Benji Sua Kay, 17/12/2008
When I first heard about this game I got quite excited. Free running along rooftops, performing some exhilarating wall runs and roof top to roof top jumps and effortless and seamless movement. Carl downloaded the demo and we both played it, and thought it was awesome. This is something different and something brave, something never before tried in a game, we thought. After having played the game through to the end, I can't help but feel a little disappointed and let down. Like a child who asks for a Lego set for Christmas, and gets a Playmobil one instead, and then has to pretend to be happy so he doesn't look like a spoilt brat. For all that this could have been, it was found wanting really quite badly. I did read the reviews on IGN and GameSpot, and they said all the things I later found out, but I really wanted them to be wrong, and I wanted to prove them wrong, and throw it back in their face (metaphorically of course) but none of that happened.
The game is based on the concept of free-running, or parkour, invented by David Belle. Sounds pretty cool, eh? The idea of running around roof tops performing various moves that aren't to do with utterly pummeling your foe sounded refreshing, different. The implementation of this idea was a little different. Although the controls are easy enough - your main buttons are [LB] for jump and [LT] for crouch/slide - it is not always obvious which way to go, or what obstacle to jump over or slide under. Even with the idea of "runner vision" which highlights things in red so that you know what obstacle to jump over/under/whatever and the [B] button which actually turns you in the right direction, you will seldom be free running in this game. I found that for a game whose core ideals came from free-running, there was way to much time spent crawling through vents and slowing down or stopping to see which way you needed to go. A lot of the time was spent dying too. And after dying 20 times on the same bit, I felt like throwing my controller through the TV. Very frustrating indeed.
I felt that too much time was dedicated to running away from and disarming the bad guys, who in this case are the police. I found that the areas where the game could have excelled were littered with bad guys shooting at you from every angle, and making it annoyingly, not difficult, because the game wasn't difficult, but annoyingly interruptive, if that makes sense. In many cases I knew exactly what I needed to do, but kept getting shot down by the police. This might sound like a really petty quibble, but I got a distinct feeling that in order to make the game a little harder, they put a few more snipers or police in areas where it would otherwise be "easy" to free-run through. I found that the constant running from police was a bit tedious, especially as this is not a shooter and when the opportunity arose to shoot them down, the controls weren't tuned for it and it was largely unsatisfying. But I think that would be missing the point, because this game is not about shooting, so it is logical that the shooting is not tweaked and unsatisfying. I don't think that should be a contestable point. The fact is, the game should be finishable without a gun, but there are some parts where if I hadn't have had a gun, I wouldn't have made it. That in itself is quite annoying.
All that said, there are parts when you feel "oh, my god, that was so sweet, I can't believe I just did that". But these are so few and far between in what is a very short campaign, that it can't, as much as I wish it would, excuse a slightly above average game. I wanted it so much to be more than what I paid for, I probably set my sights a little too high with a game that is genuinely ground-breaking and innovative, but because its only its first run out, hasn't quite managed to deliver the finished and polished product. The potential is definitely there to make this concept work, and hopefully in the future it will work. EA has promised a sequel, so fingers crossed.
The game is set in a utopian society, who have given up freedom for security under a totalitarian society. Obviously the city is shiny on the outside, but rotten to the core. You play as Faith, a runner who chose not to comply and who's life is spent on the roof tops and in the shadows, on the mirror's edge, dealing in information and escaping the cruel hand of "justice" by running. Early in the game Faiths sister is framed for the murder of someone very important, and it then becomes about saving her and unravelling a conspiracy amongst the upper echelons of the city's government hierarchy. Its a little flat if you ask me, but that shouldn't have really mattered. The story shouldn't have needed to engage me because the gameplay was supposed to be so good. However, once the gameplay was found out to be a little above average, the story should have kept me going. But it didn't. It's really not that interesting, and much like the gameplay, it could have been so much more.
The graphics are beautiful. This game is definitely up there in terms of looks. The palette is very simple, bright colours and lots of whites, but this only makes it all the more striking and unique. There is a good mix of indoor environments and outdoor environments to give the graphics enough variety, so that you don't become too used to them to not admire how good they actually are. At the end of each chapter, and there are only 9 chapters, you are rewarded with a cutscene presented in a comic book cartoon style. I'm in two minds over this, and although it breaks up the chapters nicely with some variety, it also looks a bit crappy.
The sound effects and the music is also top notch. The sound effects are very minimal, some traffic in the background, the pitter patter of shoes hitting the ground as you run, breathing, and apart from that, not much else. This works sublimely in conjunction with the minimalist graphics, and you'll probably want to turn it up quite loud. The music is very trancey, a little like Halo actually, and absolutely awesome. When it gets to critical level, like running from the police, the beat drops and a full on trance track kicks in to give you an adrenaline rush as you progress through the level.
I really wanted to be biased with this review, and I really wanted to be able to give a top score. Unfortunately I can't. So here they are:
presentation: 9.5/10
graphics: 9.5/10 (still no HD TV so I can't quite give it full marks)
sound effects: 9/10
gameplay: 5/10 (really disappointing gameplay, compared to what could have been, however potential is there to improve)
lasting appeal: 4/10 (short campaign and no real multiplayer. time trials are cool, but quite boring)
overall: 7.4 (I feel the excellent graphics and sound effects offset this rating for the better. If this was not an average, I would probably have given a 6 overall)