Sony Holiday Event
Mirror’s Edge Impressions
By Shaun Hatton - October 16th, 2008
Sony held a great big holiday gaming event last week in Toronto, and Bugsy and I got more than our fixes of upcoming games from the biggest publishers in the industry. Unlike a lot of expos I’ve been to, most of the publishers had setups involving couches and Surround Sound systems. Some even had extra kiosks near their main “living room” setups for maximum floor space usage.
The wide range of titles available to play in addition to the great usage of space made it feel less crowded than it actually was. Towards the end of our time at the event, Bugsy and I headed over to EA’s area to see and play Mirror’s Edge (this after I barely played through Costello’s “Pump It Up” on Expert drums in Rock Band 2).
Now if you haven’t heard a lot about the game, Mirror’s Edge is an intense first-person adventure title which places more emphasis on evading and incapacitating enemies than it does on killing them. In fact, you start off without any weapons aside from your acrobatic prowess.
The demo level we were shown started off on a rooftop, and since the EA spokesperson was talking with another journalist when the controls were handed to me, I was left to my own devices to figure things out. It took around five instances of me walking off the edge of the first building before realizing (rather, being told) that there was in fact a jump button. Oops!
Once I learned how to jump it was equal parts smooth sailing, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, and puzzling in between while getting shot at trying to figure out which way to run. The demo really showed off the game’s physics, most notably in regards to the momentum you build up prior to jumps as well as after landing them. The protagonist is a female with crazy Parkour skills and utilizing the momentum results in cleaner runs and more efficient enemy take-downs.
There are some great lighting effects when entering and leaving interior environments and while you do have freedom in deciding where to do, there seemed to be a definite best path to follow (which the game appears to set you on through visual clues).
Mirror’s Edge was one of the more popular demo stations, so I had to limit my play time. I did, however, get a good taste and feel for the game and will definitely have to check it out when it hits retail this November.
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4 responses so far:I take it most of these “events” are strictly for people in the biz?…
I need to get some journalist gear and Sam Fisher my way into all these wicked events!.
I’m not sure who else would have been in attendance other than press and game company people for this one. However, I believe Microsoft always has a two-part event where the morning and afternoon is for press and the evening is for gamers. Different companies have their own ways of showcasing their upcoming titles.
This weekend there’s a huge Gaming Invasion event going on at Yonge-Dundas Square, and that is open to the public:
http://www.bestbuy.ca/gaminginvasion/
Yea I just saw the flyer for it in the paper earlier this evening, I obviously missed tonite but maybe I’ll check it out tomorrow or sunday. Only thing is I doubt there’s any swag…I want schwaggggg!!!
Hey you never know. At big events like these there are bound to be a few giveaways. I got some of my favourite Nintendo items including a later-recalled lead-laced lapel pin at public events.