Mirror's Edge Catalyst

[spatular]

I've already played the start of the game a few times now, and with all the average press i was starting to get a bit down on this despite having been looking forward to it for ages.

 

anyway so far i think it's a bit like the first game, awesome but flawed, maybe a bit of a missed opportunity to make it all amazing.

 

i just did a level that i loved, the view was amazing, there was some nice running away from people, finding the right route up a tower, some nice jumping to find some hidden stuff, it was really great.

 

combat is a bit of a mixed bag, jumping over something and smacking a dude in the face as you land and running off is great fun, but sometimes you have to stop and fight which is much less fun. the directional kicks so you can kick people into each other or off buildings is cool.

 

other mixed stuff is the some of the side missions are too difficult imo - they need a 3 star rating like the timetrials to avoid frustration - i tried a delivery one and had to retry it maybe 20 times to finish it, you have to find alternate routes to complete it in the time as far as i could tell - this isn't really a bad thing but at the start of the game i just want to have a quick go to get 1 star or something then later go back to it to try and do better. there was a similarly annoying distraction mission that's basically impossible without many retries and finding shortcuts, again not really a bad thing if you know what youre getting into. i actually had a good sense of achievement and ended up enjoying these missions when i knew what i needed to do, but they were really frustrating at first. anyway i know to avoid them unless until i'm in the mood for that sort of thing now - i'll probably enjoy them after finishing the main missions.

 

the main mirrors edge gameplay of parkouring about the place is still there and is generally great fun imo.

 

it looks great, runs nice and smooth, well except for a bug i'm having on pc where the cutscenes stutter and the audio is completely out of sync.

 

so there you go.

[illdog]

I still cant decide if I prefer the linear format of the first game or not. They've done a good job with the open world of this, all based on rooftops for max parkour fun. I think my problem may stem from the fact that I think i'm sick and tired of sandbox games. I dont feel like I have the energy to run round everywhere, picking up all sorts of shit and doing all sorts of challenges and time trials and the likes.

 

I am in the mood for running around though, so I might just hardball the main story and save the rest of the shit for another time.

 

But it looks bloody lovely, very pure with lots of whites and bold colours. The script and story can fuck right off, it's full of unlikeable idiots and obnoxious associates and I dont give two fucks about any of them. I just want to run! And I can. So I will. And that bits great.

[Sambob]

Kind of glad I didnt get it for a bit then, I will definitely get this eventually but your impressions are exactly the same as I thought mine would be, and I cant justify full retail price on that at the moment. Ive read that it picks up a lot once youve finished and you can just run about.

[illdog]

This game, man. I'm in real turmoil. I'm pretty much strictly playing the story missions. These are fine because I'm using them as a chance to just enjoy the core mechanic of the game which is obviously the running. This is great, love me the running.

 

Not much enjoying anythng else is the problem. I'm struggling with the side missions which involve mostly running from from point A to point B within a time limit. The time limits are very strict and look like they require multiple attempts to perfect. These become not so fun when you've pegged it for 2 minutes straight over all manner of obstacles for the third time, ony to miss out by a second or two. I guess you can bypass these, they arent integral to the plot of the game but as an extra thing to do in a sandbox scenario they seem overly hard to me.

 

And the story is utter bollocks, i mean terrible, rebel faction againts the evil megacorp bullshit done in the most stereotypical of fashions. The characters are about as unlikable as they come which results in me skipping all cut scenes so I can get back to running. Love me the running.

 

So yea, in a bit of a bind really. I cant recommend it despite enjoying the 7 hours I've put in so far.

[Sambob]

Such a shame to read, fingers crossed for the post game, if anybody makes it that is...

[spatular]

1 hour ago, illdog said:

I'm struggling with the side missions which involve mostly running from from point A to point B within a time limit. The time limits are very strict and look like they require multiple attempts to perfect. These become not so fun when you've pegged it for 2 minutes straight over all manner of obstacles for the third time, ony to miss out by a second or two. I guess you can bypass these, they arent integral to the plot of the game but as an extra thing to do in a sandbox scenario they seem overly hard to me.

 

yeah they seem...oh yeah i already said what i was going to say here. carry on.

 

i'm still playing it and enjoying (some horrible combat bits aside) the story missions, and doing the odd timetrial.

 

 

[illdog]

31 minutes ago, spatular said:

 

(some horrible combat bits aside)
 

 

 

Yea, the fighting is bad. And the fact that it's necessary is pretty shit. You're supposed to keep moving and attack in bursts but I'm really not good enough to do that OR the controls aren't good enough to let me do it.

[DisturbedSwan]

I've played about 2 hours or so now.

 

I'm not bowled over by it, but I think if you enjoyed the first game you'll like this really. It seems to be instead of taking the last game as a template and then expanding on it, adding a rich narrative, loads of great side missions etc. DICE have almost made the same game (just with a superfluous bunch of new characters) just with a few collectables and shallow side missions thrown in for good measure really.

 

It seems to be like they were just going to make a linear sequel and EA stepped in halfway through and was like 'guys, can we make this open world?' and DICE were like 'Er, yeah? I guess?'

 

The map is tiny, all the collectables don't really feel worth picking up or bothering with and the side-missions/races are all quite shallow. The story is complete bollocks as well, I've just tuned out for all of it, I may start skipping cutscenes if it goes on in the same vein (which I pretty much never do) but the Parkour is still bloody fun and that's what'll keep me playing.

 

Unfortunately it's not going to be like a Ubisoft open world game or an RPG where I'm compelled to pick up everything and get lost in the world, I'll have a lot of fun just doing the story missions and call it a day there I think.

[spatular]

yeah the collectables seem pointless. the map expands later, but it's still not massive i guess, i don't think i would want it to be mind.

 

i finished it the other night, mostly enjoyed the story missions, although the quality varied quite a bit, some levels being amazing, and others not so great. i've still got loads of side missions to do, not sure if i'll try them now or start a different game. overall pretty mixed feelings about the game, it's great to have mirrors edge back, it looks lovely and controls really well, they've nailed the feeling of the running about from the first game. but in many ways the game is a bit of a mess which is disappointing. i don't regret buying it anyway.

 

also it needs less glass that i can't tell is there so run into it like a stupid dog or bird.

[illdog]

2 hours ago, spatular said:

 

also it needs less glass that i can't tell is there so run into it like a stupid dog or bird.

 

That made me laugh. It's funny cos it's true.

[hinn888]

I don't think i'm enjoying this as much as the first,

 

story is short and really not interesting,

it focuses more on fighting when the whole point is to keep on the move

I was worried about the open world but it actually works, problem is now theres a mass amount of collectables and strict time limits for A to B runs.

 

Its good for the playthrough/platinum but i can't see me keep going back to it like the first.

 

Plus i wish it didn't have Kid Faith on the statue (If you bought the CE)

[DisturbedSwan]

Played another 90 minutes of this yesterday and actually had much more fun with it.

 

Did a few side-missions, a few story missions, 1 of the security checkpoints and a couple of billboards hacked.

 

I still don't think I'm going to bother with a lot of the busywork-type stuff, races, delivery missions etc. but the side missions, security checkpoints and billboards have all been surprisingly cool so far, nothing groundbreaking or awe-inspiring, but it was pretty fun figuring out how to get upto a Billboard to hack it, or defeating a load of goons at a security checkpoint.

 

All the characters are still hilariously shallow (and have godawful names) but both the side-missions and story-missions I've really enjoyed, an equal mix between platforming-puzzle elements, combat and that fast parkour which is ME's trademark. For the story missions I probably could've done with a bit less combat (they even had a section where you had to survive until a terminal was loaded like in CoD etc.) as it is very clumsy, something about it is kind of satisfying too in a weird way.

 

Anyway, I enjoyed it a lot more yesterday, still only played 3 hours total though so early days, hoping to play more in the coming week.

[illdog]

I've finished this now. I skipped the story entirely, I have no idea what happened at all. But the story missions were indeed fun. To re-iterate my feelings - I like the running in this game. It doesnt always flow together like I would like it, sometime 'coil' refuses to work, sometimes Faith hits the top of a fence and makes a meal of getting over which completely takes the flow out of your run. Sometimes she seems to miss edges of platforms or not wallrun and you can't seem to fathom as to why. But mostly the running is great.

 

I've spent quite a bit of time getting all the gridLeaks (little collectable orbs), hacking the billboards and doing all the security hubs. The gridLeak collection was especially good fun, once you complete the story they appear on your map making the task a little less daunting. Some of them are in plain site but I had to have a good think on how to get them, they were either up high or in a room that took a while to find way in to. But in collecting them I got to see the whole city of Glass and it's really impressively put together.

 

I absolutely fucking suck balls at the Time Trials though. I'm struggling to get three stars in any but the simplist of them.

 

To be honest though I think I'm done with this now. Worth a play when it comes down in price, especially if you enjoyed the first game. It's just a real shame the story was such completey wank. I'm wondering how important that is upon reflection, I put in 22 hours without much other complaint. I do like a story if it's well told but the core gameplay here is great fun. Hmmm.

[DisturbedSwan]

Wow, 22 hours?! You must've liked it then, can't see myself spending that much time with it myself, I have been enjoying it all the same though.

 

This was the first thing I played yesterday on my new GPU and it boggled my mind how much better it looked, I went from playing at 1440p at 60fps on Medium settings on my GTX 970 the day before to playing on Hyper settings at 80+ FPS on my 1080.

 

And let me tell you, the Hyper settings at 1440p are just unbelievably gorgeous, the medium settings looked good but you could tell textures were muddy and I got a lot of pop in, at Hyper settings though everything like looks unbelievably amazing, running at that high FPS as well it just made the world pop even more, I even got a bit queasy at some point in a mission where I had to climb up very high, I'm not scared of heights but the graphics, draw distance, lighting and particle effects are just sensational.

 

As for the game itself, mainly been doing the story and side missions, with a few collectibles and hacking billboards etc. thrown in too, really enjoyed it for the most part, getting into a rhythm on a run is an incredible feeling and when you mess it up by falling or not pressing LT at the right time when falling it is annoying. There was one really shit mission where you just had to defeat a few waves of increasingly difficult guards, I was like 'WTF were you thinking of, DICE?!' it just completely baffled me really, it was quite annoying and I just felt needless.

 

More tomorrow.

[DisturbedSwan]

Finished this earlier, took me about 10/11 hours.

 

It's definitely at its best when you're just on a run being chased or chasing something in a story mission, you get that sense of speed, momentum, urgency and adrenaline that you got in the first game but everything else just feels superfluous really, and at times infuriatingly frustrating too.

 

As a concept I actually think Mirror's Edge works better as an Open-World game, you get that sense of freedom to go wherever you like which works incredibly well in a Parkour game and you don't feel funnelled down a set path like in the original, but the problem is if that open world isn't filled with anything interesting then you don't feel like exploring it, it ends up being superfluous.

 

On the face of it the 'City of Glass' is populated with things to do, there's Security Hubs to destroy, side missions for various NPCs to attempt, Grid Nodes to switch on, Billboards to hack, Grid Leaks to collect, Races to complete and deliveries to courier. But the big problem is hardly any of these activities are fun in anyway, I tried a lot of them out but the only ones I stuck with were the hackable billboards, Grid Nodes and side missions, all the rest I decided not to bother with after trying them, they're just so needless and just no fun at all.

 

Even the hackable billboards, which are like platforming puzzles to get to end up an exercise in fruastration after a while. After 15 or so attempts at failing to find your way up to a billboard, dying numerous times in the process they get real old real fast and were no fun in the end. The same goes for the side missions, for the most part they're an enjoyable distraction to the story missions filled with some unique mission types and scenarios but by the end of the game you're sick of them as you're fed up with the same types repeating ad nauseam. The Grid Nodes are the only activity that I found enenjoyable throughout, another platforming puzzle, but much more straightforward, less frustrating and much more fun than the Billboards.

 

Now onto the story, it is just absolute garbage, all the characters are so shallow you can practically see through them, the dialogue and writing is cringeworthy a lot of the time and the character development is nonexistent. At one point in the story someone you're meant to care about dies and Faith has a cry in one cutscene, but you don't give a flying fuck that they died as you didn't know anything much about them and they were an utterly cuntish, unlikeable cliche of a character. Oh and there's a 'twist' in the story too that you'll see coming a mile off.

 

The actual story missions themselves are the games only redeeming quality, they're frequently very fun and of a consistently good quality (bar a few combat-centred missions), they're what Mirror's Edge should be, pure adrenaline filled fun.

 

The graphics are also absolutely incredible and technically the game is very good, rarely saw any glitches and the game runs like a dream.

 

Overall, if you're a fan of the first game you should probably give this a go, but if not I'd give it a miss or pick it up when its £10/£15 later on down the line.

[regemond]

I basically got this for free, so I've already had my money's worth, but I'm really enjoying it for the most part.

 

I do agree with all the complaints listed here (harsh time trials, crap combat, dumb story), but none of that is getting in the way of me having fun with it. It's not the worst game I've ever played, but it's not the best either. Weirdly, even though I don't particularly care about the story, I'm finding myself really enjoying the story missions. I think it may be the fact it gives me a goal and leads me somewhere, rather than just letting me off the leash to go nuts.

 

A mission I played last night was a lot of fun - I had to climb up a building for some Asian dude (can't remember his name, just that he's the only other Asian character I've seen up to now, besides Faith) and destroy a pendulum keeping it together. It involved a lot of climbing, and no combat whatsoever, so it was great!

 

The combat would be a hell of a lot better if you could do it all as you run, rather than getting stuck in a 'room' with 4 guys, like the security node missions. As much as I like them, it starts to feel really stilted when you just run around looking for something to jump off and only fight face to face when you absolutely have to.

 

I'll keep playing, although I can see me ignoring all the time trials because fuck it, too much like hard work for me!

[illdog]

3 hours ago, regemond said:

A mission I played last night was a lot of fun - I had to climb up a building for some Asian dude (can't remember his name)

 

That would probably be @hinn888

 

I keep meaning to go back to this, I dont have much left to do (side mission wise) and I always meant to pick it back up. I'd like to play it again in all honeslty, knowing the beast that it is and excepting it as that.

[regemond]

Just finished this. I really fucking enjoyed it! The last mission was a bit of a tosser, with a lot more accurate jumps than the rest of the game, but it was still fun!

 

I ignored everything except the main and side missions way before the end, and only did a few delivery missions after the end to make sure I got all the upgrades.

 

The story scenes were incredibly pretty, even on console. There was one at the end where Faith was getting her tattoo and you could see the pores in her skin raised a little. It looked awesome.

 

Not the best game I've ever played, but when I decided to play it my way instead of doing all the extra tidbits there's nothing I can complain about. Average on the whole? yes. Still a Hell of a lot of fun? Yes!

[Sambob]

I got this for 8 quid the other day. Its been pretty enjoyable actually apart from one or two slightly frustrating parts which surprise surprise involved the fighting although thats been much better implemented this time round.

 

Ive not really bothered with the side missions or trying to make my own runs up, that normally ends up in me just jumping off a building, and then watching the load screen for half a minute, so in that respect I guess youd say its poorly incentivised.

 

Not much else to say, its pretty much the last one, which some of the issues solved although not entirely, and so far ive liked the level design slightly less, dont really dig the open world approach, and actually thought it worked a bit better in Dying Light.