PAX 2008 hands-on: Mirror's Edge, even edgier with an audience

by Kevin Kelly { Sep 1st 2008 at 1:30AM }

Our first stop on the whirlwind tour of EA's heavy hitters was with our favorite running, jumping, sliding, wall-climbing, Faith. Mirror's Edge continues to impress, and we were lucky enough to get a few minutes on a kiosk with her. However, the best thing about it isn't in the game, it was the cheering crowd behind us. Head behind the break to get the full skinny on our PAX experience this data-running hottie.

Gallery: Mirror's Edge

Yes, we've gotten our paws on Mirror's Edge before, and yes it continues to impress us. We took Faith through her leaping, sliding and running workout until we'd disarmed a couple of enemies, made several nigh-impossible jumps, and finally hurled her through the sky in an effort to grab onto the skid of a hovering helicopter. We made it, luckily. The audio was barely discernible over the din of the crowd, but when you hear Faith pant and grunt while booking it up a wall-climb, it puts you on the edge of your seat just a tad more.

"Now when you hit empty, Faith holds onto the gun and you have to decide when to chuck it."

Now, what was different from E3? Not much. The motion-sickness dot is still there in the middle of the screen, and it must work because I didn't vomit once. The most substantial change they made was to the way Faith handles a gun. Previously, she would fire away until her gun hit empty, and you'd get one "click" pull, and then she'd toss the weapon away. Since there's no HUD or counter onscreen to let you know how much ammo you have left, it could be risky holding on to a weapon and hoping that there's a shot left. Now when you hit empty, Faith holds onto the gun and you have to decide when to chuck it.

A fairly sizeable crowd had gathered behind us while we played, and every time we got Faith killed (read: several) they would all go "Awwwwwwww!" When we surprisingly nailed the helicopter grab on the first try, they all went "YEAH!" Everyone should play games with a big audience watching, it really makes you feel like there are real stakes at risk. We can't wait to tuck and roll with the full version of this.

Tags: EA, Electronic-Arts, Faith, joystiqfeatures, Mirrors-Edge, parkour, PAX-08, PAX-2008, PAX08, PAX2008

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Psaakyrn @ Sep 1st 2008 2:12AM

Wait... This is the first time I've seen "paws-on" used by a non-furry.

Or is it?

j.howlett @ Sep 1st 2008 2:30AM

perhaps you should lay off the internet for awhile.

Poisoned Al @ Sep 1st 2008 10:16AM

And kill yourself.

Vandell @ Sep 1st 2008 2:50PM

@ Poisoned Al:

Calm the hell down. Did a furry kill your father or something?

riggs @ Sep 1st 2008 9:56PM

no but it did make passionate fur love to him

Kimosabae @ Sep 1st 2008 2:28AM

"Everyone should play games with a big audience watching, it really makes you feel like there are real stakes at risk."

Could it be, that a another jaded games journalist has been introduced to one of the many merits of competitive gaming?

-SynikaL

h2c @ Sep 1st 2008 2:38AM

The first time I saw the "motion-sickness dot" while watching a Mirror's Edge clip, I thought there was something wrong with the LCD TV I was watching it on.

Tears began to flow as I came to terms with a dead pixel right in the middle of my TV.

Then I moved the browser window...I watched the pixel move...wait a second...that's no dead pixel...WOOOHOOO THANK YOU JESUS!!!

*hugs TV*

Si @ Sep 1st 2008 3:20AM

Are they still demoing on PS3, with no 360 version in sight?

The rumours are, the 360 version is lagging behind in development.

anonim1979 @ Sep 1st 2008 10:07AM

That would be the first...
Probably it's sponsoring thing - they simply show it on PS3 - and in exchange Sony shows ME on their press rolls.

I know about Fallout - PS3 version few weeks lagging - the MP3 with interview on this very site.
But Mirriors Edge? No.

Jakka(Naked Peach Brigade) @ Sep 1st 2008 8:46AM

Is this the same demo they've been showing on E3? This level is getting really overused now.

Vcize @ Sep 1st 2008 11:21AM

So how does jumping work when you hit long jumps? I'm hoping it's not like Uncharted, where your character could jump a certain distance, but if you were on a "trigger" point where there was a ledge beyond that distance that you were "supposed" to jump to, if you jumped from the right spot your guy could magically jump like 3 feet further. So, while you could make the jump easily from one spot, if you jumped from like 2 inches further back you magically missed the jump by like 3 feet.

That was the one thing that annoyed me with that game because you often had to guess whether you were "supposed" to jump at a certain point or not (and as such missed some jumps that looked like they should have been easier than jumps that came before them but were on a "trigger point"), and I'm hoping it's not the same here. Any word on this?