Leading the Player through Mirror's Edge

Let me begin by saying that I really wanted to enjoy this game for its promising Level Design and revolutionary 1st person camera. If I had only played the first five chapters, I certainly would've left the game with an amazing sense of achievement and reward. Since I chose to turn off 'Runner's Vision', which highlights the suggested player's path, my sense of accomplishment was intensified. Sadly, the last four chapters left a sour taste in my mouth that made me question both the Game and Level Design decisions of Mirror's Edge. Despite the frustrations of the latter part of the game, the design felt solid and successful in the early chapters.

Requiring the player to move through tight areas without knowledge of his surroundings often lead to puzzled and frustrated players. When requiring players to travel confusing distances, allowing him a chance to observe his route prior to beginning, can avoid potential frustrations. If the player is required to move through a 'hedge maze' to progress through a level, a high advantage point overlooking the potential path can avoid guess and check game play as well as making him feel smarter for planning his progression. Requiring the player to fail menial tasks and learn from his mistakes does not empower him, it frustrates him.

In the early levels of Mirror's Edge, the rooftops the player started on often overlooked adjacent rooftops and potential paths. This gave me the opportunity to plan my next move before it was required I make it. Designers also threw in a hand full of rope slides. Since the player was moving downward on the rope slide to the next roof top, I had a good 5 seconds to look at my next rooftop for the fastest route possible. These were used sparingly enough not to be over used. They offered a nice exciting break that still served the purpose of allowing a preview of the player's next environment.

The game offered many chase sequences. Enemies would be introduced behind doors being beat down, as you run frantically by. Helicopters would chase you around roof top buildings keeping the intensity up. Probably the most powerful chase sequence would be the enemies that were able to move as fast and agile as you, requiring you to out think them. These chase sequences did not always have the proper set up allowing you to see your objective and know your intended path. Instead, during the successful implementations of these chase sequences, the player was guided extra carefully. The designers spent extra care using geometry, standard jumps, and lighting to guide me through the chase sequences. Due to this extra designer diligence, I successfully escaped the environment without knowing I was being guided by the creators of the game.

In hindsight, the player's intended path was easier during chase sequences. I was able to quickly discern the way to go while under pressure by recognizing standardized objects. I did not require extra time to observe my objective since my only goal was to find any way out possible. After completing sequences I felt a sense of relief and accomplishment because I was able to perform successfully under constant pressure.

However with the successes of the chase sequences and the rooftop races, the last half of the game frustrated me as a player and as a designer. Their inconsistent Level Design and changing the perceived game rules halfway through the game weighed a great game down.

The Level Design later in the game struggled with sustaining successful player momentum within an interior setting. The designers used a constant amount of sharp turns that ended up disorienting the player. Often I had to stop and look around for objects I recognized so I could find a probable path. Other times I attempted moving in directions blindly ending in failure. These designer decisions resulted in guess and check game play. The previous chapters were successful because the paths I took always led to success. Paths in the interior locations often led to failure, be it me falling off tight spots or meeting a dead end. I did not feel the subtle guidance I felt in the early exterior missions. As a result of standing around looking for my next path I felt frustrated for the game not adhering to its core goal, momentum and speed.

The other jarring negative I found in the game was the combat scenario's. Early on I decided I'd try to play through the game with as little enemy encounters as possible. I'd rather avoid them then fighting them. However they set up situations that the player has no choice but to spend agonizing time splitting the enemies up and disarming them one by one. In a couple of situations the designers would place an enemy equipped with a machine gun outside of a door. Unlike doors that you could previously run through and maintain your momentum, these doors required the player to stop and use the door. By the time you have the door open the enemy would've shot you enough to incapacitate you. This changed the way I had originally perceived the game. No longer was maintaining momentum my primary focus, and no longer could I avoid confronting enemies.

Other combat scenarios took the player and surrounded him immediately with half a dozen enemies that grouped together. While you could attempt to avoid contact with these enemies, their initial gun fire would often cripple you forcing the game to reload the checkpoint. The game paced combat early on by introducing one or two enemies to encourage the player to move away from them. If the player stuck around too long or lost his momentum he was rightfully punished by the game introducing more enemies. This felt good because if I chose to ignore the idea of speed and momentum, I had to deal with the consequences. However somewhere the designers ignored this technique opting to frustrate the player with tightly packed enemies.

The Take Away:

• In potentially confusing locations, allow the player chances to observe potential paths
• When unable to allow a preview of paths, make special use of geometry, lighting and other effects to draw the player
• Changing how the player interacts with the AI midway through the game can cause confusion and frustration