Review: Mirror's Edge Catalyst (PS4)

The open-world utopia known as Glass is a sparkling city of bleached-white luxury and aesthetic. Runners are thrill-seeking transporters that have a knack for free-running and delivering packages with minimal deadlines. You open the game as the legendary runner herself, Faith, who is fresh out of juvenile detention, in debt, and ready to take on missions head-first.

Occasionally bad guys populate the 15 linear sprints you must complete, but you can generally run right past them. For the most part, you are following a red trail (labeled as runner’s vision) which helps you navigate the safest pathway of delivery. I found that to accomplish the timed runs with the best scores, it is typically in your best interest to avoid runner’s vision and frankly learn the map better, to immediately book it to the end point. The hand-to-hand combat with the enemies feels more like a shove with a quick getaway, and while you are in their visibility, it is annoying to have to return to a home base every time to reset the warning.

Aside from the super linear gameplay and timed runs, the open world is a concrete jungle, and you are a modern monkey. There are combinations of moves that defy gravity, but it is ultimately your quick decision-making that will determine whether scaling a 6-foot wall is faster than double-jumping on a vent and grabbing an exhaust pipe. Timing is everything and every microsecond counts towards a meaningful chain of motion.

When the game’s open world is revealed, it is filled with delivery missions, time trials, collectible finding, hacking grid nodes, and scaling billboards to officially colonize your username and badge. Even so, the game becomes repetitive, as there really is only one themed element of parkour. Jumping, landing, zip-lining and gliding can only go so far. I have been waiting for this game to go down in price since I played the demo and fortunately, I was able to grab this game for less than $15.

I would rate this game a 6 out of 10.

Reviewed on PlayStation 4.

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