When EA released the original Mirror’s Edge for Xbox 360, I had no idea what the game actually entailed. It just showed up one day in my sister’s room and I remember watching her play for hours. Wherever we brought our Xbox, Mirror’s Edge would come with us. Call this a nostalgia review, but I just got through the main storyline of Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, and I can’t express how happy I am with the result.
The game in itself may be flawed, but the graphics, concept, and story are all molded to be a great reflection of the original game. The developers molded Faith from a stagnant, cardboard character to a lost child with feelings that she exerts through her running. The game consists of intense parkour missions mixed with a pretty shallow combat system. Luckily, fighting isn’t the main point of this game: running is.
You see, Faith is a runner. She makes her living and gets her enjoyment by catapulting across the skyscrapers in the city of Glass. The environment is divided into different areas, each with side missions and collectibles to grab; the main game, however, has you fast traveling between three main locations if you’re looking to just immerse yourself in the story.
What sets Catalyst apart from other games is that its first-person perspective is deceptively addictive. You really feel like you’re in the shoes of Faith Conners, and it couldn’t have been done more seamlessly. Every duck, roll, wall run, and leap of faith is all accompanied with elegant sound effects that immerse you in the experience deeper than you could ever imagine.
While I did feel as though glitches and confusing pathways slowed down my progress, and I did miss a lot of sections that were in the first game that were cut in the second, it was a great trip down memory lane. The main story is not too long, but its enjoyable and worth picking up if you never tried either of the installments in the series.
