Mirror’s Edge Catalyst Review (Xbox One)
Mirror’s Edge was something of a strange and unexpected game when it initially released in 2008. DICE had only been known for the Battlefield franchise before this and a move to a first-person platformer that focused almost exclusively on parkour might not have seemed like a wise decision. Yet, the game went on to receive plenty of acclaim from reviewers for its distinctive gameplay but also garnered criticism for a lackluster plot and short length. Despite all of this though, it had a dedicated cult following of fans who wanted to see a sequel, though EA seemed hesitant to move forward with any new entry into the series – that is until now with the release of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst.
The first thing to note about Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is that this is essentially the same game as its predecessor. Although there was some talk of it being a prequel to the original title when it was first announced, the developers later moved to let everyone know that is actually a reboot. The most obvious reason for this was to discard the rather poor story from Mirror’s Edge and focus on a new origin story.
Unfortunately, DICE didn’t quite manage to nail that. While the overall story is a definite improvement over its predecessor, it still isn’t going to win any awards in this respect. In fact, for the most part it seems simply to be a rehash of the old plot with a few new characters introduced. You are once again put in the shoes of Faith as she attempts to fight against a regime of evil corporations that are ruling the city of Glass with an iron fist.
The plot unfolds in an all too predictable manner as you progress through the campaign. Cliché characters are introduced and their arcs could have been guessed almost as soon as you first set eyes on them. Whether it is the father figure who makes a sacrifice for you or the cocky rival who eventually becomes an important friend and ally. Mirror’s Edge Catalyst just seems to trot out the same tropes that have been told hundreds of times before without ever trying to tell its own story.
The game comes into its own though when you are simply running on the rooftops of the city and traversing the various obstacles that are in your way. This parkour gameplay mechanic is what sets Mirror’s Edge apart from almost any other game and it works just as well here as it did in the initial release. It is truly exciting to move so fluidly around the city, running up walls and jumping over barriers, and DICE have perfected the formula to the point where it is difficult to see how they could improve it. Once you begin to unlock some of the more complex moves, it’s possible to string together satisfying combos that really are impressive.
Like its predecessor, the main area of concern in this title is the combat system. Realizing that this was a main point of criticism in the first game, DICE have evolved it somewhat and even recommend that you avoid confrontations wherever possible. Frustratingly though, they still lock you into certain areas where you have to fight numerous enemies who are armed with weapons. It can become extremely tedious when you get stuck at a particular point just because you are constantly being killed by soldiers that are so much more powerful than you.
The issues are essentially the same in this reboot as they were in Mirror’s Edge. The first-person perspective means that you don’t have any situational awareness and can’t see incoming attacks. Meanwhile, Faith isn’t a trained warrior, she is a small and nimble athlete who specializes in agility rather than fighting. Although DICE have tried to introduce some new ideas to make these combat sections less infuriating and boring, they have failed to make any real progress.
Even though Mirror’s Edge Catalyst does have an open world to explore, it feels severely under-used. At least that is the case when completing the main campaign and side missions. You’ll still be travelling along the same stretches of rooftop constantly and have very little incentive to go off the beaten track to see what else is out there. If you do decide to explore it is possible to run into all kinds of different collectibles, such as the orbs, billboards and dash challenges, but they all feel very similar and don’t provide any real variety. Only the time trial challenges are that interesting and even they can become tedious due to the incredibly tight time constraints they place on you.
Another disappointment is the upgrade system. There are three distinct classes of upgrades – gear, combat and movement. Only the third one offers any real change in the way the game can be played as it unlocks extra skills for you to put together free running combos and reach more difficult locations. The gear section is largely redundant as all the important pieces of equipment are unlocked automatically over the course of the story and the combat section just provides more health or more damage to enemies. There’s nothing innovative here and it certainly feels like the developers could have come up with some exciting upgrades here.
As was the case with the 2008 game, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is an interesting concept that is blighted with a series of problems. The biggest issue seems to be that the only interesting gameplay mechanic is the parkour ability. Everything else just seems tacked on to artificially expand the game and inflate its size. It seems like this free-running idea would be more suited to a Portal-like downloadable game that could explore the mechanic in much more depth than a fully-fledged retail release. Ultimately, it just fails to deliver in too many areas to justify the price tag, though it will certainly appeal to a small number of fans who adored the original.