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Mirror's Edge Catalyst - Review Thread

W

Wind's Howling

Member
I expected this judging by the beta they had two months ago. It nowhere felt like the true successor to the first installment.

Guess 'decent' is the word we are looking for here.
 
B

bounchfx

Member
i wish i could ban collectathoning from every game that's not a banjo clone. its becoming a cop out way for some publishers to add 'content', when its really just mostly filler. sad to hear about how much of it is in this one.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
Just updated all the reviews that I currently have with blurbs. Will add the rest now.

This Verge review is really stupid by the way:
No video game franchise ever ends, so it’s always evident that nothing you do will have much narrative impact in the long run. The city will be just as dystopian at the end as the beginning, ready for the start of the next story. But like a parkour run, the point isn’t really figuring out what lies past the finish line — it’s getting there with style.
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WTF.
 
C

CHC

Member
brickarts295 said:
Any length mentions? I want to know if this will be a quick rental.
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~10 hour story, longer if you seek out the collectibles
which you definitely shouldn't
.

Acquiescence said:
I read some of the excerpts. Is the consensus that opting for an open-world setting was a bad move all in all? Kinda reads that way.
Click to expand...

Open world filler and completely unlikeable character and story seem to be the main issues. Those were my main concerns and I'm not especially surprised to see them as the main points of critique pretty much across the board.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
C

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
Interesting reception, but this means I'm all the more curious for the impressions here. Still disappointed that this is jumping on the open world bandwagon though, why...
 
A

A-V-B

Member
family_guy said:
Guess we can kiss this franchise goodbye.
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Yup. But the game got a sequel. We get one more shot in Faith's universe, which by the sound of it will never be fully tapped. Faith will never have the story she deserves. But she'll always have the city.
 
K

KinofChaos

Banned
Hmm looks like very mixed, scores all over the place. Looks like a disappointment, not surprised I don't trust a factory like EA to get what would make Mirrors edge great.
 
T

Tricky I Shadow

Banned
Yeah, after reading and watching some video reviews, I'm gonna have to pass on this one.

As bad as it may sound, I'm kinda relieved it's not a must buy. I just have way too many games to play! Odin Sphere and Zero Time Dilemma are just around the corner too!
 
C

CHC

Member
orthodoxy1095 said:
That Examiner review seems like a real outlier in regards to how much they liked the story:
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lol "here to stay" maybe in the sense that they're not going to pull the game from stores, but if they intended to launch a series or trilogy on this kind of writing.... I wish them all the luck in the world.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
I feel like it's worth pointing out that being "open-world" isn't necessarily the problem.

Like the IGN review claims, it seems that it might be more about keeping up "with the open-world Joneses."

We had multiple critically acclaimed open-world games last year. This one seems to have some potential problems with filler and not adapting its format gracefully to the open-world schtick.

But we'll see what more reviewers think.
 
S

Spehornoob

Member
I've been worried about the open world aspects, and it seems like the reviews are confirming my fears a bit.

In my opinion, the gameplay in Mirror's Edge is really suited to tight, well designed levels as opposed to a big open world. But I'm eager to hear more impressions!
 
N

Nowise10

Member
The campaign missions are just as good as the first game, but I am still not convinced that open world was the right way to go with the game. Only around halfway into the games story, but I feel like most of my time has been running the same paths and/or getting lost in confusing routes trying to get to the next mission, and getting frustrated.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
Just added:

Arcade Sushi - 8.5/10
The wait for a follow-up to Mirror's Edge was certainly a long one, but now that Catalyst is finally here, we can say the wait has so been worth it.
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GamingBolt - 6/10
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst isn’t a bad game. At times, it feels incredibly polished and at others, it could use more work.
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TrustedReviews - 2.5/5
Catalyst’s direction feels like the opposite of what people have been quite explicitly asking for since the original game came out. As a result, while its breathtaking leaps and adrenaline filled ascents are great in their own rights, Mirror’s Edge feels like it has spent the last eight years standing still rather than moving forward.
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PSU - 7.5/10
Catalyst sits in the middle of it all,imperfect, yet special in its own way.
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VentureBeat - 80/100
First-person parkour is just as much fun in Catalyst as it was in the original. The new combat is a noticeable improvement, and the open world makes this a much longer experience than its predecessor.
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PC Gamer - 78/100
It’s annoyingly close to being the ideal Mirror’s Edge game, but retains a few of its predecessors’ issues, even if those problems have manifested in different forms.
Click to expand...
 
K

KOCMOHABT

Member
How did they manage to make the game look so bad :(

Maybe it's just video compression i don't know, but ME1 never looked so bland and bleak
 
N

Navid

Member
Boke1879 said:
If you liked the first one you'll like this one is what I'm getting.
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Not what I really got from the beta an some of the more critical reviews in the OP, I really enjoyed the original and was looking forward to Catalyst but the open world aspect of the beta plus a few other issues made me a lot less optimistic and right now I think I will wait on this one.
 
H

higemaru

Member
The positive remarks about the game far outweigh the negative ones in this case. I don't have the time for Catalyst right now (or a next-gen console handy) but I'll definitely buy it in the future. The Dtoid review compared it to JSRF which basically forces me to at least check it out
 
I

Izuna

Banned
Garrett Hawke said:
More of the same is fine by me, it's exactly what I wanted.

I think a lot of the reviewers going in on the graphics tho should consider that this is a 60fps OPEN WORLD title. Like... what else is doing that on consoles?

I guess Insomniac was right about 30fps. :/
Click to expand...

Have you played Catalyst yet? Or are you assuming that you'll find nothing wrong with it? If the latter, I wish to subscribe to your posts.
 
T

TheGrue

Member
I didn't realize this game had an open world format. With games I have interest in, I don't read up too much on them until around release time and then decide if I should buy, but hadn't gotten around to checking out this game. Open world will be a huge turnoff for me in a game like this, so need to go read the reviews and see how it's implemented.
 
M

MMarston

Was getting caught part of your plan?
Garrett Hawke said:
Someone's a big fan there :p
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Must be this guy

Anyway, not particularly surprised about the lukewarm reception. The gameplay mechanics were definitely a little more brushed up than the first but based on what I played in the beta, something about it still felt really basic. Like it wasn't living to its fullest potential.


I'll play it eventually though. Just not in the immediate desire to do so.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
Added:

Metro - 6/10
This in turn emphasises the overriding problem with the whole franchise: that Mirror’s Edge is a great idea that, while well implemented in most aspects, never pushes itself far enough to become the classic you feel it should be.
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Twinfinite - 3/5
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst seems to suffer from the exact same shortcomings as its predecessor.
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Gaming Trend - 70/100
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is a gorgeous game that nails the free-running experience that fans want, but lacks an interesting narrative, compelling combat, and a fast travel system that will likely leave many fans disappointed.
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Angry Centaur Gaming - Wait for sale

Shacknews - 8/10
Of course, Mirror’s Edge isn’t about the story, it’s about the immersion: the thrill of running, free, across the glass paved rooftops of a massive city. And that’s okay, because that’s exactly what the original Mirror’s Edge was.
Click to expand...
Gaming Nexus - 8.5/10
But as it stands, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is pretty much everything gamers would have hoped it could be.
Click to expand...
 
S

SomTervo

Member
MMarston said:
Anyway, not particularly surprised about the lukewarm reception. The gameplay mechanics were definitely a little more brushed up than the first but based on what I played in the beta, something about it still felt really basic. Like it wasn't living to its fullest potential.
Click to expand...

Not a lukewarm reception, though? It's a reception which says "If you're into this sort of thing - if you're into ME1 - then definitely buy. If you're not into this sort of thing, probably don't buy."

Garrett Hawke said:
Someone's a big fan there :p
Click to expand...

I'm a big fan of ME1 and I'm really enjoying what I've seen of MEC.
 
Ennosuke

Ennosuke

Member
I posted a few impressions in the trial and I cam understand the reviews, but the game is still fun and a must have for everyone who was a fan of the first game.

I don't know what the budget was, but I think they could have focused more on the strength of the original game.
 
C

Catdaddy

Member
This gens status quo – reviews all over the place. All the doom amd gloom in some of these posts, Dying Light’s meta was 74 and it was a damn fun game.
 
I

Izuna

Banned
There are reviews that literally say "this game is basically the same as the first one" and gives it an 8/10. 8 years later and it's basically the same. I can't think of another franchise that does this.
 
T

tesqui

Member
I'm glad EA provides these trials for there games. Without it, I probably would have skipped this game completely based solely on reviews.
 
G

Garrett Hawke

Member
Cobalt Izuna said:
Have you played Catalyst yet? Or are you assuming that you'll find nothing wrong with it? If the latter, I wish to subscribe to your posts.
Click to expand...
Been playing Origin Access trial :)
MMarston said:
Must be this guy

Anyway, not particularly surprised about the lukewarm reception. The gameplay mechanics were definitely a little more brushed up than the first but based on what I played in the beta, something about it still felt really basic. Like it wasn't living to its fullest potential.


I'll play it eventually though. Just not in the immediate desire to do so.
Click to expand...
Yikes @ that video :p
 
P

Pandy

Member
Definitely on a wait and see with this. If the word of mouth is still good when the launch noise has died down, then I'll give it a try.

Loved the first one, but my faith in current DICE/EA is virtually non-existent.
 
V

Vinc

Member
Catdaddy said:
This gens status quo – reviews all over the place. All the doom amd gloom in some of these posts, Dying Light’s meta was 74 and it was a damn fun game.
Click to expand...

Wow. 74 for the original game, and 86 for the enhanced edition re-release. What happened? Did the game change that much? Was it just not part of the zeitgeist and it paid for it?
 
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