#Mirrors edge catalyst review full#
First and foremost, those awkward Esurance-style cutscenes from the original title are gone, with full in-engine cutscenes replacing them. Despite the fact that the big twist, which occurs about two-thirds of the way through, is about as predictable as it gets, there isn’t anything cringe-worthy that ruins the entire experience. While Mirror’s Edge Catalyst‘s central narrative doesn’t do much to distinguish itself in quality from standard video game stories, it’s worlds better than that of the original Mirror’s Edge. Faith ends up falling headfirst into the Reflection conspiracy within an hour of the start of the campaign, as she inadvertently steals the entire blueprint to Reflection during an unrelated mission. Kruger’s goal is to control the emotions of the public through the Reflection virus, a synthetic infection that allows the Conglomerate to tap into the consciousness of anyone infected by it. At the center of the Conglomerate is Gabriel Kruger, CEO of Kruger Holding firm and the central antagonist of Catalyst. Taking place in the city of Glass, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst strays away from the original tale of Robert Pope and Project Icarus, instead focusing on the nefarious deeds of the Conglomerate, a group of corporations that has banded together to control the city. While the actual events that put her in juvie are not explained (numerous loading screen messages let you know that you’ll have to read the Mirror’s Edge Exordium comic for this), flashbacks give a fair amount of insight into what turned her into the strong, yet impulsive runner she is. Essentially a reboot of the franchise, Catalyst dives into Faith’s backstory, beginning with her release from juvenile hall. If you’ve been paying attention to the marketing for Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, you’ll know that it’s neither a prequel nor a sequel. Hardcore fans might argue that it lacks the punishing difficulty of the original, but the combination of slightly more forgiving gameplay and the same potential for high-level play make Mirror’s Edge Catalyst a realization of DICE’s original franchise vision. This isn’t going to be a game that will be vying for Game of the Year awards come December, but it’s a solid offering that is worth the price of admission. While it doesn’t have all the makings of a modern masterpiece, Catalyst includes a number of smart design choices ranging from the inclusion of a full open world to a combat system that’s actually functional. A clear labor of love from the folks at DICE, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is largely superior to its predecessor in every way.
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When you take a look at the sales numbers and combine them with a number of obvious flaws, however, it’s not outrageous to suggest that its reputation isn’t necessarily representative of its actual quality.įast forward eight years into the future and it still seems unbelievable that another Mirror’s Edge game is hitting the market. This isn’t to say that Mirror’s Edge was a bad game, but a segment of the gaming population often seems to look at its awesome world-building, unique traversal system and killer art-style and think of it as some sort of classic.
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Oh, and its combat was universally considered to be clunky, with every fight dragging down the pace of the five-to-six hour adventure. The parkour that made it a cult-hit often tunneled the player into a single path, often forgoing any sense of experimentation to focus on sheer mastery. First and foremost, its story, which was told through Esurance-style cartoon cutscenes, was forgettable at best and awkward at worst.
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It’s easy to go back and look at the first Mirror’s Edge with rose-colored glasses, but if you’ve played it recently, you know that it had some pretty major flaws.