GDC08: First screenshots of Mirror's Edge

by Ross Miller { Feb 29th 2008 at 10:00AM }

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At the EA DICE event during GDC last week (the same one where we saw Battlefield Heroes and Bad Company), we had a chance to watch a trailer and a one-level walkthrough of Mirror's Edge, a stylistic first-person game reminiscent of both Parkour and the Bourne movies. DICE went for a more realistic perspective by slightly tilting the camera back and forth depending on how fast you move.

The level we saw had the character jumping over fences, sliding under pipes and traversing through and over buildings like a crack-addicted monkey looking for its next fix. Items and platforms turn red while you run to provide context clues for what you can use to keep your momentum going and move forward (e.g. a swinging rope you can grab jumping off of the side of a building).

As for combat, it seems the point of the game is rather nonviolent; when our hero did steal a gun from an opponent, she quickly disassembled it and kept running. The game looks promising, but we can't help but wonder how it would have looked if they used the same camera/blur effects and moved the camera back to third person.

Gallery: Mirror's Edge

Tags: dice, ea, mirrors-edge, mirrorsedge

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Arnie @ Feb 29th 2008 10:05AM

I hope they test it out and know what they are doing. Bobbing cameras in games have never worked for me and in fact makes me want to puke.(literally!!)

bm @ Feb 29th 2008 11:18AM

Some people puke when they go on a rollercoaster. Companies aren't going to adapt every ride for them. Those people just don't ride rollercoasters.

FrankTheCrank @ Feb 29th 2008 10:05AM

Neo!

Trinity!!!!

Ka-Booom!

Chrysalid @ Feb 29th 2008 10:13AM

I think moving it to third-person might make it feel too much like Assassin's Creed which, granted, nailed the parkour, but first person will allow this to feel very unique it seems. Just looking at the first screenshot has me feeling vertigo...which I think is a good thing for this game.

Dustin @ Feb 29th 2008 10:16AM

I agree that it would be too Creed-ish, but ... idk. When I think of non-violent first person shooters (Portal set aside... wait, was Portal violent?) I get a wicked bad taste in my mouth.

bm @ Feb 29th 2008 11:16AM

How is it a first-person shooter when there's no shooting? At least in portal, you shot something.

I agree that moving it to 3rd person would be a bad thing to do. People need to stop thinking in genres and existing games and give original ideas like this a chance, if this industry is to move forward.

Tiptup300 @ Mar 5th 2008 7:10PM

I thought of this a while ago and had my heart on putting it on a game. They took that away from me. =[

samfish @ Feb 29th 2008 10:20AM

This has potential, but the first person perspective is probably going to make a lot of people want to barf.
It would be REALLY cool if they threw in some sort of kung fu attacks, though.

bm @ Feb 29th 2008 11:20AM

Some people puke when they go on a rollercoaster. Companies aren't going to adapt every ride for them. Those people just don't ride rollercoasters.

Sorry for the copypaste.

Mike @ Feb 29th 2008 10:20AM

I am totally into the first person aspect. Makes for a much more immersive experience. Crysis was part-way there with the arm grabbing items and being able to look down at your feet etc (other games have done this too), but I kept wishing for more. Putting the camera at the head/eyes of the player is so much more effective than just a floating first person camera, with no visible character body or limbs. And third person is being done by so many other games - I am looking forward to something fresh.

Winston @ Feb 29th 2008 10:37AM

Looking good, though they're far from being the first shots from the game, some of these have been available for like 6months.

Liking the promise of game a lot though. If they nail the movement and won't make it feel sluggish, moving along the rooftops will be heaps of fun.

naxe @ Feb 29th 2008 10:39AM

screen's look amazing.

I cant wait for the demo. there is going to be a demo right?

ScallionN @ Feb 29th 2008 10:49AM

I wanted another first-person game like Breakdown! Adding platforming might be iffy, unless they handle it cleverly. The no guns thing is cool, too.

Ranus Studios @ Feb 29th 2008 11:15AM

Goodness that's a pretty game.

bm @ Feb 29th 2008 11:25AM

Wow, it looks.... colourful!! That's new. More of this please, and less of the drab grey shit a lot of us are so sick of.

Now if only it didn't feature the sickeningly bog-standard tough-guy-with-gun enemy and the tough-guy-with-gun-shooting-at-you-from-a-helicopter enemy then things would be perfect. But eh, can't have it all.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 29th 2008 11:31AM

This kind of reminds me of the opening sequence of Strange Days...

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Feb 29th 2008 11:51AM

lol yeah. Man what an awesome movie.

Edog Lost @ Feb 29th 2008 12:23PM

Didn't Edge Magazine do a cover story on this game months ago? They had some screens and game play descriptions. Looks good to me.

Abscissa @ Feb 29th 2008 5:55PM

Intriguing. And I love the whole "Bright sunny urban day" feel of it.

Kayeliminal @ Feb 29th 2008 6:04PM

I'm loving the idea of this game, it's showing that everything that's in first person doesn't have to be a mindless shooter with a bland/whack/predictable/SPACE MARINE/etc story.

Paul S. @ Feb 29th 2008 1:27PM

Wow, this game looks like it has amazing potential. After just poking around a bit on the web for some info on this game, it has quickly become one of my most anticipated games.

You know, for all the complaining about EA rehashing their series over and over, they're also introducing some pretty awesome new IPs, like Mirror's Edge and Skate.