Developer: EA DICE
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One,
Tested on: Xbox One
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst – Review
While the original Mirror’s Edge, which was released in 2008, never received a sequel, and the new one’s subtitle might make it look like it’s the next installment, the franchise is actually receiving the ‘reboot’ treatment. The new title will start the series from the beginning, which might indicate that the current generation of consoles might spend a bit more attention to this rather unique franchise. That being said, here we are again, running on the rooftops of the city of ‘Glass’, stealing and delivering items to topple the regime of big corporations.
Story
Truth be told, the first few hours of the game you’ll barely know what is going on, as you’re playing Faith, who was incarcerated after doing a job for Dogen, a man who happens to have his fair share of influence in this clean dystopian city. After pulling some strings, he made sure that Faith would be released after a year, but she would owe him a huge debt, for the job she was supposed to do for him, as well ass get back one of her mother’s belongings.
Upon your release, you are picked up by another runner, Icarus, who apparently is one of Noah’s runners. Noah pretty much raised you after your parents and sister kicked the bucket in one of the riots, thus you immediately go back to him and before you know it you’re back tackling jobs and fighting the corporations that run the city.
Overall the story value is quite slim, especially at the beginning of the game. Due to this, the early portion of the game doesn’t really motivate you to keep playing the story missions, but when things start to pick up, you’ll be rewarded for your early efforts.
Graphics
The city of Glass seemingly did not earn its name for no reason, as the city pretty much feels like a city of glass. Not only will you be confronted with the shiniest city ever, it’s clear this metropolis’ window cleaning bill is beyond proportions. Nonetheless, the city does have its charms, albeit in a very sterile kind of way. Thank god there are no birds flying through the city, as the city council would have an avian genocide on their hands. That being said, the city feels a bit empty, especially when it comes to the inside of the buildings you’ll be able to enter or traverse through.
While the characters do look quite spiffy and detailed in the cutscenes, they look rather underwhelming when you’re actually playing. Faces look fairly last-gen and rough around the edges and your enemies are pretty much copy & paste, as they provide almost no variation. Nonetheless, everything looks quite decent, but we were never truly wowed by what was transpiring onscreen.
Sound
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst’s soundtrack is a bit like its graphical prowess, namely rather quite subtle and sterile. The music remains on the background for the most part, even during combat sequences, and you’ll have to make do with your footsteps, your grunts when you make a big jump and a few grapple and combat noises here and there.
The voice acting however is quite spot on, which adds a welcome bit of ‘sound’ to the game, to make it feel a bit more alive. While you’ll be running around most of the time, it is just quite pleasing to hear some extra sound of life, rather than just hearing yourself dole around the map.
Gameplay
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is an action adventure title with a hefty amount of platforming, seeing it’s all about freerunning. While the original title didn’t give you that many extra features, you’ll be happy to hear that you’ll be able to swing your fists and use some other fancy tools to aid you on your way, or simply prevent you from plummeting to your certain death. You’ll occupy yourself by completing delivering packages, racing around the city (on foot) and of course, infiltrate the corporations to work your thieving magic.
There is no other way to describe this game rather than: ‘you’ll be running, a lot, while trying to maintain your balance and not become a red splatter on the pavement’. Of course, this might sound very simplistic but that’s just pretty much what this game is. Of course, it will take some time before you get the hang of the controls, and you’ll slowly get more and more ‘skills’, which will allow you to climb faster, take less fall damage or just learn how to inflict more damage when using your enemies as living punching bags. As the game progresses, you’ll also unlock a grappling hook, which allows you to swing over to faraway ledges, pull yourself up or dismantle obstacles. While these skills are often unlocked by completing quests, you’ll still have to level up and spend points on them to actually start using them. Even though this might sound logical, in some cases you’ll have to run around and do some side-quests if you want to be well prepared for your upcoming missions.
Surprisingly the controls are spot on, and given the setting of the game, it’s a very commendable feat. You’ll gradually get the hang of the controls, and as the game progresses, the challenges will become slightly harder each time, making you use all your unlocked skills, making sure you’ll have to pay attention to where you’re going. Luckily the game does have a sort of GPS system, which highlights the best route for you, and also highlights the objects that you’ll need to climb or use as a springboard. Missions are often very similar, namely go to location A, use your skills, retrieve or investigate something and escape. Sometimes you will not face any opposition, while other times there will be agents out to get you, which you can eliminate by using punches, kicks and of course the surrounding area. While combat may be a bit clunky at times, it does have a few fun mechanics, such as jumping off walls to do extra damage, or throwing two enemies against one another to make them fumble.
Conclusion
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is by all means a decent title, albeit a very repetitive one. While we’re not sure why the series needed a reboot, it did however add a lot of extra mechanics to the original game, and a much needed update to the combat system. If you like the sense of freedom in games like Assassin’s Creed or even the latest installment of Thief, this one will surely keep you occupied for quite some time.
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