Third Opinion: The Fundamental Dilemma of Mirror’s Edge

November 19, 2008

Yes, yes: Not one but two Wired.com contributors have already weighed in on the first-person parkour game Mirror’s Edge. There’s still more to be said.

One of the biggest sticking points with Mirror’s Edge is that it is faced with a dilemma not unfamiliar to designers of action games. How do you make the player feel as if he is on a non-stop thrill ride, but also challenge him? Mirror’s Edge is a game about parkour. How do you replicate that sense of running, jumping, and climbing in a non-stop flow — but also penalize the player for screwing up?

It’s a tricky problem, and I don’t envy anyone who has to try to solve it. Mirror’s Edge makes a valiant effort, but falls just on the wrong side of the line: There’s just a touch more frustration than flow.

This isn’t to say that I am not having a (mostly) good time. I’m constantly on the lookout for brand-new experiences, and Mirror’s Edge certainly is one. It doesn’t make me want to vomit, as Clive Thompson found. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to give it an eight out of 10, as Baker did. But neither would I slam it, as Variety reporter Ben Fritz did — I wouldn’t have "given up out of sheer annoyance within an hour."

However, I agree with much of the insight in both of these reviews, probably because I felt myself being pulled between both extremes as I played. My Mirror’s Edge experience went back and forth between exhilarating and frustrating.

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Posted in Arts and Culture, Video Games