Unseen64: Backbone made Mirror's Edge demo for Wii, PSP, DS
by Justin McElroy 
{ Jul 22nd 2009 at 3:00PM } 
Judging by the couple of pieces of concept art Unseen64 is sporting, the project looks suspiciously third-person, which is puzzling at best. But who knows? Maybe we're just old men set in our crotchety ways. Maybe it could have been awesome. But with less-than-stellar sales numbers for the flagship, we're doubtful EA will be willing to spend the cash to let Faith leap onto other boxes.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CH3BURASHKA @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:07PM
The more Mirror's Edge, the better. That game was awesome.
The Baron @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:12PM
Agreed. It was sad that basically everything was against the game - slightly unexciting box art, a name that didn't necessarily appeal to most young males who buy games, and not much hype/advertising besides the poor 2D animation trailers. The game itself was fantastic, if they'd have shown off more of the exhilaration of roof-running and escaping police at the last second, it would have sold far more.
HotLimit @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:54PM
That and it was an EA game (which turned off the niche game fans because they hate on EA all the time). I totally agree though, this game was awesome and to see it on PSP or DS in whatever form would have been great.
michas_pi @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:10PM
I love Mirror's Edge.
Jeremy White @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:11PM
Mirror's Edge was really good. The time trials was the thing that would have you putting hours into the game.
Nate @ Jul 22nd 2009 4:31PM
Very true.
I think it's so popular in the game for one reason. It's the closest thing to what we want from the game: lots of running, no one chasing you.
Edicius @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:13PM
What makes this look third person? You could see Faith in the screens from the original game too.
Or Is It Tom Skerritt? @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:14PM
The only thing wrong with Mirror's Edge is that all of the cinematics looked like eSurance ads.
michas_pi @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:22PM
Why is that a bad thing?
ballistic3188 @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:40PM
kills the ambience of it. you go from realistic setting in a first person view to make you feel that your that person. then blind side you in cutscenes with 3rd person 2D cartoon to entire take you out of it. it kills the immersion and just seemed tacky.
justshovejayohbe @ Jul 22nd 2009 7:01PM
What is with people who hate cutscenes? I mean seriously were you all deprived of Wing Commander and Dark Forces 2 as kids?
ballistic3188 @ Jul 22nd 2009 7:49PM
narrative style. this game narrative style is a first person play as though you are the person style akin to half- life series. so the more out of body cutscenes hurts the immersion. most people problem is that it so different to go from realist 3d world to a 2d cartoon is as said takes you out of the game.
I enjoyed the meet your sister cutscene compared to all the other one cause it was done in style that best fit what they were going for.
so in short we don't hate cutscenes we hate bad cutscenes.
Preston @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:25PM
Not surprising. It's not as if Mirror's edge looked all that difficult to run from a purely graphics angle.
Freestyle Farfetchd @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:29PM
The thing that's always put me off getting Mirror's Edge is the longevity. I could see that game being over very, very quickly. A couple of hours maybe. I enjoyed the demo, but I could see that if you knew what you were doing, you could have it all finished in under an hour.
WiNG [XBL&Steam: WiNGSPANTT] from lifeinagame.com @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:33PM
True, but now that you can get it for $12 used on eBay, who cares? It's definitely worth it at that price point.
WiNG [XBL&Steam: WiNGSPANTT] from lifeinagame.com @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:34PM
Also I think 3rd person Mirror's Edge could work, but it would take out most of the tension. It's actually pretty tense being in first person and running from people shooting at you while you're completely unarmed.
Alzheimers @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:38PM
There were three issues I had with the original Mirror's Edge:
1) The game was too short -- the ending seemed seriously tacked on, considering the setup.
2) Some of the controls were just unresponsive or frustrating, specifically the wallrunning and hand to hand combat.
3) The anime cinematics ruined the immersiveness of the game. They should have stuck with HL2-style in game cutscenes, like the one when you meet your sister.
A 3rd person's Mirror's Edge sounds suspiciously like a PoP/AC engine. Which isn't to say it would be bad, just not Mirror's Edge.
scratch @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:42PM
i was really excited about mirrors edge, but when i actually played it... eh, it was ok. the story didnt grip me as much as i was expecting it to, and i guess im just not very good at the game. i think if one spend s alot of time getting really good, then it could be really fun to have that much freedom... but i just dont have that kinda time these days.
im not saying it was bad, mind. i love the idea and though it was decently executed, it just didnt gel for me like i was expecting it to.
but as for the matter at hand, i think the game could do well on other systems like wii/ds/psp. the art style (which i like a lot) is easy to adapt to less powerful systems and still retain the look, and it is a very fresh experience.
Anthony @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:50PM
WTF. No iPhone? The iPhone pretty much now is up to par with the PSP in terms of graphics, they should make it for the iPhone.
If it was for the DS it would have to be 3D and for the PSP it would play nicely if the camera worked right.
But It needs an iPhone version as well, EA does have an App store section...
Ashitaka @ Jul 22nd 2009 4:19PM
Controls? Anyone?
Unplugged @ Jul 22nd 2009 4:20PM
The iphone is definitely NOT up to par with PSP games graphics, and just because the real handheld gaming systems, the PSP and DS, are being considered doesn't mean the iphone should get it.
someone @ Jul 22nd 2009 6:45PM
"The iPhone pretty much now is up to par with the PSP in terms of graphics"
Prove it
ChromeAlchemist @ Jul 22nd 2009 6:50PM
http://www.edge-online.com/news/iphone-3gs-graphics-can-top-psp’s-–-fishlabs
Merry Christmas.
Shoyz @ Jul 22nd 2009 9:31PM
Nice proof you got there, Chrome.
Especially the Screenshots of all those games.
The PSP can easily top the Wii's graphics, if you do it right. Except that's just potential, which is exactly what you're talking about. I highly doubt we'll ever see an iPhone game which tops the graphics of the best-graphics'd PSP game.
If you say that's an unfair comparison to use the best graphics of a PSP game, then you could also say that the PSP has better graphics than the Wii because the best graphics of a PSP game top the worst graphics of a Wii game.
Jonathan @ Jul 22nd 2009 9:47PM
Shoyz, your comment is beyond stupid. Just because no PSP level games have been developed doesn't mean it's not possible. The 3GS came out last month, and developers are worried, but slowly moving into premium games (Real Racing, Doom, Gangstar).
Just because they haven't yet doesn't mean spec wise that it's not possible.
Learn concepts.
Meh @ Jul 23rd 2009 7:26AM
DS NEEDS Mirror's Edge 2D.
mr nimblewick @ Jul 22nd 2009 3:57PM
If they ported this to the Wii with that art style and put some effort into it, I'd buy it.
Kdiggy @ Jul 22nd 2009 4:12PM
I thought the first one was a huge letdown myself. Maybe if they make the next one third person, that could help make the game fun this time around.
meist3r @ Jul 22nd 2009 4:21PM
Source link is dead but the entire unseen64 site seems to be down.
MAIcrosoft @ Jul 22nd 2009 4:51PM
The server is overheated by the large stream of visitors Xp Please wait untill tomorrow, when the problem will most likely be solved.
Yours,
admin of Unseen64.net
PS: Use google's cache for now [:
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:http://www.unseen64.net/2009/07/22/mirrors-edge-wii-proto/
Tilemaxx @ Jul 22nd 2009 4:51PM
For all readers who can't access Unseen64, there is a server overload issue atm. Thanks for your patience.
Tilemaxx @ Jul 22nd 2009 4:52PM
Yeah Mai replied above :P
Tilemaxx @ Jul 22nd 2009 4:58PM
U64 is up and running again :)
Mr Khan is over 9000 @ Jul 22nd 2009 5:01PM
Being one of the few PS360 games i've had a chance to play, it could definitely have used a more intuitive control scheme. I could see what they were going for by trying to give her so many acrobatic abillities, but it made for an incredibly convoluted control scheme.
Wii could make that problem better, or much much worse, depending on the capability of the dev.
Roto13 @ Jul 22nd 2009 5:45PM
Convoluted? Platforming was done with two buttons. One for "up" (jumping and climbing) and one for "down" (crouching and sliding). There was also a disarm button and a shoot button. The controls were not convoluted at all.
Roto13 @ Jul 22nd 2009 5:43PM
I'm so glad this never happened. The lack of a second control stick aside, Backbone is a terrible studio and Mirror's Edge deserves better. They must be really cheap or something. I can't think of any other reason to hire them for anything.
I'd rather see an expanded version of that Mirror's Edge flash game for DS or something.
ChromeAlchemist @ Jul 22nd 2009 6:40PM
The classic controller has a second control stick.
Roto13 @ Jul 22nd 2009 8:50PM
The classic controller is not the standard controller.
Douche Bigalow @ Jul 22nd 2009 6:38PM
You know what Mirror's Edge needed? A few puzzles using wall run. Seriously, with all the other amazing, innovative puzzles they had, I'm surprised they didn't turn to wall run a few more times when in a tight spot. They must have stayed up late thinking of all the ways they could avoid getting stuck in a rut, using wall run over and over, slightly extending the length you have to run, as the only challenge.
Plus, the combat was awesome! Some people might say that having to time an iffy button press to about 3-4 frames of an animation as your only real combat move would get tedious. Not me!
ChromeAlchemist @ Jul 22nd 2009 6:44PM
more than 200k units to make profit on the Wii, remember this. No game above those sales has technically bombed, and is therefore profitable. I think it definitely should go forward considering the buzz that went around concerning the original. Just put a PoP art style on it and BOOM, you should have yourself a profitable game.
Darkhand @ Jul 22nd 2009 8:48PM
If it looked like the game in the picture above I would have bought it.
shadowbender @ Jul 22nd 2009 9:19PM
I beat Mirror's Edge yesterday. Wonderful, wonderful game. Hope to see more of it.
Roto13 @ Jul 22nd 2009 11:19PM
The sequel has already been confirmed, thankfully. Mirror's Edge was a very good first effort at that kind of thing, but Dice could really make a fantastic blockbuster if they learn from their mistakes. (Less indoor stuff, less combat, longer game, etc.)
Jacksons @ Jul 23rd 2009 7:10PM
Hm. Backbone's done alright on a few PSP games, Mirror's Edge would certainly be possible.