So you’ve all probably heard of Swedish developer DICE’s latest game by now; of players darting across rooftops and whatnot as a nimble yet totally hot runner called Faith. The last time EA invited me to Singapore I was lucky enough to see the game in action, but this time we were flown down to actually play it. But before we move on to our hands-on impression, here’s a quick brief to get you acquainted with the word of Mirror’s Edge and its protagonist, Faith.
Mirror’s Edge takes place in a fictitious city in the not-too-distant future. While the city looks clean and shiny from the outside, it’s actually quite the opposite on the inside, reeling under a constant barrage of corruption and crime. To make matters worse, the people in power are hell-bent on oppressing and controlling every aspect of society. Now in a society this volatile, rebels can’t be too far behind... and our protagonist Faith is the daughter of two such rebels.
Unfortunately for her, mommy and daddy get killed in a protest that slowly but surely turn violent, leaving both Faith and her sister to fend for themselves. While her sister becomes an officer with the local police department, Faith becomes a recluse and a "jaded outcast" who takes to the rooftops as a runner to deal with all the pent-up anger and resentment.
As the name suggests, Runners in Mirror’s Edge are l33t couriers of sorts who deliver goods, away from the prying eye of the government. While the perks aren’t all that hot, jumping from rooftop to rooftop seems pretty liberating and helps Faith forget about her problems momentarily. Amidst all the liberating Parkour action, Faith’s sister gets framed for a crime she did not commit – and now big sister takes it upon herself to clear her name and save the day.
Unlike most video game protagonists clad in "power armor" wielding a plethora of weapons, Faith is a very "human" heroine who relies on speed and agility to escape tricky situations. Even though she doesn’t believe in using conventional firepower, she can wield a weapon when push comes to shove, and disarm a cop in a matter of seconds. To fully understand Faith’s psyche Tom Farrer, the game’s producer compared her to Aliens’ Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) who looks docile at first but is capable of inflicting some serious amounts of pain when required.




