Mirror's Edge: Catalyst

Mirror's Edge: Catalyst is the follow up the 2008 original game, but serves as a reboot of sorts for the series. It's a promising follow up that improves on a lot of the previous games flaws, but new flaws arise.

The overall presentation, art direction and atmosphere is fantastic. The environmental design and soundtrack is a hypnotizing spectacle and is a lot more sci-fi than the previous game. The game is visually stunning in a lot of aspects, but inconsistent in others.

The gameplay is very much improved and is a lot more convenient than the previous game. The parkour is much easier to grasp and master and feels mostly polished to a tea. The combat, while not great, is easier to perform and to learn but is still a little bit janky. The mission design is good for the most and the open world design is also good, but designed in a limited way.

The story takes the biggest hit in terms of inferiority to the first game. While the first game didn't have the best story, it still had a personal and interesting story that was brimming with life and soul. While the world and lore of Catalyst is brimming with life, too, the main story isn't all too good. It's very on the nose and by the books. Most of the writing and characters are clichéd and also don't have much of an interesting set up, therefore resulting in a characters that aren't compelling.

But in the end, the gameplay and overall presentation of Mirror's Edge: Catalyst is really promising and compelling in certain aspects. The world design, although flawed, allows for some freeing gameplay. The atmosphere and soundtrack is some of the best in gaming. The story isn't all too good, but the missions are pretty fun to run through.

The first hour of Mirror's Edge: Catalyst, had me thinking of another, similar title: Remember Me, a 2013 action game, where you play as a young woman, with the ability to steal and manipulate the memories of others. This concept would have been otherwise brilliant, if not for the addendum it was buried beneath layers of unnecessary combat. With this in mind, the combat lead protagonist, Faith, is forced to perform during Catalyst, does not feel as fluid or as entertaining as the parkour movements - but, more on this later.

Faith Connors, is a lovely looking young woman, recently released from juvenile detention. Within a minute however, she is back to her old tricks, working as a 'runner', someone who, as the title may suggest, runs packages from one destination to another. This underground movement is led by Noah, a father figure of Faith's. Alongside Icarus, a runner, profusely adept at the craft, and Plastic, a wizard-class hacker, Faith works to undermine the nefarious governmental organization, Kruger-Sec, owned by manipulative overlord, Gabriel. When Faith steals a classified project titled Reflection, she becomes public enemy number one, wishing to use it to pay off the debts she owes to Dogen, the city's most dangerous crime-boss.

Amassing a plot concerning family, growing-up, and survival, Catalyst suffers from predictability, with many of the plot twists recognizable several hours before their reveal. Moreover, though Faith is provided some level of depth, which assists in capturing our attention with sentimentality, other characters are seldom fleshed out, which is a shame considering how interesting (especially Plastic) they are. The conclusion of the game, much like the characters, adjunctively contains little depth, refusing to answer a number of important questions, though the original title, of which Catalyst is a prequel to, perhaps fills in some of the blanks.

What Catalyst does best however, is the fluidity of Faith's movements. Though some of these are initially denied to the player, and must be upgraded, it doesn't take long before Faith is not just incredible; she's sensational, and playing as her is just wicked sick! Jumping, wall-running, flying; words cannot begin to describe how dazzling all of this feels, and in this sense, Catalyst is a success.

In building up momentum, Faith acquires focus, which allows her to temporarily cease taking damage from enemy attacks. When it comes to facing Kruger-Sec soldiers, the game advocates for players to use the environment, to increase Faith's offensive potency, though on many an occasion during main quests, players find themselves trapped in an arena, where such advantageous opportunities do not exist. Instead, players are required to chip away at opponent's health, which is a brutally slow process. Occasionally however, combat can, thankfully, be avoided altogether.

The game is played in an open-world environment, which includes a number of optionable side quests. These incorporate deliveries and races, alongside expanding Plastic's networks, all of which are time-sensitive. The most fun of these however, is breaking into massive computer networks. Exploration, if not to find all of the secrets, then to admire the graphically beautiful environment, is really fun, the colors, textures and buildings feeling so vivid and futuristic, however, the occasional lag in rendering does mean some areas don't live up to standard. Moreover, the soundtrack, which is as serene as it is mysterious, adds to the experience.

In summary, over the course of my 12 hour play-through (which includes all the times I fell, and bumped into glass doors), I deduced that Catalyst is good, but not great, the awkward combat and lacking depth causing players to lose focus (pun intended). However, the exploration, movement, graphics and sound are truly immersive.

I wish I could rate this higher, but it suffers from the same issues as its predecessor. The biggest two: Mis-time a jump by a pixel or two and you're falling to your death faster than you can say Glass; and any kind of "combat" level (read: button mash) swings the difficulty level so far away from the "runner" aspect of this game it brings the player to a screeching halt. Areas that combine the two-precision moves plus a swarm of guards to take down and/or avoid-will find any average player dying and retrying over and over until the technique is "just right".

Story and cutscenes (new and improved third person!) are engaging and enjoyable, and Faith as a character is a fantastic protagonist, but the hurdles in playing are just too frustrating when taken as the sum of its parts. Maybe we just need a Mirror's Edge movie instead.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst feels as though it is more of a straight reboot then a prequel. You control Faith Connors as she and a group of runners try and take down KrugerSec's plans. This a first person parkour game where you must maneuver around obstacles to get to your destination. Unlike the first installment where Faith was able to use weapons this time around it is all hand to hand combat.

The best part of the game is the flow that you are able to create as you are running from place to place. The controls are easy to use and it makes getting a full focus shield easy to obtain. The first couple of missions are fun to play as they are not reliant on the upgrades. The missions that include the upgrades feel to simple and boring to complete especially the last one. The most fun I had playing the game was unlocking the fast travels as they were the only events that reminded me of the first Mirror's Edge, where you actually had to think where to go in order to succeed.

The visuals in this game are beautiful in some areas but as you look closer you start to see some problems. They don't effect the game at all but kind of takes you out of the moment. The main problem with the game is the game's AI as they are not always responsive. There were definitely a few instances where I was being chased and they would stop chasing me for no reason; I was still in eyesight but they just disappeared. Enemies also just get stuck in the environment when you give them a solid hit, even if they were not knocked out.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst is still a solid game to play but it doesn't have the lasting appeal players want. It would be best to wait until the price drops to pick up this title and explore the City of Glass.

7.4/10

Faith Connors, who had been detained in juvenile delinquency for a period of two years, has finally been released back into the City of Glass. Although she had hoped for a fresh start and a chance to turn her life around, her return has been anything but peaceful. Instead, she finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a ruthless and diabolical leader who has devised a sinister plan to seize complete control over the entire city. Faith's life is thrown into utter disarray and turmoil as she struggles to survive in a world where danger lurks around every corner and her every move is being watched. Will she be able to overcome the odds and emerge victorious, or will she fall victim to the tyrant's twisted machinations? Only time will tell.

Many people tend to overlook this particular game; however, it's actually quite enjoyable and entertaining once you give it a chance. Despite not receiving the recognition it truly deserves, it's definitely worth trying. From my experience, I can say that the game has a unique and engaging storyline, with well-designed gameplay mechanics that keep the player hooked for hours. The game's graphics and sound effects are also top-notch, adding to the overall immersive experience. All in all, if you're looking for an underrated gem in the world of gaming, this one is definitely worth checking out.