Mirror's Edge: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"On the edge of the city, you find out who you really are."''|'''[[Tagline]]'''}}

 

 

The story follows Faith in her struggle to free her unjustly-imprisoned sister. While running her clients' illegal messages, she gets caught up in a series of events which lead to her being ruthlessly pursued by the totalitarian government herself. Mercury, Faith's trainer and mentor, acts as her guide, helping her outwit, outrun, and overcome the sinister agents out to eliminate her.

 

 

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Action Girl]]: Faith, but most of the main girls are as well.

* [[Air Vent Passageway]]: Features prominently throughout the game.

** Lampshaded on the penultimate level, when a voice overheard when moving noisily through the vents says, "Jesus, the rats are getting huge!". {{spoiler|This comment is possibly lampshaded when one takes the below-mentioned [[Easter Egg]] into account.}}

* [[Almost-Dead Guy]]: {{spoiler|Mercury}}

* [[Anticlimax Boss]]: {{spoiler|The [[Final Boss]], Jackknife, who you ''[[Curb Stomp Battle|kick]] [[Disney Villain Death|off a helicopter]].''}} Minor villain Ropeburn is [[Cutscene Boss|even less climactic]], although he makes up for it in [[Press X to Not Die|sheer frustration potential]].

** To elaborate, Ropeburn charges at you with a metal pipe, and you are supposed to press the disarm button as it turns red (due to Runner Vision). The problem is that you need to actually press the disarm button quite early (just as the pipe starts to turn red). However, the frustration potential is totally subverted when you realize that the game doesn't punish you for pressing disarm before you're supposed to, so you can get through this scene 100% of the time by simply mashing the disarm button.

* [[Balls of Steel]]: A slide kick in the groin is a very effective method of dispatching armed enemies (disabling them for just enough time for a disarm)... except the heavy troopers who explicitly wear groin protection with their armor and therefore only receive normal damage from such kicks. Also, the groin kicks don't work on the Parkour Killer, an early indication {{spoiler|that it's a girl.}}

* [[Benevolent Architecture]]: The city seems ''very'' well supplied with convenient cables and pipes running between rooftops. Especially for a city which seems to consider ''traçeurs'' its Public Enemy Number One. On the other hand, almost every building has roof-mounted fences, often electrified or topped with razorwire.

* [[Big Brother Is Watching]]: Although he's kind of a slacker, given the overall efficiency (or apparent lack thereof) of his police state.

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: Faith successfully {{spoiler|rescues her sister and kills the man responsible for Pope's murder, but the [[Big Bad]] is nowhere to be seen, and they are both fugitives wanted for multiple murders. Her best friend has betrayed her, killing her beloved mentor and training the brutal police forces to kill all Runners. But she was able to shut down the City's [[Sinister Surveillance]], at least temporarily, and that's what Runners do in a sense - enable the Resistance to plan in privacy. This battle has been won, and [[Sequel Hook|the war continues..]]}}

* [[Climax Boss]]: Faith's rooftop chase and kung-fu duel with the Parkour Assassin.

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: The unseen janitor whose office Faith breaks into in one level.

* [[Conveniently Empty Building]]: The game takes place in the height of summer, so it's not immediately apparent that many of the levels take place during very early morning or late evening when most people would still be sleeping or have finished work several hours ago. The mall is closed for some reasons (though there are comercials in the game claiming it's open 24/7) and another level is a construction site. However, it's all deliberate, as the complete desolation in the middle of a major city is a large part of the game's dystopian theme.

* [[Corrupt Politician]]: The opening narration tells us that the political elite are corrupt. The ending implies it's not ''that'' bad, but there's at least one man out there willing to murder opponents.

* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: According to The Runners. See [[Alternate Character Interpretation]].

* [[Cutscene Boss]]: Faith's "fight" with the minor villain Ropeburn, which consists of a cutscene and one quick time event before {{spoiler|he's shot by one of your [[Evil Counterpart|Evil Counterparts]]}}.

** An interview with the developers revealed that the intro sequence didn't just use a series of the available animations - it was actually a recording of that section played by one of the devs! The concept was to show players what they would be able to do later in the game.

* [[Darkness Equals Death]]: Better than seeing the messy results.

* [[Easter Egg]]: {{spoiler|1=Towards the end of the penultimate chapter ("Kate"), after correctly sniping the convoy's engine, quickly look up and snipe the middle dot on an orange sign showing nine dots. Quickly zoom out, and a giant rat, about the size of a car, will dart down the street. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtaIzSmhuls&feature=player_embedded Click here to watch it, if you're curious].}}

** A newscrawl in one of the elevator reports on the ongoing war in Sedaristan from ''[[Bad Company]]'', another game by DICE.

* [[Elevator Snare]]: Just like the conveniently placed construction equipment. It's as if [[Genius Loci|The City wants to help the Runners in their rebellion.]]

* [[Everything Is an iPod In The Future]]: While all weapons and electronic devices seen on desks in the offices are black, the entire rest of the game world follows the iPod design concept.

* [[Groin Attack]]: Faith's slide kick maneuver.

* [[God Save Us From the Queen]]: In the iPhone/iPad version, where Callaghan is female.

* [[He Who Must Not Be Seen]]: The [[Big Bad]], {{spoiler|Mayor Callaghan}}, is mentioned but never actually appears in the game.

* [[Hero-Killer]]: The Parkour Killer.

* [[Hired Guns]]: Lots of them!

** [[Law Enforcement, Inc.]]: Pirandello/Kruger

** [[Mysterious Mercenary Pursuer]]: Inverted with the "white guy". Certainly a mysterious mercenary, but it is you who's chasing him.

** [[Professional Killer]]: The "white guy".

** Played straight in a cutscene, where a whole group of police shoot at Faith and Celeste (neither of whom has any sort of cover) for several seconds without hitting.

* [[Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence]]: Averted, since the game is mostly played atop skyscrapers, in that while Faith can jump over fences and most other obstacles, falling off the edge means instant death. That last part is [[Truth in Television]], by the way.

* [[It's All Upstairs From Here]]: Particularly the last level.

* [[Kent Brockman News]]: The poorly disguised propaganda broadcasts that pass for network news throughout the game.

* [[Laser Sight]]: The snipers have these, apparently to give away their position.

** Really useful when ''you'' have a [[Sniper Rifle]] too; not only do you sensibly have the laser switched off, but you can use their beams to trace up to them with the scope. It even produces a handy little dot if they're behind cover!

* [[Le Parkour]]: The entire premise of the game. Well, an unbelievably over-the-top and virtually ''suicidal'' form of parkour, anyway.

* [[Light Is Not Good]]: Everything in The City is perfectly clean and shining white, and there is never a single wisp of cloud on the perfectly blue sky. Yet it all feels very sterile and there's almost no sign of actual life, except for lots of construction sites and hordes of police chasing after you. It makes the entire place actually a bit creepy, or at least unnerving.

* [[Sniper Rifle]]: The fact that Faith can take more than a single shot from a [[BFG|Barrett M82]] seems to make her [[Made of Iron|somewhat more]] than a [[Fragile Speedster]]... Which may be why the Blues eventually decide to [[Zerg Rush]] her.

* [[Soft Glass]]

* [[Stealth Pun]]: The main character's name is Faith. You figure it out.

** Multiple times! Faith has a tendency to make ''leaps of faith'', the Blues have a tendency to ''lose faith'', {{spoiler|Kate survives}} because she ''has faith''. [[Meaningful Name|It's a magnificent name for an agent of]] [[La Résistance]].

** Also, Pirandello Krueger, a.k.a. "PK" (maybe). Because boy, they [[Player Killing|do]].

*** [[Le Parkour|Parkour]] is sometimes also referred to as PK.

** The iPhone port has another - A pirate radio transmission ends with "...you gotta have Faith".

* [[Superpowered Mooks]]: The "Pursuit Cops" who show up in a few of the later levels and try to chase you using the same skills you have.

* [[Technical Pacifist]]: Toss as many Blues off skyscrapers as you like, but as long as you don't ''shoot'' them you will still pass the [[Cosmetic Award|"Test of Faith"]].

* [[The Tetris Effect]]: You, too, will develop "Runner Vision". After completing this game, all pipes, ladders and cranes ''you'' see will be cherry-red. And you ''will'' find yourself plotting the best way to navigate them.

* [[Throw-Away Guns]]: Faith throws away her gun whenever she runs out of ammo, and you cannot reload a gun at all. Justified, since she can't carry extra bullets anyway.

* [[Trademark Favorite Food]]: Faith and Merc really seem to like pizza.

* [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]]: In the tutorial, you can shoot your best friend.

** As said in Caring Potential, you have a few opportunities to throw enemies off of high places, if you're feeling sadistic.

** {{spoiler|Until he gets killed. Then Miller takes over during the final level until HE gets killed.}}

* [[Walk It Off]]: it's slightly disconcerting to have survived several bursts of automatic gunfire and recovered, only to corner the guy and get laid out by two consecutive [[Pistol-Whipping|Pistol Whippings]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Action Adventure]]

[[Category:Xbox 360]]