Topic: Mirror's Edge gameplay footage

[Quemaqua]

I love the look of the world and the idea of the gameplay, and getting to see some more footage makes me think I'd really enjoy it.  However, that's not nearly enough gameplay for me to spend money on.  As broke as I am, I need some fucking substance, please.  I just can't justify the expense.  On top of that, I really hate and loathe the style they went with for the animated stuff.  Somebody on the GT site commented that it "looks like Esurance", which is sort of hilarious.  Because it kinds of does.  Just lifeless and uncompelling, no matter that they seem to have been artfully carried out and have good tech behind them.

So I think that's officially a pass for me.  I'll probably grab it when it hits the bargain bin.

[MysterD]

PC Version of Mirror's Edge planned for January 2009.

Expect DLC content to be coming, eventually.

[Cobra951]

8.3 from Gametrailers
7.3 from IGN
7.0 from Gamespot

Reviews are trickling in.  Complaints about the game are all the same across the board though -- the story and the cutscenes feel out of place and the game feels like trial and error until you get it right.  The campaign is also short at about 6-7 hours.  . . .

[snip]

Nothing after that matters.  No thank you.  Not at $60 or anywhere near it.  I've spent at least twice as long on the Banjo-Kazooie N&B demo.  That game is $40.

[MysterD]

Mirror's Edge PC will support PhysX Tech for all you GeForce 8 series card owners (and above)

11/19/2008 6:35:40 PM | Game Announcements |
DICE Puts Faith in NVIDIA PhysX Technology for Mirror's Edge

In the award-winning videogame Mirror's Edge, DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio, introduces players to a new heroine named Faith. Faith belongs to a network of couriers called 'runners' who use acrobatic moves to transport confidential information across the cityscape of rooftops and aerial skyways to avoid being detected. To deliver this never-before-seen sense of movement and perspective, DICE has turned to NVIDIA PhysX technology to give gamers an eye-popping experience on the PC.

"Faith's world in Mirror's Edge is visceral, immediate, and very dangerous; it is imperative that the gameplay reflect this level of urgency," said Owen O'Brien, Senior Producer at DICE. "NVIDIA PhysX technology affords us the ability to bring a totally new level of immersion to the game, and by doing so, gamers can truly become part of the world."

With the NVIDIA PhysX physics engine, the world of Mirror's Edge comes to life with real affects of wind, weapons impact, and in-game movements. Every-day objects within the game become part of the overall experience. Cloth, flags, and banners can now impact weapons and players; ground fog interacts with the player's footsteps; explosions fill the air with smoke and debris; and weapon impacts are enhanced with interactive particles.

On the PC, PhysX technology harnesses the power of CUDA, NVIDIA's general-purpose, parallel-computing architecture, to handle 10-20 times more visual complexity than what's possible without a GeForce CUDA-enabled GPU. And unlike competitors' solutions, which do not offer hardware-scaling capabilities, only PhysX technology leverages the best of both CPU and GPU architectures to deliver the ultimate, immersive, user experience. With over 100 million CUDA-compatible GeForce 8 Series and higher GPUs shipped to date, PhysX technology has the largest installed base of general-purpose, parallel-computing processors to run on.

"If you love intense combat scenes, fast-paced chases, and sky-high adventures then Mirror's Edge is the game for you," said Ujesh Desai, vice president of GeForce desktop business at NVIDIA. "Gamers will appreciate the greater freedom of movement, including sliding under barriers, tumbling, wall-running, and shimmying across ledges -- all within an environment that is dynamic and immersive, delivered in part by our PhysX technology."

Consisting of a robust physics engine, API, and middleware software, NVIDIA PhysX technology is interactive entertainment's most pervasive physics engine and is already included in more than 140 shipping titles for PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 computer and video game system from Microsoft, Wii, and the PC.

Mirror's Edge was awarded "Best Xbox 360 Game" at the GC Developers Conference in Leipzig, Germany. It also received the Game Critics Award for "Best Original Game" at E3 in July. Mirror's Edge shipped to retail stores worldwide on November 11th for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system. The PC version of Mirror's Edge will ship in January 2009 to retailers worldwide. For more information about the game, please visit http://www.mirrorsedge.com/

[sirean_syan]

My brother picked this up and I played through about 1/2 of the game during Thanksgiving. The game is definitely not living up to its own potiental. It's hard to say exactly what's holding it back through. The controls are definitely spot on and it's visually interesting, but something about it just feels either boring or off. After the first or second level, I felt like I had seen everything and the only real difference in later levels was the order of jumps/climbs I would do. Combat also slows the thing down more than it should since normal fighting rarely gets you results and doing the quicktime disarm techniques is often the only real way to get passed groups of guys. The problem with that is that the timing feels forgiving in one fight but overly harsh in the next, so you'll get stuck going through the same 5 seconds just before a fight several times as you die over and over again.

I had actually planned on going through the whole game over the course of the weekend, but I don't even care to at this point. Everything was done. I knew how the game would go and when I asked my brother if a major plot point was going to happen he confirmed it, so the story isn't really going to do anything interesting. Oh well I guess. Maybe the sequel will correct the problems. I'm more inclined to think that the idea will sit around for a few years until the PoP/Assassian's Creed group decides to really take things to the next level. I know a lot of it would be fixed by an upgrade scheme where you get new abilities/gear as you go, but I'm not entirely sure if that's what they're going for with this particular game.

Edit: And yes, the cutscenes are lame. Whoever thought those would work when they had that pretty engine going should be demoted to cleaning toilets.

[Quemaqua]

Heh, for some reason that post really amuses me.

[iPPi]

That's disappointing to hear.  I was plannin gon picking this up[ for christas but i guess i won't now.  i guess i'll wait fo rhte thprice drop before i picke tiup

[Cobra951]

That's disappointing to hear.  I was plannin gon picking this up[ for christas but i guess i won't now.  i guess i'll wait fo rhte thprice drop before i picke tiup

Hahahaha!  Need some help with your keyboard, or just sitting up?

[iPPi]

Eh, I think I was drunk that night.

Anyway, ZP review: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/457-Mirrors-Edge

[Ghandi]

Dammit, iPPi. I was just about to post that. It's freaking hilarious.

[Quemaqua]

It is indeed.  That was a good laugh.

[Cobra951]

Yes it was.  So glad to see the brevity slammed too, not that this was the game's worst problem apparently.

[MysterD]

Great review from Yahtzee.

[MysterD]

Mirror's Edge PC bare minimum requirements revealed

We wanted to support the editor but there just hasn't been enough time to make it ready in a state that would be supported. There's a lot of backend stuff with leaderboards and menuwork to display the levels as well as the added support for QA and testing.

As far as PhysX is concerned - The game will run fine without it.

Operating System     Microsoft Windows XP SP2/Vista
Processor                Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz or 100% compatible equivalent
Memory                  1GB RAM
Video Card              256MB memory with Shader Model 3.0*
HDD Space              8GB
DVD Drive               1x DVD Drive
Soundcard               Soundcard with DirectX 9.0c compatibility
DirectX                    DirectX 9.0c
Network:                An online connection is required for access to Leaderboards

That's the min-specc machine and that will have physX turned off.

While the physX stuff looks amazing and we're greatful to the help we've had from Nvidia to implement it, we always knew we couldn't make it a "must-have" just yet in a game, as not everyone has it. So you will have the same core experience without it.

[gpw11]

That's not so bad.  I was playing the 2d flash game the other day and it's pretty sweet.

[MysterD]

Shacknews has a video of Mirror's Edge PC being shown off.

Comparison vid of how the game looks with NVidia PhysX and without it.

[gpw11]

Heh, the way they kind of slowed down the videos whenever the physics effects were going full swing was kind of a bad move.

[MysterD]

You know, I could really go for another platformer right about now.
I just hope EA doesn't screw this game over with the DRM for the PC version -- which is probably (unfortunately) likely.

[Ghandi]

....you've read the reviews for this game, right?

[iPPi]

The reviews have generally been favorable, it's just detrimental to the game that it's short and only people who are obsessive compulsive for time trial mode will get any longevity with the game.  The developers have some DLC planned to include new time trial maps.

[Quemaqua]

And the story sucks.  And the cinematics suck.

[MysterD]

Time Trial DLC
Mirror's Edge - Time Trial DLC coming to G4WL and XBox Live for 800 points ($10 USA) on January 29th.
This DLC will add 7 maps and 9 races to the game.

Patch 1.01 Released for Mirror's Edge PC
Patch 1.01 Released for Mirror's Edge PC to fix the PhysX lock-up issue for the Retail Version.

[MysterD]

Mirror's Edge PC has been modded-out to switch the game into 3rd-person mode.
You can see some footage of the game in 3rd-person mode in this link here.

Obviously, by this footage, you can tell that 3rd-person was never in the plans at all, as Faith is not animated too much here.

[Xessive]

Despite my boycotte of all things EA, I finally got to try this out on the PS3 (I didn't pay for it so it counts as acceptable under my EA boycotte terms) and I have to say I enjoyed it. Seriously, kudos to DICE for doing something different and pushing out a very creative and artistic piece.

The visuals really are something else. The ambience, the environments, and the style are all fantastic! The visual appeal of Mirror's Edge really stands out. Sadly, that's all counter-balanced by the between-chapter animated cutscenes which are completely inconsistent with the overall style and design. Not really sure why they didn't go for total in-game cutscenes, they have a few in there already which are clearly waaaaay better than the misplaced animated ones.

The sound design is pretty decent too. The environmental effects are quite well done. The music is very fitting and really adds to the ambience of the environment.

The gameplay is a lot of fun. Takes a bit of getting used to, especially lining up jumps and recognizing when it's a good idea to run and fight another day. It's innovative in ways of getting you to think about your surroundings and using them to your advantage. The 1st person view is very immersive and DICE did a great job setting up the camera motion and bobbing, adding to the illusion of immersion. The combat is a little tricky but you're not bound to it anyway. There are very few instances where you have no choice but to fight your way out; in most cases you can always run.

In terms of story elements, the plot is not particularly original but it's not bad, at least not as bad as some people make it out to be. Throughout the game you get glimpses of the underlying story and the "why" behind where you're going. Although the animated cutscenes are the major storytelling element, which (again) is regrettable. Finally, I don't wanna give away too much, but the ending was abrupt and insignificant. If you wait on the credits a bit you hear a radio news report indicating that Faith and her sister, Kate, are on the run.

So, to summarize:

The Good:
-Great visuals and very creative design.
-Fun, and not your average run-of-the mill gameplay.
-Parkour!! Urban Ninjas!!

The Bad:
-Visuals weren't used to their full potential (cutscenes!!!)
-Short campaign.. 6-7 hours sounds about right.
-Crap ending.

[MysterD]

I ordered this Mirror's Edge for the PC from Gogamer, since it's on sale for $19.90 right now.
So looking forward to playing this.

Oh, and also ordered Gary Grigsby's World At War for $5.90, as well.

[iPPi]

I've seen it for $25 and was tempted to pick it up.  I just might... we'll have to see.

[MysterD]

My copy of this arrived. Yet to install it. Probably tomorrow.

Anyways, this is probably worth noting -- PC Version of Mirror's Edge ALSO comes packaged with that Mirror's Edge Theme: Remix EP Album on CD that I mentioned in this message.

[MysterD]

So, I've been playing this and so far, the gameplay's really good. The graphics are excellent though, as well.

The cartoony cut-scenes...they're actually well-done and everything. So, then, what's the problem with them? I think the problem is -- it's just DICE really should have decided if the game was going to have that cartoony look 100% of the way entirely through or the whole technical in-game look 100% of the way through. Either pick one or the other, guys...

A lot of the game -- yeah, it feels like trial and error. At least when you die, you don't get pushed back too far; seem to be a good deal of checkpoints, so you don't get backtracked too far. Not really too much of a big deal.

So far, so good. Really enjoying it.

[Quemaqua]

Plus I think most people just don't like the art style of the cutscenes.  Personally, I hate it.

[MysterD]

Plus I think most people just don't like the art style of the cutscenes.  Personally, I hate it.

I have no problem w/ that art-style in the cut-scenes -- or the one in the game.
I just think they should've picked either one or the other -- to stay consistent.

I like the in-game engine stuff much better, by the way -- it looks great.

This is not the old days, when the in-graphics technology was so limited, cut-scenes had to be brilliantly gorgeous and nobody cared -- i.e. see all the old FF games that are CG-crazy.

I think the graphics today are so good in-game these days, there's no real need to go overly outdoors to get CG (old school FF), different looking style cut-scenes (Mirror's Edge), etc etc.

[Xessive]

I don't hate the style of the animated cutscenes, though they do look like cheap production quality, the issue I have is that they are inappropriate, they don't fit in the game.

[Quemaqua]

Exactly.  They just stick out and look stupid.

[MysterD]

You know what's interesting....?

It does looks like this game has barely any load times b/t levels, but...
...When a cut-scene kicks in, that looks like that is basically when it's loading the level -- b/c in the upper left-hand corner, it tells you it's loading the chapter for a few moments during the cut-scene and then stops and my PC's red light is going off and making sounds galore when this is going -- which is what it does when loading an area/level/something with any other game.

Sometimes the cut-scene will stutter for quick sec and all. I don't think it's the sound card or on-board sound, as that is fine the whole way though -- I think the level's loading...

[Xessive]

Yeah, they play the vid when it's loading. I like it when games have that going on, kinda masks the wait time.

[MysterD]

Yeah, they play the vid when it's loading. I like it when games have that going on, kinda masks the wait time.

Agreed. It only stutters when the cut-scene vid starts, basically -- that's it. No big whoopty-do. Nice way to keep us entertained, while the game loads. Wish more games would do something like that.

Also, if I remember, the 3rd person hack mod revealed that Faith is hardly even actually animated -- since the designers only did enough animation necessary that would be fine for the game being only in first person, since you're locked into 1st person. Maybe that's why they did animated cut-scenes -- b/c they didn't have Faith fully animated in-game?

[Xessive]

Agreed. It only stutters when the cut-scene vid starts, basically -- that's it. No big whoopty-do. Nice way to keep us entertained, while the game loads. Wish more games would do something like that.

Also, if I remember, the 3rd person hack mod revealed that Faith is hardly even actually animated -- since the designers only did enough animation necessary that would be fine for the game being only in first person, since you're locked into 1st person. Maybe that's why they did animated cut-scenes -- b/c they didn't have Faith fully animated in-game?

I didn't experience any stuttering in the videos. Might be a hardware config thing.

Faith's gameplay animations are irrelevant. They can animate her as necessary for cutscenes. There are in-game cutscenes where Faith watches things happening around her or has conversations and the other characters are well-animated. In one scene Faith hugs her sister (the camera angle remains in 1st person), when would you see that animation during gameplay? I think it would have played to the game's strengths if the loading cutscenes were done in a similar way, all from Faith's point of view.

[MysterD]

Faith's gameplay animations are irrelevant. They can animate her as necessary for cutscenes.

I wonder why they didn't. Laziness? EA wanted to kick the game out the door before X-Mas (for console versions)?

Hell, I dunno.

There are in-game cutscenes where Faith watches things happening around her or has conversations and the other characters are well-animated.

In one scene Faith hugs her sister (the camera angle remains in 1st person), when would you see that animation during gameplay?

Great scene, by the way -- especially since it stayed in first-person. Felt like you (as Faith) were really hugging your sister, Kate. Emotional scene.

I think it would have played to the game's strengths if the loading cutscenes were done in a similar way, all from Faith's point of view.

All great points, X -- especially since most of the game is entirely in first-person.

Regardless of its flaws, I'm still enjoying this game quite a bit. I'll be hoping for a sequel with some improvements...

[Xessive]

Yeah, much as I despise EA, I admire DICE for making one of the most visually compelling games out there. Plus the gameplay and parkour are a lot of fun.

[MysterD]

Yeah, much as I despise EA, I admire DICE for making one of the most visually compelling games out there. Plus the gameplay and parkour are a lot of fun.

As frustrating as some of the jumps and trial-and-error stuff can be -- which usually is how it goes, with these platforming games, anyways -- it can still be lots of fun, most of the time. It always seems to be one jump or area drives me nuts for a good while...and eventually, I get through it...in due time.

I also like how the FPS elements don't suck here, either. Sure, Faith can't take a bullet, pretty much. But still, the gunplay itself and the fact that you have to be very resourceful so you don't get killed -- especially since she don't pick-up and carry 9000 rounds of bullets -- is actually refreshing.

It's kind of like how as Garrett in Thief series, if you get into a sword fight with too many people at once, good luck to you...you better be skillful; damn skillful...and even though, you'll likely still wind up dead or possibly close to death. Best of going toe-to-toe, one at a time..if possible.

EDIT:
Here's some in-game vids of me playing this:
Monkeying Around & Then Some
Jump To The Death

[Xessive]

That second vid "Jump To The Death" is the one place I had real trouble in the game. That is the single most irritating jump in the entire game.

When I was playing the demo on PS3 I felt a bit of difficulty with the controls, it still takes me a bit to get around them. On PC, mouse+kb, I had very little difficulty with the game. I picked up the mechanics fairly quickly, now when I play any other 1st person games I feel restricted.