Ramblings of a Moron: Mirror's Edge

Disclaimer

"Ramblings of a Moron" is a review series done by WSGF member Cynagen. While reviews from other sites focus on extensive play and detailed postmortem analysis, "Ramblings of a Moron" is a first impression "stream of consciousness" review. The grammar isn't perfect, and the prose can sometimes be disjointed, but these are the first impressions of a seasoned WSGF Insider. For more information, and for more Ramblings, see the complete list of Cynagen's offerings.

The Rambling

The Mirror's Edge, between the glossy facade and the dirty underbelly, that is where we exist. We are Runners, we are the movers of information in a society held in the grip of total media control. The city used to pulse with life, both dirty and dangerous, as well as beautiful. It's something different now, the changes came slowly, some didn't notice, others didn't care. There were few of us who resisted, but were quickly struck down, now, this is our life, on the edge.

Enter the world of Faith Conners, a Runner in a city corrupt and under "complete" control of it's government. Once you get your feet back underneath you, you enter the world which is, and which cannot be. You live on the edge, on adrenaline, and every moment is almost certain life or death. The price your clients pay for their information to be moved under the watchful eyes of the government, pales in comparison to the price you could very well pay for doing so. Though a price must be paid to keep the world free of complete opression and control, it becomes a price too high to pay for Faith, and so unfolds her story, one of mystery, death-defying feats, suicidal missions, and adrenaline rushes.

This game oozes high production quality in all aspects. The free form movement, while akin to Assassin's Creed, cannot be compared to anything else but reality itself. The feats, while choreographed and animated, still lend a feeling of purity and originality to the game. Feats which are for the most part entirely possible in real life. The music, ambient and pulsing, give the world around you a life of it's own. The graphics, which i've always defended, are well designed and lain out across the landscape. The world is a bleak white, accents of red and blue guide your way, giving you visual cue to your path across the rooftops and through the buildings, though as you turn the difficulty up, these are removed in favor of a more true to the original concept for the experience.

I would highly recommend either watching somebody play, or playing this game yourself, however, as a purchase, it's not entirely worth it's value past 1 play through. The only thing to look forward to after playing through Normal difficulty is tougher enemies, and less coloring of the environment to make it slightly harder to discern where to go, although that's already an issue at times on normal mode.

Graphics: 10/10 - Highly polished, very aesthetically pleasing.
Audio: 10/10 - Background music amps up the action, but doesn't drown out the action.
Action: 10/10 - Your heart will race if you're afraid of heights like myself, and some of the stunts pulled... well... you're going to be amazed.
Re-playability: 4/10 - This is where the game suffers the most, see previous notes
Value to Cost: 6/10 - In my opinion, this game is worth the $60 for the production quality, but for re-playability, it's not worth anything.
Overall Rating: 80% - Recommend this as a rental.
Buy? Try It.