Zero Punctuation: Mirror's Edge
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
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Yeahhhhh I never said my opinion was the universal consensus that everyone must have. However I DO hate it. I had a horrible time playing Mirror's Edge and wasted 20 dollars on it. I'm just saying I'm glad Yahtzee expressed everything I felt about the game.excon said:
Also you're calling the kettle black here. You say not everyone has the same opinion, and yet you're saying I should shut up when I express my own. Grow up? I'm not being immature, you're just being a dumb-ass.
I actually love this game minus the caps getting shot at me nonstop, and for the record i still havent finished the game on easy yet
lol, the game is not that hard really and i played it on medium. it just takes a little time to find the right way. once you disarm a cop, you can clear the way, then you have time to look around.Vanessa Gary said:
@other comment
bad controls?? i had no issues what so ever with it. it took me like 20 min to get used to the controls. after that it was really easy to run and jump through the levels
just play the training mission few times.
I went back and watched this after playing through it again, and I have to say....
Most of the issues he presented I don't see at all.
I havent had any issues with collision detection, nor with the 1st person platformer problems he described.
The only BAD thing I can think of that he brought up that was really a problem is the e-insurence like cutsecnes.
Most of the issues he presented I don't see at all.
I havent had any issues with collision detection, nor with the 1st person platformer problems he described.
The only BAD thing I can think of that he brought up that was really a problem is the e-insurence like cutsecnes.
PC version. Phys-X and ATi do not play nice together, resulting in terrible clipping, or whatever you care to call it. Every time there were 'Blues' in an indoor environment the game became unplayable. Fortunately, I remembered that there Phys-X/ATi issues from something else, so I didn't uninstall the game. Turning off Phys-X helped a lot, whereas tweaking resolution and graphic detail did nothing.
On PC, it is going to be difficult to bind the controls satisfactorily, and the fact that it is a port and doesn't allow you to bind some keys does not help matters (the game totally denied my usual preferences). This is definitely a game that should play better with a game controller than a mouse and keyboard - and I really can't believe that I just said that. Between clipping frustration and re-mapping the controls, I burned up about 2 hours of potential game time.
From the graphics, I was strongly reminded of Half-Life 2, except for how clean everything was. And that's a good thing, because if you're going to rip off someone...
This might be affected by playing the PC version of the game at high resolution, but here's the real problem. Yahtzee's core issue with the game is not gameplay at all, but game type. I watched the review several times, and I'm still not certain why perspective is used as a review point. He's saying that 1st person parkour is a terrible idea. That's not actually a 'problem' with the game, that is the *kind* of game that it is. You might as well say "platforming/RTS/JRPG is a terrible idea, therefore all platformers/RTSs/JRPGs are bad games." I may agree that specific games (and JRPGs!!!) are bad, but I don't see how a blanket condemnation of the game type accomplishes anything. Worse, it may cause someone to give a game a bad review, which could influence others to not play the game. [After some inner turmoil, I bought it cheap on Steam, despite Yahtzee's scathing review.]
The story is bad, I agree there. I also agree with many commenters that the hyperactive police force makes this seem like a paranoid fantasy. There are plenty of reasons to make you hot-foot it across town. The town's reactor might be melting down. You're caring a heart for transplant, or medicine for a dyin' daughter somewhere. Heck, maybe you just want to return the library book on time!
There were two things that I really didn't care for; the timed sections, and the puzzle environments that you don't yet know are puzzle environments. So the cops are going to come through the door in X seconds and start shooting at me, but I don't yet know where the heck I'm going to go. [Yes I had Runner-Vision on, but it was about as useful as Reality-Television.] Can I get through here? No? Blam! Blam! Dead. How about over there? No? Blam! Blam! Dead. Um... maybe I didn't do that quickly enough? Blam! Blam! Dead. Maybe I'm just dense, and can't see the "proper" way to get through certain puzzle sections.
ME introduces new kinds of jumping puzzles, which is great. I've seen some comparisons to AssCreed, but I hesitate to make that comparison. Its much more to the point to say that I thought this was much better than the Turok-style jumping puzzles, which I think are total time-wasters. I also like the 'hint' function, which is thoughtful and innovative. Unfortunately, the only thing that I can think to compare it to, is the awful hints in Bioshock that you cannot even turn off. ME tries to point you in the right direction without being obvious about it - which I thought wasn't quite enough sometimes. I gotta go up huh? Well stop the FRIGGIN' presses!
I don't agree that seeing your feet is necessary. If you have RV on, and you see a ramp/wall, then you're probably going to run to the edge of the ramp/wall and then leap/wall-run as far as you can. Though the wall-running takes more practice, and can seem a bit unfair if you can't tell how high/far you have to get on the wall.
Personally, I may not finish the game. Yes, I'm stuck at a puzzle section that isn't quite obvious enough for my giant intellect. Maybe I need to run the tutorial again. I was changing my controls on the fly during the tutorial, and trying to fix the Phys-X clipping in first two hours or so in the game. During that time I wasn't properly developing the acrobatic skills which the game expects me to have at this point. So I can see how similar issues would cause frustration in other players.
At the end of the day, even if you hated it, ME provides impressive vistas and gameplay mechanics that allow you the occasional sensation of "Hey, I actually pulled that off. That was pretty cool." That works in ME's favor. Maybe the game could be longer, but I really haven't reached a point that feels like 'padding' - which I would also think is in its favor.
If you're willing to take a crack at it, I'm going to recommend that you pick it up during a Steam sale. I'm not enthralled with the game, but despite some frustration, I'm interested enough that I want to get better at disarming the police. For me personally, that works as a hook, and another point for ME.
...
Edit: Also there are hidden 'packages' throughout the city. Maybe I've missed something, but it would have improved the game if those packages had practical in-game value. For example, the third package contains a weapon holster, or ammunition, or athlete's foot creme.
On PC, it is going to be difficult to bind the controls satisfactorily, and the fact that it is a port and doesn't allow you to bind some keys does not help matters (the game totally denied my usual preferences). This is definitely a game that should play better with a game controller than a mouse and keyboard - and I really can't believe that I just said that. Between clipping frustration and re-mapping the controls, I burned up about 2 hours of potential game time.
From the graphics, I was strongly reminded of Half-Life 2, except for how clean everything was. And that's a good thing, because if you're going to rip off someone...
This might be affected by playing the PC version of the game at high resolution, but here's the real problem. Yahtzee's core issue with the game is not gameplay at all, but game type. I watched the review several times, and I'm still not certain why perspective is used as a review point. He's saying that 1st person parkour is a terrible idea. That's not actually a 'problem' with the game, that is the *kind* of game that it is. You might as well say "platforming/RTS/JRPG is a terrible idea, therefore all platformers/RTSs/JRPGs are bad games." I may agree that specific games (and JRPGs!!!) are bad, but I don't see how a blanket condemnation of the game type accomplishes anything. Worse, it may cause someone to give a game a bad review, which could influence others to not play the game. [After some inner turmoil, I bought it cheap on Steam, despite Yahtzee's scathing review.]
The story is bad, I agree there. I also agree with many commenters that the hyperactive police force makes this seem like a paranoid fantasy. There are plenty of reasons to make you hot-foot it across town. The town's reactor might be melting down. You're caring a heart for transplant, or medicine for a dyin' daughter somewhere. Heck, maybe you just want to return the library book on time!
There were two things that I really didn't care for; the timed sections, and the puzzle environments that you don't yet know are puzzle environments. So the cops are going to come through the door in X seconds and start shooting at me, but I don't yet know where the heck I'm going to go. [Yes I had Runner-Vision on, but it was about as useful as Reality-Television.] Can I get through here? No? Blam! Blam! Dead. How about over there? No? Blam! Blam! Dead. Um... maybe I didn't do that quickly enough? Blam! Blam! Dead. Maybe I'm just dense, and can't see the "proper" way to get through certain puzzle sections.
ME introduces new kinds of jumping puzzles, which is great. I've seen some comparisons to AssCreed, but I hesitate to make that comparison. Its much more to the point to say that I thought this was much better than the Turok-style jumping puzzles, which I think are total time-wasters. I also like the 'hint' function, which is thoughtful and innovative. Unfortunately, the only thing that I can think to compare it to, is the awful hints in Bioshock that you cannot even turn off. ME tries to point you in the right direction without being obvious about it - which I thought wasn't quite enough sometimes. I gotta go up huh? Well stop the FRIGGIN' presses!
I don't agree that seeing your feet is necessary. If you have RV on, and you see a ramp/wall, then you're probably going to run to the edge of the ramp/wall and then leap/wall-run as far as you can. Though the wall-running takes more practice, and can seem a bit unfair if you can't tell how high/far you have to get on the wall.
Personally, I may not finish the game. Yes, I'm stuck at a puzzle section that isn't quite obvious enough for my giant intellect. Maybe I need to run the tutorial again. I was changing my controls on the fly during the tutorial, and trying to fix the Phys-X clipping in first two hours or so in the game. During that time I wasn't properly developing the acrobatic skills which the game expects me to have at this point. So I can see how similar issues would cause frustration in other players.
At the end of the day, even if you hated it, ME provides impressive vistas and gameplay mechanics that allow you the occasional sensation of "Hey, I actually pulled that off. That was pretty cool." That works in ME's favor. Maybe the game could be longer, but I really haven't reached a point that feels like 'padding' - which I would also think is in its favor.
If you're willing to take a crack at it, I'm going to recommend that you pick it up during a Steam sale. I'm not enthralled with the game, but despite some frustration, I'm interested enough that I want to get better at disarming the police. For me personally, that works as a hook, and another point for ME.
...
Edit: Also there are hidden 'packages' throughout the city. Maybe I've missed something, but it would have improved the game if those packages had practical in-game value. For example, the third package contains a weapon holster, or ammunition, or athlete's foot creme.
I finally got around to playing this...
This game gets an A+ for effort, but a D for execution. The idea for a parkour simulator is really unique, and I loved the art direction. But the controls are horrible and the level design is downright sadistic. Still, I would love to see a more polished sequel that actually makes this idea work.
This game gets an A+ for effort, but a D for execution. The idea for a parkour simulator is really unique, and I loved the art direction. But the controls are horrible and the level design is downright sadistic. Still, I would love to see a more polished sequel that actually makes this idea work.
