This last weekend EA opened up its recently-delayed Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst for a closed BETA. I was fortunate enough to get access to the game and spent a few hours exploring the corporation-run world in which the protagonist, Faith, has found herself.

The original Mirror’s Edge was defined by its parkour, and its follow up is no different. Catalyst retains a fluidity of movement in the parkour system that is often imitated by so far unrivaled. The system is spoiled a little by the introduction of an upgrade system that has a few too many basic options hidden away, but they are quickly unlocked. The game was best when it let me enter a flow game state moving seamlessly between different environs without conscious effort on my part. This is assisted by a target of 60fps throughout, which the PS4 did not achieve at all times but nevertheless contributes to an enhanced sensation of motion.

The Assassin’s Creed series could learn a lot from Mirror’s Edge. Not just in the implementation of a working parkour system, but in its approach to movement in general. Ubisoft should learn from EA not to cheat on the series central parkour mechanic and override its related deficiencies with the rope launcher, as in Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, but to make movement good enough that you wouldn’t want to use anything else.

It is perhaps an appropriate time too for such learnings, given the series is taking a year off from releasing a mainline title.

Unfortunately, combat in Catalyst’s BETA was a chore, and easily the most unenjoyable element of the BETA. You can only attack for so long before guards beat you back. So you simply back up, run at them again and go at it. Step by step you can wear down enemies. It’s grindy and boring. I think that the game would have been improved by clearly making optional all combat sequences because when you enter a combat arena it feels as if you stop playing Mirror’s Edge and start playing a badly-done first person brawler.

That’s not to say there weren’t some satisfying combat moments. Running along a rooftop and bouncing off a wall onto a hapless security apparatchik felt weighty, sometimes fluid and sometimes effortless.

The BETA also suffered from map anxiety – the feeling of being overwhelmed by too many useless things to do and see. In particular too many time trials litter the environment as you explore it, throwing off the minimalistic vibe and, as the time trial flags are red, the same colour as climbable objects, to ability to navigate the environment. I would like to see an option to disable these in the full game.

The story (at least so far) is absolute trash and the characters are instantly unlikeable; crudely drawn and badly developed in the small amount of content in the BETA. The irony of a game by EA featuring a small band of misfits fighting against a corporation-run world taking itself far too seriously weighs heavily. Fortunately it seems to matter little. The threadbare motivations it gives you are enough to send me on my merry way across the city to finish whatever needs doing.

I would be extremely interested in an attempt to recreate Mirror’s Edge in a virtual reality environment, though I would imagine that the extreme changes in speed and altitude would make for some potentially nauseating experiences.

This dreaming of a future version of the game in VR bodes well for how the game is shaping up. After all, if the game wasn’t any good, why would I be thinking of where it could go next? From a too-brief few hours EA has shown that the first game wasn’t just a fluke. Whether or not the magic can be maintained throughout Catalyst remains to be seen, and it will be a hard task to live up to the cult status of the original. What I saw however gave me great hope for the final product, which is now only a short (but delayed) six weeks away.

The post Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst Closed Beta Impressions appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

When Mirror’s Edge came out in 2008 it seemed like a strange mix between a tech demo and an excellently designed first person free running experience.  The game was not without its shortfalls but it was a truly unique experience that built up a cult following of lovers, among whom was myself.  When news of a new Mirror’s Edge title was announced I could not have been more excited.

Digging into the Mirror’s Edge Catalyst BETA I was a little hesitant, curious and excited, a confusing three emotions to have.  I really was not sure how they could advance the game without ruining what made it great.  A very basic white aesthetic with the red interact-able objects made the game fun, but how can they improve it without ruining its simplicity has been running (pun partially intended) through my mind since the announcement.

Starting the beta it was clear that a lot of thought has been put into the game, with considerably more detail in the characters and the surrounds.  My first concern was that Faith was clearly anti-establishment and thought that she is going to be the cliche anti-establishment, emotionless bratty type.  Fortunately post tutorial her interactions make it clear she is actually very likeable.  Her character received very little development in the initial game so it was nice to see I did not need to be worried about them over analysing her to the point where she is just not someone you would want to interact with.

The aesthetics, the gameplay and how the two fit together really is the most important element of this game, after all it is what made the last game so beloved by many.  Fortunately they have made the scenery a lot more detailed, but used a lot of white to give the clean and sterile look to the  City of Glass.  This is important as it is what makes the crucial red objects stand out in the gameplay and sets the tone of the heavily manufactured, technologically advanced, police state city that Faith does not want be a pawn in.

The red objects can be turned off and are not always present, but they usually highlight a way to get to the end of a level. This not the most efficient way but it is up to the player to try something different to get better times in challenges.  They have also got a red trail that pops up in some missions and when you set a marker in the open world, which really helps stop you from wandering around aimlessly, which brings forward my next point.  The open world is amazing and just so freeing as you are able to explore the cities rooftops as opposed to specific levels.  I said before the trails help you not get lost, but getting lost is also something you should let yourself do early on as it is so much fun just exploring and running for no other reason than it is fun as hell.

Combat was an area I was concerned about going into the game.  Combat in the original Mirror’s Edge was terrible but it did not need to be great as the general idea was to avoid it.  Fortunately combat is considerably better in Mirror’s Edge Catalyst but not amazing, which still fits with the idea to avoid it or to do a passing attack to keep running.

The issues I found were for the most part minor and infrequent.  Occasionally features like arms bounced around a little in cutscenes, but that was minor and I only saw it because I was really looking.  The load times on the other hand were  especially bad, clocking in regularly around 25 seconds when Faith falls to her death.  This drove me insane, especially if you made the same mistake a couple of times. It was an unnecessarily long pause that I hope is somehow shortened before the launch of the game.

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