TSA’s Top 100 of 2011 – #13 Mirror’s Edge 2

Bear with us. Remember way back in October when we announced our (insane) intention of chronicling 100 games up to the end of the year in descending order of how much we’re looking forward to them? Remember when we alluded to one title in particular we had some concern about leaving in? Enter Mirror’s Edge 2.

Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first. Mirror’s Edge 2 is in development. It may not be talked about one hundredth as much as some of the other titles in this compendium but, as something that is real in our current dimension, Mirror’s Edge 2 exists. The evidence is in the fact it’s already been confirmed, but also because it’s unlike EA to start something and then abandon it completely. Admitting that a small, core team are working hard on the sequel, we’re hoping EA DICE are re-reading every single review of the first game in an effort to weed out the many – sometimes crippling – issues the Mirror’s Edge 1 had.

Proving EA are not just in the business of churning out vapid sequel after sequel or insipid and possibly inappropriate spin-offs, 2008 saw the arrival of two new bold IPs from the mega-publisher: the sci-fi horror gore-fest Dead Space and the parkour-inspired FPR (first-person runner) Mirror’s Edge.

Sporting a stark, austere aesthetic of bold, clean colours and a strong female protagonist in Faith, EA were obviously taking a risk going in a direction quite literally none had gone before. Though their trailblazing is to commended, Faith slipped on more than a few occasions during her futuristic quest against a totalitarian regime, with reviews of the game scattered across the entire score spectrum.

Where EA will go with Mirror’s Edge 2 we have honestly no idea. We’re hoping they take the chains off Faith a little, allowing her to experience the full world they’ve just begun to unveil. Mirror’s Edge was criminally linear, with little sense of freedom on offer as Faith progressed from A to B almost on rails. Imagine an open city replete with almost endless different paths to an end goal. Tighten up the melée and, dare we say it, could multiplayer work in a Mirror’s Edge 2? We know EA have a strong mandate to insert online elements into all their games (it’s a real money-spinner in terms of the follow on digital distribution model) but could Mirror’s Edge 2 actually be a good candidate for collaborative and competitive multiplayer? Teams of two players helping each other to reach the zenith of an impregnable building, insurmountable to a lone-climber? Or a race with multiple couriers darting across a precarious city-scape. These are just our assumptions. Wherever EA go with Mirror’s Edge 2 we believe it will be a superior offering than its predecessor. Could we see Faith again in 2011? Stranger things have happened.