Game for your Buck: Mirror's Edge

Let's pretend baddies are after you and there's too many of them to face on your own. What's left to do? Why not jump across buildings while dodging bullets, sprint through alleyways and climb fences in extraordinary style, leaving enemies caught behind obstacles that you can scale in seconds? Mirror's Edge is just that.

Summary:

Mirror's Edge takes place in a near future where the government has become the enemy and people are slaves to their jobs and companies own nearly everything (including cops and law). You play as "Faith" a young girl who doesn't conform to those standards and instead survives the streets using Parkour. Ever heard of "Parkour" or "Free-Running"? They basically mean moving like a "ninja" through rural environments. Wall running, wall jumping, roof climbing, edge shuffling, and all of that good stuff. "Why?" you might ask. Well, aside from the fact that it's really cool, it's also extremely practical in dire situations. The kind of tricks you do in Assassin's Creed games yet a bit more realistic and much more complicated to execute.

Story (no spoilers):

The story is a bit confusing to me. It reminds me of the kind of story a somewhat decent anime would have. Minor plot holes, how-did-I-get-here moments, but still interesting and fun enough to keep your attention. One can't forget to mention that it's nice to play as a somewhat realistic female for a change, instead of the typical buffed up man's man that only works well for some games.

Gameplay 1/2; The Parkour:
Extremely fast paced running, jumping, climbing, gliding and all sorts of stuff. You will most definitely rage at this game as it is insanely difficult at times and you probably haven't played another game like it. Hell, the tutorial is so hard that Penny Arcade did a comic about it.

Luckily, you'll get used to it. Then eventually you'll start getting that epic wind-in-hair feeling that playing Robot Unicorn Attack while on drugs would make you feel, but better.

Gameplay 2/2; The Combat:

The more adrenaline you've gained from running, the longer (which isn't very long) you can slow time to beat the crap out of an enemy and take his weapon. You can't run very well with big weapons so you'll probably just use a pistol every once in a while, as this is not primarily a shooting game. You'll find yourself mostly pushing and jump-kicking your way through enemies without stopping to finish them off. Bullets hurt you a lot faster than you can kill them. Though, if you want a very trigger happy game, I'd recommend Killing Floor.

Overview:
This title is not for the feint of heart because it is very, very hard... at first. You will need a small amount of patience and a large amount of determination. If you practice and give the tutorial a good 30 or so minutes you'll eventually find yourself sprinting across rooftops and jump kicking baddies off of buildings while one of each kind of bullet grazes all four of your cheeks. Once you get your "flow" going, you'll find this game to be very exhilarating. Though, a bit of a warning, if you feel like Call of Duty is the epitome of gaming then this title is not for you... but those seeking a challenge and a change should definitely invest in this game.

Game for your buck?