Tuesday, June 16, 2009

MIRROR'S EDGE


GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : EA Digital Illusions CE

Publisher : Electronic Arts

Engine : Unreal Engine 3 and PhysX (Physics Engine, Nvidia GPU Acceleration and Extra FX are PC Exclusive)

Genre : First Person Shooter and Action-Adventure

Release Date : January 12 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : Intel Core 2 Duo Processor / AMD Athlon64 X2 4600+

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 8600 Series
ATI : Radeon HD 2600 Series]


Hard Disk Space : 8 GB


GAME FEATURES :-

Mirror's Edge takes place in an unnamed city where a totalitarian regime monitors its citizens through invasive surveillance , tracking all forms of electronic communication in order to reduce crime and quell any challenge to its power. An upcoming mayoral election seeks to retain Mayor Callaghan in power to keep the government's control on the city, though a new favoured candidate Robert Pope promises to bring change. The Eurasian protagonist, Faith Connors, is a "Runner", a person trained in parkour , to stay out of sight and to use rooftops and other means to help deliver physical messages between revolutionary groups within the city. Faith along with another Runner, Celeste, were both trained by Mercury who also provides radio support for the two. Faith receives a call for help from her sister Kate, a police officer, at the offices of Pope, and finds that Pope has been murdered, clutching a piece of paper with the name "Icarus" on it. Kate tells Faith to find out more and to report anything to her superior, Lt. Miller. Faith finds a former Runner named Jacknife who identifies that Pope's head of security, a former wrestler named Ropeburn, may have more information, but does not divulge any more. Faith reports this to Lt. Miller, who arranges a meeting with Ropeburn; Faith attempts to listen in, but Ropeburn discovers her and attempts to kill her. Faith gains the upper hand, and hangs him over a rooftop, attempting to gain information, but before she can, Ropeburn is killed by an unknown assassin. Faith gives chase to the assassin, discovering the assassin works for a private security firm that the city relies on heavily for its armed forces, and that the firm is training its own form of Runners in order to capture or kill the other Runners in the city. She regains the assassin's trail to a tanker and is able to corner the assassin, finding that it is Celeste. Celeste states that she has changed sides due to "Project Icarus" to avoid being constantly hunted by security forces and to be able to live her life. Fearing that she will be arrested if she is caught with Faith, Celeste escapes from Faith and disappears.

Mercury tells Faith that Kate has been convicted of Pope's murder, and arranges a spot where Faith can ambush the convoy that is taking her to prison. Faith is able to successfully free Kate, telling her to flee to the lair where Mercury is waiting while she lures the police away. After avoiding her chasers, Faith returns to the lair to find it has been attacked, Kate having gone missing and Mercury near death. Mercury is able to tell Faith that Kate has been taken to the Shard, a skyscraper that is home to Mayor Callaghan as well as the city's centralized surveillance databases. With the help of Lt. Miller, who feels Faith is the city's best hope for change, Faith is able to make her way to the server rooms and destroy the servers, unlocking access to the roof. However, during this, Miller is suddenly cut off, and a shot is heard. There, she finds that Kate is being held at gunpoint by Jacknife. Jacknife explains that Project Icarus is a plan created by Callaghan to eliminate all the Runners in the city and to stop the uncontrolled flow of information, and that unlike Celeste, who took part in it only to stay alive, Jacknife was involved in it all along as a driving force. Jacknife attempts to escape with Kate in a waiting helicopter, but Faith follows and grabs onto it; she is able to jump into the helicopter and send Jacknife plummeting to his death. As he falls, stray bullets from his gun hit the helicopter and cause it to spin out of control. Kate falls to edge of the rooftop, and Faith jumps out just in time to avoid falling to her death. Kate begins to fall from the rooftop, and Faith leaps out and saves Kate from falling. Faith helps Kate up as the helicopter crashes below. The two hug and the camera begins to zoom back to show that they are atop a skyscraper overlooking an entire city. During the game's end credits, an announcement states that both Faith and Kate are now wanted criminals but have gone missing, while urging the citizens of the city to avoid electronic communications until the city can repair the faults with the Shard's servers. The announcement also emphasizes that further questions are now being raised about the Runners, suggesting that Project Icarus is well in motion.

You run across rooftops, through train stations, and along walls. As you run, you pick up speed and are able to string a number of moves together in rapid succession. You can slide under pipes, bound over railings, and leap across impossible-looking chasms, among other techniques. Of course, the most obvious twist in Mirror's Edge is that you do all of this from a first-person view, rather than with the typical third-person camera that we've come to expect. Nevertheless, Mirror's Edge excels when you hit that snappy stride, and once you've found the best route through a particularly tricky scenario, it's exhilarating to rush through it without a care to weigh you down. But this doesn't happen the first time you do it, or even the fifth time. You will need to experiment and hone your skills, given that a simple mistake can send you plunging down onto the street below, or will at very least interrupt your stride. Mirror's Edge is a game of visual contrasts, in which stark white environments contrast with vivid colors. Important ramps, doorways, ladders, and other points of interest are painted in a vibrant red, which is an important visual cue in some of the broader levels. The unusually crisp visuals have seen some nice additional touches on the PC, such as fluttering industrial plastic over a few doorways, and symbolic flags undulating in the wind. The audio also deserves high praise. Sound effects such as Faith's breathy heaves and plodding footsteps are authentic touches that heighten the sense of speed and tension. The voice acting is equally terrific, but it's the pulsing, driving soundtrack that impresses most. The superb musical journey culminates in a fantastic vocal track that plays during the game's final credits. Mirror's Edge offers occasional thrills, provided that you can look past some awkward stumbles.


GAME REVIEW :-

7/10

Mirror's Edge Trailer :-

1 comment: