There’s not enough time to play all the games coming out. We’ve been able to do a fair number of reviews and impressions, but with the relatives demanding wish lists for the holidays, and we simply can’t cover them all in time. It’s time to turn to the Internet.

Mirror’s Edge, the potentially groundbreaking first-person parkour-inspired game from EA, has been clocking in positive but not glowing reviews. I’ve said again and again that something this daring had a million ways to fail, and it seems like they got hung up on one of the ones I didn’t really expect: combat.

In previews, the Mirror’s Edge developers emphasized speed and evasion over fighting. You would never be required to fire a gun in the game. Apparently you do have to fight plenty of guys who have no such compunctions, and there’s no passing them without taking them down somehow.

As Kotaku put it:

The bottom line is that DICE reached for the stars with their game design, and then chickened out before they got to their goal. There are moments when Mirror’s Edge feels like it has all the momentum of a powerful game that truly is different and special, but these moments usually happen right before you’re forced to melee a few dozen guys armed with sniper rifles. At this exact moment, the game stops feeling new and fun and starts feeling old and tired – and maybe adds a few more points to your blood pressure.

That’s too bad. It’s sort of like the levels in Thief where someone clearly said “Ok, but can we really make a whole game about sneaking? Let’s get all first-person-shootery for a while, just to play it safe.”

Several reviewers also bemoaned the trial-and-error gameplay that left little room for improvisation. Despite the game’s faults, many insisted that this game was important to play.

From IGN AU:

Combat aside, DICE has taken a significant step forward for the first person perspective with this game, and you should all check it out.

Personally, I might experience this one borrowed from a friend.

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