But what happens after you run away from those armed agents? In our demo, Faith burst into a small storage room with no obvious escape. A second later, she had bounced back and forth between the two walls in order to gain height and crawl through an out-of-reach ceiling grate. Next, she was on the rooftops, losing guards by simply outracing them or out-jumping them. When that didn't work, she'd slide into their legs, punch them in the crotch or dodge under their arms, disarming their guns as she did so.

Finally, when every avenue of escape seemed exhausted and when any further jump would result in a long, deadly fall, she stopped. Would the player finally be forced to confront the pursuers? Would we finally see the gunfights to which we're accustomed? Nope. Even in that hopeless moment, Faith found a way. As an enemy helicopter soared by, she hurled herself toward it, caught hold of the landing gear, waited until the chopper hovered over another rooftop, let go and landed lightly. Safe and sound again, with not a single bullet fired.

We told you Mirror's Edge was different. Now, will the novelty last for an entire game... or will Faith just recycle the same moves over and over? As soon as we've seen more, we'll let you know.

Feb 29, 2008