In Mirror’s Edge, you play as Faith, an acrobatic gunslinger hell-bent on beating the city’s forces in as stylish a way as possible using the entire city as your playground. There are no restrictions - you can go anywhere. Fences and walls are there to be jumped over. The city is pristine and clean-looking, with a real sense of underlying menace. From what we’ve seen, it looks a little like Neo’s ‘virtual’ hometown in The Matrix. Whether or not there’ll be shootouts in granite hallways full of pillars exploding into chunks is yet to be seen.

Here are 12 reasons Mirror’s Edge may just bring a fresh perspective to seeing a game through your character’s eyes:

1) Personalised
Possibly the most important aspect of Mirror’s Edge is the human one - DICE wants to “put the person back into first-person.”

2) Footloose
You’ll not only see your feet, you’ll feel them pounding the ground as you run.

3) Give us a hand
Because the emphasis is on the person behind the gun, the effort spent on limbs will be a cut above the norm. That’s want we want.

4) Duckin’, divin’
Platforming will play as big a role as shooting. Mirror’s Edge’s urban jungle is mostly vertical, and athleticism will be as important as marksmanship.

5) Speed thrills
A palpable sense of velocity is achieved by subtle camera sways and blurring around your peripheral vision.

6) Do the locomotion
You’ll have to work yourself up to decent speed and then try to maintain it.

7) On the run
You’ll be using your acrobatic skills to avoid the heavier adversaries, rather than trying to take them out with piddling guns.

8) Choose your path
Sunlit passages will offer a safer way through the city, while darker areas are going to be more perilous.

9) Slick city
Part of the game’s menace comes from the city’s perfect appearance - it’s run by evil Big Brothers…

10) Quick reflexes
Reaction Time is governed by how successfully you string moves together. A ‘full’ meter lets you get a fix on an enemy.

11) Autohold
There is no ‘grab’ button. Instead, the game will latch on to ledges for you so you can concentrate on aiming and moving.

12) Turning Tables
Unlike many shooters, you can’t freely pick up weapons. Heavy guns will slow you down.

Feb 7, 2008