61 Frames Per Second

Trailer Review: Mirror’s Edge

Posted by John Constantine



SCEE showed the first public footage of Dice’s Mirror’s Edge at their Playstation Day 2008 event this past Tuesday and it’s thrilling to say that it looks every bit as good in motion as early screenshots have implied. The first-person parkour play looks like it may be initially disorienting but if the control ends up being as streamlined as ME’s world, it will be one of 2008’s most exciting works on a sheer mechanical level. But beyond the way it moves, Dice deserves a huge high five just for their choice of setting and character. The blindingly unblemished cityscape and blue skies are a serious change of pace from the Blade Runner-inspired dank metropolises that have typified gaming for years. And protagonist Faith, well, not to be blunt, but she doesn’t have a monolithic bust line, she’s wearing athletic attire that’s actually suited to her actions, and she’s not white. Hell, she’s not even baring a mid-riff! If it weren’t for the silly eye tattoo, I’d be comfortable saying that she’s hands down the most interesting female lead since Beyond Good & Evil’s Jade.


Comments

huck said:

so, interesting = flat?

May 12, 2008 8:55 PM

John Constantine said:

Interesting equals looking somewhat like a regular person you'd see on the street. Not exactly an average game protagonist.

Also, she is totally not flat.

May 13, 2008 10:41 AM

moblegend said:

Epic sweetness I hope it feels the way it looks.

May 13, 2008 8:29 PM

in

Archives

  • April 2009 (110)
  • March 2009 (186)
  • July 2008 (143)
  • June 2008 (108)
  • May 2008 (92)
  • about the blogger

    John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

    Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

    Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

    Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

    Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

    Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

    Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

    Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


    Send tips to 61fps@nerve.com