release.
14/02/2011 at 15:18 AndrewC says:
Nooooooooooooooo
14/02/2011 at 15:39 stahlwerk says:
…oooooooooooooo…
14/02/2011 at 15:47 Hypatian says:
…oooooooooooooo… *thud*
14/02/2011 at 15:51 Kirrus says:
Isn’t it more of a Thud-Crack-Squish sound? I do love it, a very well designed sound..
14/02/2011 at 15:52 djbriandamage says:
*gurgle*
14/02/2011 at 15:57 Perjoss says:
(1 min silence then…)
*ambulance siren starting off very faint and slowly getting louder*
16/02/2011 at 13:19 Jan says:
Kirrus: I’d better be, considering the amount of times the game makes you hear it.
14/02/2011 at 15:17 Icarus says:
Damn, that is truly unfortunate. Mirror’s Edge is something I’d very much like to see more of, albeit with it’s teething troubles ironed out a little.
(inb4 what a shame)
14/02/2011 at 15:20 Tori says:
What a shame.
(I’m dead serious)
14/02/2011 at 15:23 heretic says:
What a shame.
: (
14/02/2011 at 15:36 Basilicus says:
Vilken skam.
:(
14/02/2011 at 15:57 Maykael says:
I’ll go even further and say:
What a fucking shame!
14/02/2011 at 16:11 simonh says:
Varning: gamla män.
Elektroniska gamla män.
14/02/2011 at 20:06 jarvoll says:
Nei. Inom veckan.
14/02/2011 at 23:29 jaheira says:
Quel dommage!
15/02/2011 at 05:00 anotherman7 says:
Mirror’s Edge shouldn’t have been a bomb.
15/02/2011 at 05:10 bill says:
大変ですね！
14/02/2011 at 15:23 Mike says:
FUCK.
Christ alive. Worst news of the year so far.
14/02/2011 at 15:24 Creeping Death says:
Mirror’s Edge 2 was a thing? I thought EA said ages ago it didn’t do well enough and would be too risky to invest in a sequel…
14/02/2011 at 15:26 heretic says:
they had a small team exploring a sequel.
14/02/2011 at 15:46 Muzman says:
The head of EA or something said Mirror’s Edge ‘deserves another shot’ from memory (just for the sheer originality of it)
14/02/2011 at 15:25 drewski says:
I don’t see the problem. Just a matter of time before it’s rebooted as a generic shooter now, which is good, right?
14/02/2011 at 15:33 SanguineAngel says:
This sentence is where dreams go to die.
14/02/2011 at 16:04 Perjoss says:
you’re probably right and its a shame, when i heard that ME could be completed without firing a gun that’s exactly what i set out to do. There are so many first person games that involve shooting / killng, it was nice to have 1 that didn’t focus on that.
14/02/2011 at 15:25 MrMud says:
benknycklande is a bit wierd in swedish as well. It translates to bonecrumpling but bonecrushing would probably be a better word.
14/02/2011 at 15:26 Tokjos says:
Benknycklande means bonecrunching.
“Projektet har avstannat – involverade parter på Dice jobbar idag med annat.”
“The project has stopped – the involved people on Dice is working with other things.”
I’d translate more, but I’ll leave that to someone who can do it more eloquently.
14/02/2011 at 15:32 Lewie Procter says:
EA seem to be showing a lack of faith here.
14/02/2011 at 15:35 heretic says:
ahahah punz :D
14/02/2011 at 15:36 stahlwerk says:
Isn’t it too early to jump to conclusions?
14/02/2011 at 15:39 heretic says:
seems like major publishers are cost cutting these days, so the mirror’s edge and dead space as new IP days are over.
they never will, but they should release the code and let some mod teams pick it up and make it good.
14/02/2011 at 16:06 Perjoss says:
@ heretic
c-c-combo breaker!
14/02/2011 at 18:46 jonfitt says:
I find their lack of faith disturbing…
Give it a minute, John Riccitiello will be choking right about… now.
14/02/2011 at 19:32 VelvetFistIronGlove says:
I guess EA doesn’t think the franchise has any legs. They’re willing to just let it fall into obscurity.
14/02/2011 at 20:41 Koozer says:
Development must’ve hit a brick wall.
14/02/2011 at 22:23 Flimgoblin says:
It’s like someone ran past and pulled the gun out of the devs’ hands.
(reaching?)
14/02/2011 at 15:34 _michal says:
Dislike.
My favourite first person game ever. We can have another battlefield/cod/moh game instead, wee.
14/02/2011 at 19:09 triple omega says:
I think Mirror’s Edge didn’t sell well for just two reasons:
1) It didn’t let you use your leet parcours skillz for anything but running away.(The combat was pathetic really.) Maybe giving you free reign to achieve a goal, like in the Hitman series for example, would have gotten a lot more attention.
2) It was freaking 6 to 7 hours long! After that, all you had was lame time-trials of levels you already did in the campaign. So that is Battlefield/COD/MoH without the Multiplayer for full-AAA-price.
If they’d just take the basics from Mirror’s Edge and put them in an assassin game(for example) and make it last a good 20+ hours with replay value, it would probably sell very well. I hope they don’t discard everything that was developed for Mirror’s Edge just because the original game didn’t sell too well.
14/02/2011 at 21:04 mrotondo says:
The more I hear people talk about this, the more I’m convinced of some bizarre schism among gamers… some people get it, some people don’t. The reason you used your parkour to run away is because you’re SUPPOSED to run away! Faith isn’t a fighter, she’s a runner! This is hammered home in the dialogue! They have guns, she doesn’t. I would’ve liked ME better if you couldn’t fight back _at all_. The tension of bouncing through the city while evading gunfire was the best part of the game.
15/02/2011 at 00:43 Jad says:
@mrotondo
Absolutely agree. While I loved the parkour and the aesthetics of Mirror’s Edge, one of my favorite things about the game was that you could complete it without killing anyone (although there were parts that were unacceptably difficult to do this).
I loved that it was as about running away — something that’s virtually unique in gaming. There’s plenty of games out there where I can be an assassin, there’s plenty of games out there where I can explore an open world. But there’s few games that combine the fluidity of motion of platformers with racing game sensibilities wrapped up in easy-to-understand urgency of “run away!”.
I feel like there’s a lot of commentators on here who think Cannabalt should allow you to punch and kick the alien invaders and should have dozens of pathways to get to your “kill”.
15/02/2011 at 01:33 Aninhumer says:
I thought the early combat where you just run down a street and have to disarm a few policemen fit into the flow of the game really well. With the exception that you had to actively drop the gun after taking it. I was entirely surprised the first time that happened, after seeing so many cuts of her disarming people and then dropping the gun immediately. It could also have done with less violent animations to make it feel more like a defensive thing and less kneeing a poor guy just doing his job in the face. The later combat was definitely stupid and completely unnecessary though.
15/02/2011 at 01:54 DigitalSignalX says:
@tripple
You don’t get it. Those games exist already. Mirrors edge was good because it was NEW in almost every way. It wasn’t supposed to be the child of Assassins Creed and COD.
15/02/2011 at 05:58 bill says:
I think it’s a game very close to portal, but it didn’t come off so well. Portal was perfectly paced and priced at about 6 hours, plus some time trials.
MIrror’s edge was also about the right length at 6 hours (and more would have been a bad idea), plus time trials. But it was priced badly and i think too many people expected it to be an FPS.
The mirror’s edge time trials were actually pretty fun, and added another 6 hours gameplay for me. Infact, in many ways they were more fun than the man game as you didn’t have to deal with the annoying combat.
MIrror’s edge needed portal’s price, and no combat. (and a sands-of-time rewind button) and it would have been a classic.
17/02/2011 at 21:33 aerozol says:
The problem was that you really shouldn’t make a free running game… that gives you NO freedom.
One of the most linear games I’ve ever played. Was a real shame, because some stuff was sooooo much fun, if it’d let me find that stuff myself, I would have been over the moon every time.
14/02/2011 at 15:34 shadewind says:
First of all “benknycklande” means “bone crushing”. And here’s a translation:
——————————–
My straight questions get straight answers. Patrick notes that Mirror’s Edge didn’t sell according to expectations and that this has prevented the sequel – which actually has been under development. EA was shown a prototype but distrustfully declined. The project has stopped – involved parties at Dice are today working on other things. Patrick himself seems to hold Mirror’s Edge close to heart but Dice unfortunately doesn’t do charity work.
It is, of course, disconcerting that EA are afraid to do Mirror’s Edge justice with a sequel and realize the winged potential that was only waiting for its chance. In a world where sequels to shitty games are piled on top of each other, it appears in our dreams as pure injustice.
———————–
Translated by a Swede ;)
14/02/2011 at 15:43 simonh says:
I think an even closer translation of “benknycklande” would be “bone crumpling”. It sounds a little odd, but frankly it sounds a little odd in swedish too and I don’t think I’ve ever heard it used before.
14/02/2011 at 15:46 shadewind says:
Yeah, I was going to write that first but that’s just weird so I assumed they actually meant “bone crushing”.
14/02/2011 at 16:10 adonf says:
Is anyone here British at all, except for the RPS four ?
14/02/2011 at 16:39 Persus-9 says:
Jag är Brittisk. Jag bor bara i Sverige.
(I’m British. I only live in Sweden)
14/02/2011 at 18:06 Teddy Leach says:
I’m British, adonf. I just refer to myself as English.
14/02/2011 at 22:37 willfarb says:
Hey Persus-9, where did you learn Swedish, in Sweden? I’ve always wanted to learn, but I’m not in the UK at the moment (complicated definition of home) and I doubt very much that New Zealand has any Swedish language schools – I was wondering if it was possible to learn on the internets at all?
14/02/2011 at 15:34 tomme says:
benknycklande = bone crushing. Not a word I have heard before :)
And yes, I’m a Swede.
In the article it says that Patrick is sad that EA didn’t want to give Mirrors Edge 2 a chance. They had a working prototype and showed the game to EA but they decided that the sales from the first game was awful and cancelled the project. Now all the involved people are working on other projects.
He is also kind of bitter about the fact that many awful games gets squels but not Mirrors Edge.
14/02/2011 at 15:34 heretic says:
maybe this game is too much like marmite.
some people (including myself) really loved the game because we could get past some of the problems it might have had, there was real potential.
others probably hated it and didn’t care to give it a chance.
still, the soundtrack is excellently ambienty electro http://www.solarfields.com/
14/02/2011 at 16:47 Starky says:
Nah I think the majority are probably really liked ME, but liked it in small chunks – and didn’t get enough value for it to be worth a full retail purchase.
I like playing ME every now and again, but I can only play it for an hour or 2 before I get annoyed with it and stop.
It is was easily worth the £5 I paid in a steam sale, but it is a game with many flaws that can easily and needlessly become frustrating.
It’s very much a shaky prototype of a great idea – a great idea that could be better implemented in other games, other IPs and become a standard part of FPS gameplay, not the focus of it – which seems like it may be happening with more and more FPS games including that kind of fluid movement.
The free running was fun, but it needed more than that to be fun for long periods, I really think ME was a great idea stretched far too thin over a full retail game.
Mirrors Edge would have worked best as a smaller game like say Portal size/length. With a $20 price point at release.
It was too experimental for success with a budget the size it had.
It’s actually a fear I have for Portal 2, that a great idea stretched too thin just isn’t as good.
15/02/2011 at 00:26 FriendlyFire says:
I’d rather see the continuation of ME myself. The idea is excellent, but the overall experience is what crystallized the game as unique. The extremely bold look (remember, this was right in the middle of the “brown era”) and great soundtrack made the interesting gameplay look and feel even better. Yes, it was flawed, but I think with some time and a chance to experiment, DICE could’ve nailed it.
In my opinion, the biggest flaws of the game were
1) Too reliant on memorization
2) Did not actually take advantage of its nice look enough (ie the latter half being almost exclusively in small, dirty corridors)
3) Zero replayability
All those can be fixed, I’m sure, and I don’t think a clone/spiritual successor/inspired game from another game dev would have quite the same feel.
15/02/2011 at 06:07 bill says:
@Starky: On the one hand i almost totally agree with you (flaws, pricing, experimentation, etc.).
And the integration of mirror’s edge style movement into crysis, brink and other standard FPS games isn’t a bad thing either. But what I personally want is another Mirror’s Edge game, because the concept was fresh, the style was stunning, and it WASN’T just a standard FPS.
It’s a bit like how Thief had a great idea, but they didn’t have confidence in it so they padded it with zombies. It was then good that ideas from Thief made it into other games, but what was really needed was Thief 2 – the core concept from Thief, but with more polish and faith. If i’d only got the former then i’d have been sad.
I think that with the benefit of experience and hindsight, Mirror’s Edge 2 could be awesome.
They could remove the combat but add some dodge moves.
They could add some DE3 style speed stealth/evasion.
They could have a few open hub levels where you could open up different routes and maybe changes in the level would block some routes and open others.
They could put a Sands-of-time-style rewind function. (to remove all the frustration you mentioned).
and they could sell it for $20.
14/02/2011 at 15:35 Subject 706 says:
Well hello from snowy Sweden. “Benknycklande” means “bone crunching”, Mr Quintin. Let me provide you foreign-speakers with a translation of the part of the article where they specifically talk about EA not being enthusiastic about a sequel :
Swedish
Mina raka frågor får raka svar. Patrick konstaterar att Mirror’s Edge inte gick enligt förväntningarna försäljningsmässigt, och att det har förhindrat uppföljaren – som faktiskt varit under utveckling. EA fick en prototyp visad för sig, men tackade misstroget nej. Projektet har avstannat – involverade parter på Dice jobbar idag med annat. Patrick själv verkar hålla Mirror’s Edge nära hjärtat, men så sysslar man inte heller med välgörenhet.
English
My straight questions get straight answers. Patrick confirms that Mirror’s Edge did not meet sales expectations, hindering the sequel – which has actually been in development. EA were shown a prototype, but were sceptical, and declined. The project has now stopped, and involved parties at DICE are now working with different projects. Patrick himself seems to keep Mirror’s Edge close to his heart, but then again, he doesn’t do charity work.
You be the judge. Am I better than Google translate?
14/02/2011 at 16:09 Quintin Smith says:
You are most definitely better! Thank you very much.
14/02/2011 at 15:36 Cinnamon says:
I thought that it was more sad to hear that LMNO was cancelled because of Mirror’s Edge to be honest.
14/02/2011 at 15:41 Njordsk says:
Use all your ressources to make BF3 perfect.
Then do whatever you want.
14/02/2011 at 15:58 CrazyBaldhead says:
Yeah, I bet you’d like that wouldn’t you?
14/02/2011 at 15:43 kyrieee says:
“Huvudkaraktären Faith trasades sönder så många gånger mot asfalten att man till slut blev döv för det köttigt benknycklande ljudet.”
That is quite a funny sentence.
“The main character, Faith, was torn to pieces against the asfalt so many times that you eventually became deaf to the meaty, bone crunching sound [of it] (literally: meatily bone creasing)”
14/02/2011 at 15:51 Muzman says:
Someone at EA needs their bones meatily creased.
14/02/2011 at 15:45 Monchberter says:
Crysis 2 looks like it’s pinched quite a bit from Mirrors Edge, but then it’s done the same with every other AAA game released in the past half decade.
On the one hand, sad that Mirrors Edge 2 looks less likely, but on the other hand, we have Mirrors Edge in a nanosuit.
14/02/2011 at 15:46 Burc says:
Translation:
My straight questions get straight answers. Patrick admits that Mirror’s Edge didn’t sell as well as planned, which inhibited the sequel – that actually has been under development. A prototype was shown to EA, but was shot down. The project has stopped – involved parties at Dice are bound to other projects. Patrick himself seems to hold Mirror’s Edge close to his heart, but he is a business man, not a philanthropist.
Of course it feels a bit sad that EA didn’t dare do justice to Mirror’s Edge with a sequel and realize the winged potential that was just waiting for a chance. In a world where sequels to shitty games are piled high it seems like pure unjustice in our dreams.
The last sentence is horrible, but it is horrible in swedish aswell. Swedish game-journalism is in a sad state…
Also: “benknycklande” means bonecrunching, specifically the kind of crunching you do to paper balls.
14/02/2011 at 16:10 Quintin Smith says:
Thanking you, too!
14/02/2011 at 15:47 Joseph-Sulphur says:
“In a world where sequels to crap games are stacked on each other, it appears in our dreams as pure injustice. ”
:(:(:(:(:(
14/02/2011 at 15:47 airtekh says:
Well bugger it anyway.
That’s put a damper on my day for sure.
14/02/2011 at 15:47 Quintin Smith says:
So many helpful Swedes! Thank you all. Gonna go with Shadewind, as he was first.
14/02/2011 at 15:47 Nathan says:
Gutted. Still one of my favourite games to come out of the last few years, and I hoped the stunning release of a similarly-selling, similarly-brave original IP investment of Dead Space 2 would signal Mirror’s Edge 2 might make an appearance. Quality oozed from that game.
14/02/2011 at 15:48 RagingLion says:
*looks up at sky* “NNnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!”
This really really bitterly disappoints me. Few other game concepts that have actually come to reality have ever excited as much as Mirror’s Edge did and when it was released I really enjoyed it and thought the freedom that you had to move through the environment fluidly was great and well implemented. I’d have loved to have seen an even more fleshed out world that I could have run through.
14/02/2011 at 15:50 CMaster says:
Playing Mirrors Edge, I always kind of wished that I was using the parcour as the means to an end, kinda like a souped up version of Deus Ex’s vent crawling.
Playing APB, I always wished it was a game much more about the Parkour.
So I guess I’m kinda confused.
One thing I’m not confused about is my hate for ME’s graphics though. Sure, the big, wide cityscapes were awesome and striking to look at. But most of the game was played in monochromatic arenas, either inside or outside. And there’s only so long I can stare at a screen whever everything glows lime-green or pure yellow before my eyes start to protest. Seriously, when the concrete starts to exude Cyan, something is wrong.
Edit: I guess what I’m saying is I’d like to see more games like Mirror’s Edge (and hell,anything that tries to smash the refridgerator box). Not sure I’m desperate for more actual ME though.
14/02/2011 at 16:10 Pointless Puppies says:
It’s called “art style”. Surely you’ve heard of it, no doubt.
14/02/2011 at 16:17 CMaster says:
Indeed. And I didn’t like it. Am I not allowed to dislike this particular art style?
My issue with it, as I tribed to describe is that while the “stark” style fits the storyline and looks good on the big cityscapes, large elements of the game take place in areas that are very, very monochrome. Most of the game was spent in an area that was just shades of green, then an area that was shades or red, then shades of blue, then shades of yellow. Combined with some kind of glow effect around the strong colour sources, it got well, monotonous and for me hard work.
14/02/2011 at 16:59 Pointless Puppies says:
I don’t think I can disagree more. I find the art style incredibly refreshing, bold, and the graphics downright stunning. The stark contrasting colors are not only incredibly attractive (and a far cry from the generic “bloomy greys ‘n browns” infatuation this generation), but also serve as a neat juxtaposition between the apparently utopian city and the totalitarian, Big Brother-ish regime. In an industry where art styles have such a simplistic “everything is bad so everything is brown, grey, and post-apocalyptic”, one-dimensional aesthetic styles, even the most primitive forms juxtaposition such as in Mirror’s Edge is a very, VERY welcoming experience.
It certainly doesn’t hurt either that the game can look downright photorealistic at times. Playing this game with a rig capable of displaying the highest settings yields the best looking game this generation hands down (Crysis, eat your heart out).
14/02/2011 at 17:02 Starky says:
I have to agree with CMaster, Mirrors Edge was amazing looking when you were outside, on rooftops but whenever the action took you indoors, or inside a building that art style just became dull and grey looking for the most part.
And given that vast chunks of the game take place in places that are only shades of gray with the odd bright primary decal and that glow effect it got old fast.
Still the cityscape was amazing and is why it’s the subject of every screenshot unlike the horrid underground/sewer section.
14/02/2011 at 17:57 Muzman says:
You’re both nuts. The game’s spaces were at least equally split between outdoor and indoor and the offices would outnumber those other indoor spaces.
Yeah, the colour schemes are strong, but they change a fair bit as well. And geez, stormdrains is relatively short, not to mention awesome. (it seems starky doesn’t actually agree with CMaster since one says it’s all grey and the other says it’s all bright primaries, but anyway…)
Appropos of nothing, the cleanliness thing really shows off the radiosity anyway. It’s quite calculated in that respect and wouldn’t hold up on a lesser renderer.
You haven’t got a wide gamut monitor by any chance Cmaster? I just got one and the game does get a little punishing.
14/02/2011 at 18:02 Mman says:
“unlike the horrid underground/sewer section.”
What? The main storm-drain area is one of the most stunning areas in the game and is also one of the more popular screenshot locations I see on articles etc. Unless you mean some other sewer part.
14/02/2011 at 20:52 CMaster says:
I went and grabbed a few screens to show what I mean. I didn’t grab any of where the game provides gorgeous vistas – the net if full of those.
(Note, despite the fact that I played the game fairly recently, the story was such rubbish that I have no idea what chapters anything really happened in (made even worse by the fact that the final level the main cop guy’s sound files broke, so I didn’t actually get most of the exposition) so these images were found by firing up mostly random checkpoints.)
An indoor area with nothing but orange and grey. Carries out the stark well and isn’t an especially strong example of what I hate, although it does look a little like a HL2 level made with just construction textures.
This indoor area has literally no colours but yellow. While the actual section shown here was a 20 second run through, these are the areas that I loathed, and actually found very tiring on my eyes. There is no other colour but yellow in this area – lots of shades of it, but all yellow. Beyond that, the strong primary elements often seem to bleed colour into the walls.
BLUUUUEEEEE. Not even different shades of it here, just a few light-blue highlights. Crazyness with the effects, although I can’t complain that this was common. Still, very monochromatic.
Just to show it isn’t limited to indoor areas – an outdoor section that is entirely orange. Again, a fairly typical monochrome area of the game.
There are some of the more secluded rooftop sections like this too, where only one colour is at all visible, although I don’t think the rooftop sections ever dye the concrete.
There’s a lot of like about the starkness, the over-cleanliness and slight unease that causes to get across what the game is trying to do. It’s certainly a relief to see filters used for something other than MOAR BROWN. But there were sections of the game where the complete dominance of one colour made it quite an unpleasant vision (to me) to have on the screen.
Also, if ME has made lots of developers want their own game to be as obvious from the screenshots what it is, I’m not entirely sure that is a good thing. Rather than achieving it with style, it seems the drive is with effects (which is of course a large part of how ME did it – the game blows very, very easily). See DX:HR and the super-strong gold/orange filter over everything.
14/02/2011 at 21:07 Starky says:
Muzman, I do agree with him, just perhaps wasn’t clear – note those screenshots everything that ISN’T a bright web colour is the same white/gray tiles.
Which is cool outside, but again look at that video, except for the objects you jump on and half the walls everything is grey.
Basically the game is 2-tone (or monotone) for a lot of it, as I said that looks amazing in big open area’s, but when running and jumping down halls or vents it was just dull.
Mman, I mean this section: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2pX2OFU6hw
Which is by far one of the most boring sections, visually and otherwise.
The last level in the enemy base (whatever it is I forget, the one where you start in the parking garage) is pretty dull visually too.
14/02/2011 at 21:34 WildcardUK says:
Art is always subjective.
I personally liked that the colour was clinical, monochromatic and almost oppressive in places. I took from it that the powers that be were trying too hard to cover up their totalitarian regime but that they didn’t really know how. They fundamentally misunderstood what it was to be safe and comfortable and instead achieved harsh and sterile. I felt like, if I were allowed to scratch through the unimaginative colour, I’d find the browns and filth of the usual ‘gritty FPS’ lurking barely beneath the surface.
Of course no one is wrong in these situations. It worked for me but obviously not for others. Marmite, as I think others have said :)
On the main topic I am sad to hear this. I loved ME (and I even liked what little story it had)!
14/02/2011 at 22:46 Mman says:
“Mman, I mean this section: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2pX2OFU6hw
Which is by far one of the most boring sections, visually and otherwise.”
That’s not helping your argument considering I see shots of that area frequently in articles etc and it’s generally brought up as one of the most visually dramatic and iconic areas in the whole game (fitting that the shot on this post about the game happens to be around that area).
15/02/2011 at 01:31 DrGonzo says:
That’s strange, because I thought it was also the weakest part of the game. I didn’t think it was particularly ugly though, but it did look almost identical to the sewer sections of Half Life 2 to me, albeit no where near as pretty as HL2.
15/02/2011 at 01:59 Mman says:
Outside of the chase through the open-air half-pipe thing at the start of that level (which is vaguely like some of the Airboat areas) I can’t think of anything about it like HL2 visually. I should note I’m specifically talking about the collosal pillar room, I’d agree the areas around it are somewhat less impressive.
15/02/2011 at 05:54 bill says:
@CMaster:
But those shots all look good. Stylish. Original. Artistic. Whatever you want to call it. And those are the worst you could find?
I always felt Mirror’s Edge was designed by Graphic Designers, whereas most games are designed by game designers.
That said, the graphics in mirror’s edge were more than just style. They gave the game it’s great atmosphere. But they also delineated the areas clearly and gave clear yet subtle visual hints on where to go,
Remember that most of the levels in mirror’s edge were designed to be raced through at high speed* so the strong color transitions gave a sense of both progress and contrast. I remember racing from the pure white outside, slamming through a door into a red corridor, and then smashing out into the white again – it gave a great feeling that more mixed/plain colors wouldn’t have conveyed.
If you’ll only see a corridor at high speed for a few seconds then it needs to make a strong impression or it all blurs into one.
I seem to remember that blue station as being somewhere you raced through at high speed, for example.
*and this was one of the inherent weaknesses of ME. If levels are designed to be passed through at high speed then it’s hard to have length. So they padded it out with annoying combat, or made some levels that you couldn’t flow through so easily. And those were definitely the weakest points.
14/02/2011 at 15:51 Hypatian says:
*sigh* That sucks. A lot. When I heard they were going to give ME2 a shot, it made me much more optimistic about the state of the industry. Hearing that they’ve canned it… well… yeah. Seems like we are one step closer to a world where all games are about testosterone-poisoned mans with roid rage face-shooting each other to death in brown brown worlds.
Very sad. :(
14/02/2011 at 16:48 DeathHamsterDude says:
Now now, don’t cry . . . it’s not all that bad . . . the worlds may be orange and teal.
14/02/2011 at 15:51 bansama says:
While the first may not have sold well at release, few could deny it’s gained a significant following. Not putting out a sequel is just down right saddening given that fact. Mirror’s Edge still remains one of my firm favourite games and was one of few first person perspective games to actually offer up something interesting for once.
Seriously flawed choice by EA not to green light the sequel =(
14/02/2011 at 23:43 Dances to Podcasts says:
That’s what I was thinking. So what if you lose some money on the first iteration of a game? Each new version of the game after that profits from the previous ones. There’s less work on the tech since the hard parts were already done in the first part. There’s less marketing costs since people will know and remember it from the first one. And you’ve got some built in sales from the fans of the first game.
14/02/2011 at 15:56 Artist says:
Wait, so the douche that tried to patent “Edge” finally wins? Nooooooooo…..
14/02/2011 at 16:11 stahlwerk says:
…ooooooooooooo…
14/02/2011 at 18:07 Teddy Leach says:
… ooooooooooooooooooo…
14/02/2011 at 20:03 sebmojo says:
…oooooooOOOOOOOOOooo….?
What?
I’m… FLYING! I can do it, Ma, top of the world, just like I –
=]MEATY BONE CREASING CRUNCH[=
14/02/2011 at 15:56 HelderPinto says:
No “Tango Down”, therefor canned.
14/02/2011 at 15:58 Monchberter says:
This is all about money. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I hate you gaming. I hate youuuuu!!!
EA, sell the rights to Valve please. Let them hone it and then release it and make billions.
Then realise you’re wrong for canning Mirror’s Edge 2.
14/02/2011 at 16:52 DeathHamsterDude says:
Omigod! Can you imagine if Valve did Mirror’s Edge 2?
*drools*
That would be such a freaking amazing game. If there’s anyone I trust to take a first-person-parkour game to it’s limits, it would be Valve.
Or, hell! Alyx was very sprightly in Half-Life . . . maybe they should create a Mirrors Edge-alike set in Ctiy 17! Omigod omigod omigod!
/Fanboi
14/02/2011 at 18:59 drewski says:
EA would have to release DICE to work on it, though, as they’re a wholly owned subsidiary.
14/02/2011 at 15:59 Ravenger says:
I loved Mirror’s Edge. A flawed masterpiece. Breathtakingly beautiful, and the ‘body awareness’ of the parkour was amazing. No game before or since has made me feel that I’m actually there like Mirror’s Edge did.
The combat bits were flaky and the story made no sense, but the freedom of movement and the sense of speed and urgency while parkouring over the rooftops were amazing.
I don’t get why they wouldn’t do a sequel, especially as Dead Space didn’t sell well but they gave that one a second chance.
I would have bought Mirror’s Edge at launch but it had EA’s obnoxious Securom DRM with 3 activations and no revoke, so I waited (a long time) until it appeared on Steam with no extra DRM and at around £5.
14/02/2011 at 18:24 Stephen Roberts says:
I’m agreein’s with everything ya said there. Mirror’s Edge (apostophe as it’s the mirror possessing the edge right?) captured something fairly unique experiences in a single beautifully presented package. It was a shame that it was brief and had an awfully fatuous story and dialogue.
I loved it, and often play a small portion again just for that feeling of efficacy and immersion. And the bloom on white might have been too much outside but my god did it look lovely. I mean they really got the lighting right. The bounce lighting from the brightly coloured sections reflected perfectly from the white ones. It was staggeringly well rendered, and strikingly iconic.
It’s greatest flaw was that, while appearing to understand free running, it missed out on the one thing free running is supposed to give a person. That thing is freedom. Liberation. Wings. Whatever you want to call it, the level design and the guards-shooting-you-all-the-time crushed almost all sense of what it means to use free running to get places. If they could pitch a new game where the player is at liberty to roam without sounding like an Assassin’s Creed clone perhaps we would get somewhere.
I picture a decent sequel as a game with one or two huge persistent maps that you are encouraged to really get used to and, unlike assassins creed, you can find well hidden and clever routes and jumps to make your way about. The more time you spend exploring the quicker you’ll complete levels or missions or whatever. But sometimes that puts the free back into free running.
There’s always hope, Parkour fans.
14/02/2011 at 20:13 Ravenger says:
It’s a great example of how an unrealistic graphic and lighting style – bloomed dazzling whites with splashes of pure primary colours can become hyper-realistic – a heightened sense of reality, more real than real really.
The ambient noises of traffic, etc also really added to the atmosphere.
I want more :(
14/02/2011 at 16:02 DaFishes says:
Just watch, EA will spin this as “See? Games with female protagonists who aren’t sex bombs don’t sell.”
15/02/2011 at 01:36 DrGonzo says:
What? She clearly was designed as a sex bomb though. I dislike the fact that smaller tits than Lara Croft suddenly means she isn’t still a sex symbol. If they had made her ugly then I could see your point though.
15/02/2011 at 08:25 Thants says:
I don’t think she was. I mean, she’s an attractive lady, but “sex bomb” doesn’t just mean “not ugly”.
14/02/2011 at 16:03 Pointless Puppies says:
And here I thought EA had finally changed their ways from sequel milking and go with a little originality. They seriously can’t “afford” a pet project, even if it doesn’t give them “OMG SUPER EPIC SALEZ1!!1″?
What a bunch of bullcrap. And this year in gaming was so great, EA had to waltz in and ruin it for us >:| But don’t mind me. I’m sure the forty-seventh expansion for the Sims is gonna be OFF THE WALL, M I RITE?
14/02/2011 at 16:04 Muzman says:
Others have brought this up, but they’re making a mistake somewhere. My sense too is that as time has worn on and the thing has been on sale for next to nothing repeatedly, people have given it another chance or had some time to get used to it (or just enjoy it for what’s good about it). Its gained a bit of cult following in other words. The look of the game has become somewhat iconic too. Most people I know who game a little bit have heard of it or recognise its design.
Chucking that away seems crazy.
Oh well. Release the fully specced mod tools now. Let the fans perfect it. The kind of level design needed for this is so novel it’s really no wonder at all that they didn’t nail it the first time around. Throw it open.
14/02/2011 at 16:06 The Pink Ninja says:
Gosh darn it, I was really looking forward to the next Mirror’s Edge. Though flawed it was both beautiful to look at and very original in its play-style.
I think there are two lessons here:
1) Games lack such originality that one about running away really fast seems like a breath of fresh air and that simply using white instead of the primary gaming colours of brown, green and grey can lead to great beauty
2) Why should anyone innovate when a) It’s harder and leads to lower quality of work and b) Doesn’t sell all that well
14/02/2011 at 19:09 drewski says:
It’s pretty rare that ambitious, new IP does extremely well – even Deus Ex did OK, rather than spectacularly, on release.
Having said that, unlike Dead Space, I don’t think the Mirror’s Edge franchise quite caught the public’s imagination. I don’t claim to know all gamers, but the ones I do know tend to be pretty populist and whilst Dead Space was a title they played and liked, none of them tried Mirror’s Edge.
14/02/2011 at 16:08 Hunam says:
What’s annoying is that Mirror’s Edge is a massively influential game. It showed the work that acrobatics can work in first person but most of all, it’s biggest impact is the unique visual style, I can’t count how many times I’ve read a developer since saying something like “When you saw a screen shot of Mirror’s Edge you knew right away what game it was from, we want our game to do that”. Since then developers have taken note that making your game visually unique is an important step because they want their fans to know it’s their game when ever they see it.
This is a massive shame to be honest, but I hope that somewhere down the line DICE and EA look back on this as the mistake it is.
14/02/2011 at 16:30 Starky says:
Isn’t that almost always the way though with things though, someone does it first and fails badly, because it was a great idea it wasn’t a great implementation.
Then someone else comes along (usually Blizzard or Valve) and just does it right, gains all the glory.
now a lot of games are taking that idea of fluid ME like movement in first person and applying it to shadard shooters, for the improvement of the genre as a whole.
Ironically, if ME has been a bit better of a shooter, had mixed it’s idea’s with more traditional FPS game play, it would have been a LOT more successful.
Instead it flopped – sure we all own it, but we all own it due to a £3 steam sale (at least the larger share of owners paid next to nothing for it).
14/02/2011 at 16:08 Hoaxfish says:
Even if Mirror’s Edge 2 is dead I hope someone loots the corpse.
The visual style (a.k.a bright colours, clean flat surfaces, sunshine) is visually distinct and pretty damn nice to look at. It deserves to live longer than the one title.
14/02/2011 at 16:08 Robbert says:
I just played through Mirror’s Edge for the third time yesterday and every five minutes I just thought “Damn that’s a great game”. This news feels like a kick in the balls.
14/02/2011 at 20:08 sebmojo says:
I suspect you’ve never been kicked in the balls.
14/02/2011 at 16:09 kobre12 says:
Shame, ME is GREAT game…:(
14/02/2011 at 16:18 chills says:
And off I go to install it for the 6th time. Why do I keep uninstalling it when I know I’ll end up playing it all over again every month or two.
14/02/2011 at 16:18 vodka and cookies says:
Well Dead Space got a sequel though I think the original did okay in the long run to justify the green light.
I guess Mirrors Edge wasn’t as fortunate which is a shame indeed, maybe one day it will get another chance.
14/02/2011 at 16:24 Xercies says:
Surely they should have earned a lot of money from those many Mirrors Edge sales they have done to give at least one sequel a try, have they never heard of cult classics?
Shame on this industry for being so bloody dissapointing.
14/02/2011 at 16:28 Lewie Procter says:
Yes. Mirror’s Edge for sub £5 on PC is always a popular deal.
They did give it away for free about a year after release though…
Edit: look at the comments here:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/11/13/the-rps-bargain-bucket-buy-mirrors-edge/
Lots of people really like Mirror’s Edge.
14/02/2011 at 16:33 Starky says:
That is the problem though isn’t it, ME sold a lot but it sold a lot at rock bottom prices and sold pitifully at release (and on consoles).
So lots of cheap PC sales won’t even become close to making a game with a budget the size of ME’s into profitability.
They may have broke even on it, though I doubt that – but clearly there wasn’t enough return on investment for them to risk a sequel.
14/02/2011 at 16:40 Lewie Procter says:
Probably true. It was down to £15/£10 very quickly on the consoles too.
14/02/2011 at 16:43 Muzman says:
The point is, regardless of inital profit, a sequel now has an audience.
Based on the initial run’s ratings there was no reason to come back on Star Trek either (for a slightly more extreme example)
14/02/2011 at 16:44 Lewie Procter says:
See Dead Space 2, which has doubled the firsts sales (I think.)
14/02/2011 at 16:55 Starky says:
I disagree that ME has an audience for a sequel – and clearly EA do too.
I think ME might have an audience for a smaller, more focused sequel, throwing out all of the story fluff (it was crap anyway), and just going level based, as a running racing game (with multiplayer racing). Which would be possible on a substantially smaller budget.
Release that as a XBLA/Steam game with a £15/$20 price point and it would make a profit.
As a full £40/$60 medium budget title (10 million more) release I don’t think there are enough people who’d buy it.
I think the same thing would happen, everyone would wait until it was cheaper/on sale because full retail is just too much money for a game so experimental.
14/02/2011 at 18:14 bob_d says:
@ Muzman: Yeah, exactly, it makes no sense to give up on the franchise now that they’ve spread the word with the low-priced specials that built up a potential audience for a sequel.
@Lewie Procter: Doubling the sales of the first game is a bit unusual, but it’s certainly game industry wisdom that making a sequel to a modestly selling game, as long as the name has some recognition, is a safe bet, as the sequel is almost guaranteed to sell better than the original. You have the original marketing, player base, and word of mouth (even if that didn’t inspire people to buy the earlier game) that add to sales of subsequent games. Although I have only anecdotal evidence for this, I think the effect is even more pronounced when we’re talking about games that introduced new styles of gameplay. (The first game acts as an introduction to an idea, both for the developers and the players, and both are more comfortable with it by the time the sequel is made/released.)
@ Starky: Just because the first game sold a lot of copies for relatively little doesn’t mean any sequels would be stuck with the lower pricing. (See: Portal / Portal 2.) The most important thing for a sequel is that people are aware of the original, whether they played it, whatever they paid for it (even if it was nothing), or just heard about it. Name recognition and positive word of mouth are incredibly important.
14/02/2011 at 20:55 Starky says:
Portal is a massive exception, because it worked AND sold well (As part of the Orange box sure, but that was just smart by valve), was funny, witty and generally held as one of the best gaming experiences on any platform.
Even then there is a massive risk with Portal 2 that over a full length game portal will wear out it’s welcome, and Valve adding more stuff (gels etc) will just take away from the perfect simplicity of the game play it had.
Valve did it the smart way, did a small experiment, if no one liked it and it failed, then it wasn’t a huge loss – mirrors edge did it the wrong way.
Granted name recognition is a great thing and can indeed boost sales in a sequel – but not always, but the first Mirrors Edge was a great concept stretched way too thin over the length of a full game.
I seriously doubt making the same mistake again would change that – the only way ME2 would work is if they gave it decent shooter mechanics as well as the free running, because it just can’t carry a single player game alone as they tried with the first.
Mirrors edge worked as a running/racing game, it needed online multiplayer racing (say 8 runners), proper tracks and such from the start. time trial just wasn’t enough.
14/02/2011 at 21:40 bob_d says:
@ Starky: I think the Portal model (of making a smaller, cheaper game to introduce a new style of gameplay followed up by a full-scale, full-price release if successful) is brilliant, and more companies should be doing that (and they probably should have done it with ME). But it’s hardly the only game that semi-successfully introduced new styles of gameplay that were more successfully followed up on in a sequel. Sequels in general build on the success of the prior games; the only less successful sequels that I can think of off the top of my head were created by third-parties as a cheap way of capitalizing on an IP (and which generally didn’t understand what made the original so successful), or in cases where they did far too many sequels.
I can’t meaningfully speculate on what might have ended up in ME2, but they had had some time to think about what worked and didn’t in the first game and were in a great position to elaborate on the best bits, so it’s quite possible that the second game would have been the game that people were hoping for originally. (Who can say?) All I know is that selling a lot of copies, however cheaply, put them in a great position to make the sequel far more successful, just as Valve’s giving away of Portal helped position Portal 2 for greater success.
15/02/2011 at 07:11 Muzman says:
It’s also worth noting that Starky isn’t just arguing against a second Mirror’s Edge with this but sequels to Thief, System Shock, Deus Ex, Unreal…
(although unreal 2 in and of itself wasn’t an enviable performer)
14/02/2011 at 16:26 MrCraigL says:
for shame EA, for shame.
14/02/2011 at 16:30 Theory says:
There is a screenshot. Sort of. This Frostbite tech demo is clearly using Mirror’s Edge art assets.
Also: :-(
14/02/2011 at 19:40 stahlwerk says:
Frostbite driven Mirror’s Edge? Outstanding sound rendering, destructible environments, gigantic levels? (In-engine cutscenes that actually look good?)
And all that could have been… :-(
14/02/2011 at 17:12 Oak says:
I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a sequel more. Mirror’s Edge was an exercise in frustration, but only because it was so clearly a brilliant game hobbled by a few woefully stupid design decisions. It was like your cousin, who could be teaching astrophysics at Harvard, but just sits in his parents’ basement getting high and watching Star Trek reruns.
15/02/2011 at 01:42 DrGonzo says:
That sounds A LOT more fun than studying Astrophysics at Harvard to me!
15/02/2011 at 14:18 WJonathan says:
Right, but… TEACHING Astrophysics while high is the most fun of all.
14/02/2011 at 17:33 Resin says:
I’m kind of bummed, but my expectations from EA are pretty low.
I have to say I would be more interested to play a game that has learned from Mirror’s Edge than just a watered down sequel of the same IP, both the world and Faith.
Now a good sequel that kept what was right about ME while smoothing out some of the other bits that would have been awesome.
…..maybe we can do parkour in Dear Esther….[sic]
14/02/2011 at 17:53 MDS says:
No matter how good the game, sometimes after a long day at work in the dark winter months, I don’t feel like talking to a Krogan about his feelings or busting a blood vessel trying to counter an unstoppable army of siege tanks…
But I never get ennui for Mirror’s Edge; it always cheers me up! Running around in the ‘fresh air’ and sunlight in a beautiful city is a great antidote to grim grey days in the office and getting off the Underground home in the dark…
I don’t care about its many flaws, any news indicating there won’t be more, better Mirror’s Edge makes me sad. :(
14/02/2011 at 17:56 Big Murray says:
A shame, but you can see why. Mirror’s Edge was a great idea which was wrapped in a completely half-arsed, last minute story and repetitive gameplay.
What a proper sequel with a quality story implemented from day one could do … *drool*
14/02/2011 at 17:57 Mman says:
Since Dead Space sold badly at first, but they went on with the sequel despite that and it sold far better, I thought that would mean EA would explore games like ME that didn’t sell great at first, but apparently not.
Then again “stalled” could mean almost anything in terms of what could happen in the future.
14/02/2011 at 18:04 Zanchito says:
FUCK EA!!! I HOPE YOU RUN YOUR SHITTY GAME-CLONING BUSINESS TO THE GROUND AND DOWN TO HELL AND SATAN ^molests your poopy-hole^ WITH HIS TRIDENT SIDEWAYS!
I have two copies of Mirror’s edge, one physical and a digital one, and their cursomer treatment is abysmal. I also have the DLC, which I keep sculpted into a granite CD, because they won’t let you redownload it after a week has passed from purchase.
I’m beyond outraged, and I’ll procceed to demolish a few walls headbutting them.
14/02/2011 at 18:06 Rhin says:
I could never like Mirror’s Edge. I wanted to…. I like games like Prince of Persia, Assassin’s Creed, etc that feature a more limited free-running system, and I like Youtube parkour videos, and I enjoy buildering in real life.
I hated Mirror’s Edge. I hated the pace of the game, I hated the wobbly camera, I hated the fact that the fuzz were always one-step ahead/behind/above you. I hated how closely the choppers could follow you. I hated that you were corralled into “the route” without a full sandbox environment.
14/02/2011 at 18:23 Pidesco says:
That Dead Space got a sequel but Mirror’s Edge didn’t just says it all. :cries:
14/02/2011 at 18:26 Jason Moyer says:
Out of the hundreds of games in my PC gaming collection, ME is one of the very few non RPGs that has earned a permanent place on my harddrive. Damn it EA.
14/02/2011 at 18:32 Nimic says:
Didn’t like it. Don’t care.
14/02/2011 at 19:01 heretic says:
somehow you cared enough to read the article and post.
14/02/2011 at 19:46 coldvvvave says:
I cared enough to buy it on Steam for 20$.
Then I got annoyed by tedious trial and error gameplay.
14/02/2011 at 21:42 SanguineAngel says:
Did like it. Do care
14/02/2011 at 19:20 Dave L. says:
I could’ve sworn that Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space had comparable sales. And (at least on the PC version) there’s still leaderboard churn for Speed Runs and TIme Trials, so people are obviously still playing it. And I would’ve thought that the sales of the iPhone version would’ve shown enough continuing interest in the IP that they would’ve tried to release at least one more full game.
It sucks for DICE, since they’re going to be trapped doing endless Battlefield sequels and the MP components for every other EA shooter.
14/02/2011 at 19:24 drewski says:
Mirror’s Edge just sneaked over 1m, Dead Space was closer to 1.5m.
Not sure if those figures include cheapo Steam sales or not.
14/02/2011 at 19:28 Davie says:
So do we get to pile the hate on EA again? THOSE SLITHERING BASTARD SPAWN OF MENTALLY INHIBITED ARTHROPODS
I never actually played Mirror’s Edge, but from everything I saw it was one of the more interesting and unique games of 2008 (2007?) and it really pisses me off that EA’s refusing publication in favor of, I would assume, Battlefield 3, which will probably be good, but not innovative or different in the slightest.
14/02/2011 at 20:21 heretic says:
It’s a shame DICE never released modding tools for ME, its a game that has a huge potential but fell short in some aspects like storyline (which was the worst for me tbh, the combat I can deal with, but crappy plots no)
people tried modding for it by changing files but sometimes it kicked the copy protection system in and made the game unplayable… really lame, with mods it could have sold more imo.
14/02/2011 at 20:38 coldvvvave says:
@Davie
>but from everything I saw it was one of the more interesting and unique games of 2008
Yes Mirrors Edge is unique but sometimes it’s not really a good thing. The whole gameplay basis – running was IMO deeply flawed and more or less didn’t work. It wasn’t fluid, at least for me. It was plagued by trial and error when if you don’t know what to do you’re dead. Sometimes it’s good, but mostly in sandbox games like STALKER when you learn by trial and error. In ME you are not learning anything( unless you want to remember every single inch of map), you are running through a mostly linear level and all the freedom you have is ability to choose a different block to jump on. And if it looks like a place where you can jump but devs decided it’s not – you are going to fall and reload a level.
So, In my opinion, once in a while EA had a legitimate reason to shut some unfortunate game down.
14/02/2011 at 21:16 Navagon says:
The first game was very fresh, distinct and innovative. An instant classic. Admittedly it had its faults. It was pretty damn short and the manshooting sucked to the point where most were left wishing it wasn’t included at all. But on the whole it was a fantastic game.
I just hope all these cuts won’t affect the new Syndicate. :( Still no news on this one.
14/02/2011 at 21:18 Kadayi says:
Damn it. I was rather hoping that EA were going to give it another chance. The original is a flawed classic. Certainly not perfect by any stretch of the imagination (there were some frustrating difficulty spikes in there), but unique enough that with critical feedback I’d of expected DICE to come back with a much more polished sequel (in the same way Bioware did with Mass effect 2 Vs Mass effect 1).
I guess with the economy as it is right now, EA are feeling the pinch to the extent that the only thing they can back sure fire hits, which is a real pity, but understandable given the state of the world at present.
Here is personally hoping that when things ease up (and BF3 is out the door) that DICE & EA reconsider the present situation.
14/02/2011 at 21:22 faelnor says:
Funny that everyone states the same thing about shooting in Mirror’s Edge. I rarely used it but when I did it felt pretty solid. What exactly was wrong with the ways guns were handled? Surely, not knowing how to reload was to be realistically expected for a non-violent runner always on the go?
The weapons didn’t feel half bad to me, especially that sniper rifle. I’m pretty sure a decent shooter could have been made out of the game actually…
14/02/2011 at 21:38 somini says:
Exactly. The sniper rifle is just like DICE does them… If Mirror’s Edge was to become a shooter(NOOOOOOOOOOOO!! EA, forget what I said) it would be pretty good. Just like Bad Company 2.
14/02/2011 at 21:47 Urthman says:
I think it was more that people were enjoying the running and jumping and climbing so much that to be handed a gun and told, “now stop running around and having fun and just shoot some guys” was disappointing no matter how good the shooting was.
15/02/2011 at 04:12 bill says:
i wouldn’t know about the shooting as i never picked up a gun. Why would i pick up a gun in this kind of game?
But the parts where you had to fight through loads of bad guys were a lot less fun than the ones where you had to run and climb.
That’s what people didn’t like.
14/02/2011 at 22:26 The Magic says:
You’d find more cheer in a graveyard
14/02/2011 at 22:44 Mman says:
Delete please; Wrong reply
14/02/2011 at 23:59 eclipse mattaru says:
You know what, EA? Now I hope everyone torrents that stupid Crysis 2 leak and you die buried under the millions of boxes of unsold copies.
And then some boxes of Battlefield 3 and Dead Space 2 and whatever other stupid sequels you have around will fall on top of all that, just for the sake of gratuitously badmouthing stupid sequels you do greenlight, because I’m *that* pissed. Stupid >:(
15/02/2011 at 00:20 Dances to Podcasts says:
You know that list of IMPORTANT games you’re making? There’s still time to put Mirror’s Edge on it.
15/02/2011 at 00:41 Pandagod says:
they better bloody not be. i freakin’ love mirrors edge, it dared to do something new but didnt get the praise it deserved :(
15/02/2011 at 01:41 Pantsman says:
This is sad, sad news. ME was one of my favorite games of 2009 (08?).
Still, its ideas have been taken up by numerous developers and incorporated into numerous games that will soon see release, such as Brink and EA’s own Crysis 2. If those do well, maybe EA will rethink things. Fingers crossed!
15/02/2011 at 02:27 bill says:
Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok. I’m late, but it still needed to be said.
The second half was flawed, but the first half is so great that a sequel is surely needed. Show some guts EA!
(imho they just need to replace the combat with high-speed slidey stealth).
15/02/2011 at 02:33 bill says:
PS/ I have a great idea!
Why don’t they take the two best, stalled, underselling awesome games about non-combat non-sexualised female protagonists (mirror’s edge and BG&E) and mix them into one awesome game. First person parkour, with small speed-stealth puzzles and need to sneak into places to take incriminating photos, then get out alive.
and a big pig.
15/02/2011 at 02:41 karthink says:
You just made my day.
15/02/2011 at 02:42 DOLBYdigital says:
…… *head hung low, looking at the keyboard*
Not many words to say, disappointed would be the first… I do feel the rage building in me against EA, but I’ve been pissed at EA for so long now I’m almost numb.
Sucks that EA owns DICE however I’ll hope that another dev will create a similar styled game and when it sells well I’ll laugh a little inside. Indie devs and/or modders unite!
15/02/2011 at 03:03 EBass says:
To be fair to EA we all want to blame “someone” an entity for this, but giving Mirror’s Edge the go-ahead was a big and laudable decision in the first place. Much as I hate it its not like they are cancelling it because of some malevolent desire to destroy original gaming. They are cancelling it because they are a business and it didn’t sell well. The fault lies with us as a culture. Be serious, how many of you actually bought the game?
15/02/2011 at 03:45 Pantsman says:
I bought ten copies, you insensitive clod!!!!!1111
15/02/2011 at 04:08 bill says:
me.
but i paid $5 like a lot of people (i suspect)
i’d have paid more if i could though.
15/02/2011 at 10:24 Tom4J says:
15/02/2011 at 10:26 Tom4J says:
“PS/ I have a great idea!
Why don’t they take the two best, stalled, underselling awesome games about non-combat non-sexualised female protagonists (mirror’s edge and BG&E) and mix them into one awesome game. First person parkour, with small speed-stealth puzzles and need to sneak into places to take incriminating photos, then get out alive.”
and a big pig.
also:
I love Mirrors edge, bought it on realse and still play it now and then, its fantastic. But i don’t think it really needs a sequel, they’ll probaley ruin it for “moar monies!” and turn it into another sandbox manshooter, when really ME has more in common with track racing games. Sandbox gaming is all very well and good, but IMO is not the point of ME, which is to shave those few extra seconds of your time over a pre-determined route using your surroundings.
ME is the best example of wayfinding (gotta love that scandinavian design) i have ever seen in video gaming.
Tom
15/02/2011 at 15:52 Mman says:
There’s still hope!
The Dice General Manager posted this on twitter:
“Fascinated how serious game media sites can stir up an article based on rumor milling, loose quotes and assumptions.”
15/02/2011 at 16:36 joeymcjoeysalot says:
I was really hoping they would make a less shooty/fightingesque sequel to an otherwise brilliantly fun game
16/02/2011 at 09:59 yourgrandma says:
… well i guess you will never see me buy a EA game first hand ever again. Pretty much the last glimpse of hope for the FPS genre was just dropped on its head. To me they have the worst business practices of any game company even worse than UBI. Ubisoft may have awful drm but at least they keep their multiplayer servers up for decades after release.