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Back in 2008, EA released Mirror’s Edge, a slick first-person parkour platformer starring a bracingly singular Asian female protagonist. Mirror’s Edge was ahead of its time in 2008, and honestly, it still is today. In the eight years since the release of the original Mirror’s Edge, nothing else quite like it has come along, and gamers have, understandably, been hungry for more.
Well, after nearly a decade of pleading, EA has finally granted fans’ wishes. Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, a new open-world reboot, is here, but is this series still in proper shape after its long layover?
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst (PC, Xbox One & PS4)
Artistic Achievement
As mentioned, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is a reboot, although it’s not entirely clear why very little has been changed. You once again play as Faith Connors, work as a runner in a futuristic dystopian city, have issues with your sister and get mixed up in the machinations of various shadowy corporations and underground organizations. This could have just as easily been a prequel or even sequel (with a few tweaks), but I guess DICE wanted new players to feel like they’re getting in on the ground floor.
Faith remains a unique, likable hero, but most of her co-stars have come straight off the triple-A character assembly line. The brooding, hooded rival/love interest, the father figure mentor, the Morgan Freeman eccentric — you’ve seen these walking stereotypes in countless EA, Ubisoft and Activision games. The story is purely a MacGuffin chase — go find this computer chip, now go hack this mainframe — peppered with a few flashbacks from Faith’s childhood. It’s nothing great, but the story isn’t actively offensive or anything, and to its credit I continued to care about Faith throughout.
Faith and some characters I never bothered to learn the names of.
Visually, Catalyst is a mixed bag, which is a surprise coming from the technical wizards at DICE. Your city sandbox is certainly stylish, but all the glass and polished metal starts to look a bit monotonous after a while. Faith looks fantastic and is one of the best 3-D models I’ve ever seen, but secondary characters are more generic and NPCs look like refugees from the original Mirror’s Edge. Music is the typical electronic fare you’d expect from a sci-fi game like this, and the voice acting is solid. In particular, Chinese-Irish actress Faye Kingslee does a good, distinctive job as Faith. Overall, Catalyst‘s presentation is polished, but not quite as slick as it could be.
Innovation
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst doesn’t really add much to the established formula, but as I said in the intro, the original game didn’t exactly set off a torrent of copycats. That fluid, first-person Mirror’s Edge platforming still feels pretty novel a near-decade later.
A few minor additions are made, like ropes and grappling hooks you can use to traverse chasms, and a new open-world structure, but those changes don’t really alter the feel of Mirror’s Edge much. If anything, they actually make the game feel more conventional. Some mildly interesting asynchronous online multiplayer features have been added, such as the ability to create your own courses for other players to run through, but they’re strictly a minor side dish that doesn’t really affect the main meal.
Execution
Like the original game, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is mostly devoted to scrambling, climbing and leaping over rooftops from a first-person perspective. Controls are about as simple as they get — you move with the left control stick, and trigger “upward” motions (jumping, climbing, swinging) with one button, and “downward” motions (sliding, crawling, breaking your fall) with a second button. That’s about all there is to it. Grabbing hold of, or leaping over something is as simple as running up to it and hitting an action button, although there is a bit of nuance to it. Some jumps have to be timed properly or approached from the right angle. It can take some getting used to, and you’ll do plenty of plunging to your death early on, but the learning curve is fairly brisk.
Once you get a hang of the controls, gracefully bounding through the world of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst becomes one of the most exhilarating, empowering game experiences available. Racing over rooftops is just plain fun, and the game’s missions feature some of the best level design I’ve ever seen in a 3-D game. Scaling a towering, in-construction skyscraper or navigating the high-tech insides of a super computer is a heart-racing delight.
You probably will not be quite so gung-ho to go into battle.
Unfortunately, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst also carries over its predecessor’s shortcomings. Combat isn’t as bad as it once was, as you now have more options for attacking enemies while on the move and gunplay has been junked altogether, but it’s still not perfect. Leaping off a rooftop onto a stray bad guy Batman-style is fine, but occasionally you’ll be dropped in an enclosed arena and forced to deal with wave after wave of enemies, bringing Catalyst‘s usually brisk pace to a grinding halt. Thankfully these encounters are relatively rare, and aren’t bad enough to seriously bring down Catalyst‘s very lofty high points.
Staying Power
This Mirror’s Edge may be open world, but it’s still not a particularly large game. If you focus strictly on the core story missions, you can zip through Catalyst in around seven or eight hours. Add another five-or-so if you want to clean up the game’s various sidequests. That said, just running around in the game is such a joy, there’s a good chance you’ll want to revisit Catalyst‘s intricate parkour playground from time-to-time.
Bullsh*t Factor
No DLC, season pass, pre-order bonuses or microtransactions. Considering Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is an EA-published game, that’s kind of remarkable. I also never encountered a single serious glitch while playing the game, which is impressive given how intricately designed the game’s world is. It’s clear a lot more love went into this game than your typical triple-A product.
Final Thoughts
There are a fair number of criticisms you can level against Mirror’s Edge Catalyst — it doesn’t need to be a reboot, it’s open-world structure doesn’t add much, and it’s combat is still lame, but somehow none of that drags the game down to earth. Great games don’t always have to be perfect games, and Catalyst’s best moments, when you’re effortlessly hurtling over the city with nothing but your hands and feet, more than make up for its shortcomings. Mirror’s Edge Catalyst isn’t typical, it isn’t flawless, but it’s worth a leap of faith.
Verdict: Clear Your Calendar
This review was based on a digital copy of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst provided by EA.