Mirror's Edge [X360]

Just a few years ago Electronic Arts wasn't exactly known for taking chances on fresh ideas with new intellectual properties. This holiday season has already seen one stellar release from the mega publisher in the form of Dead Space and now we have the company's second attempt at establishing a new videogame franchise. It comes to us in the form of Mirror's Edge.

Mirror's tells the story of Faith, a runner in an unnamed city almost completely devoid of personality thanks to the overbearing totalitarian government that rules the region. Faith's job is to deliver important pieces of information to an underground network who still live with a modicum of freedom. She uses her considerable acrobatic abilities to outrun, out-leap, and out-swing "Blues" (cops). Throughout the game players learn that Faith's sister, Kate, has been wrongly accused of murder. Faith must clear her name.

The story isn't quite as involving as it reads. Characters are fairly uninteresting with few emotional ties to the player. It doesn't help that all of the cutscenes are presented in a style that's reminiscent of Esurance commercials which instantly hurt my ability to enjoy them. Luckily the story doesn't last long as the game clocks in at less than six hours and even less on your second time through.

Thankfully the world itself is interesting to roam through, at least for awhile. After some time you realize that the architecture of rooms and rooftops starts to look redundant, but the art style and overly simplistic color scheme help to accentuate the idea of an over-bearing government. So while the art style helps to up the presentation values, the architecture of the game space is entirely too limiting for the style of game that Mirror's Edge should be.

Running and leaping off of rooftops and sliding under pipes is the star of the game. No doubt about it. So why not open up the entire city for players to roam around in? As it is Mirror's feels entirely too constricting with only a few branching pathways to reach the same end goal. Getting to that final point is where Mirror's Edge shines the brightest.

Playing as Faith, players have a small – but still impressive given the three-button control scheme – set of moves that can be pulled off. She can wall run, swing on poles, parachute roll out of long jumps and do a number of other moves that are styled after parkour. It's not quite in line with the spirit of the sport, but it's similar and can be very fun when you hit a good rhythm of ups, downs and running on vertical surfaces.

The feeling of movement and leaping through the air is accentuated by little nuances on-screen. You'll see Faith's legs kicking during a long jump, her hands slamming into doors as she breaks through and all of this is accentuated by camera movements and motion blur on the side of the screen. All of those pieces come together to produce the best feeling of movement and momentum that I've gotten my hands on in a videogame.