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Mirror's Edge Catalyst review
by Laura

I tentatively recommend this because the game can range from extremely fun to extremely frustrating. 

Pros: Beautiful set and character designs, relatively easy controls, fast-paced action, compelling set pieces, and a pretty cool female lead. Also there's a major supporting character who is strongly coded to be autistic so that was nice to see. 

Cons: The combat is terrible. Faith is limited to punching and kicking. She can use her environment to make her attacks stronger but she has to be constantly moving in order to not take damage. The camera is also extremely finicky a lot of the time and I got stuck on one level for a long time because I kept falling to my death for not being precise. 

Overall: check it out when it goes on sale and see if it's worth it. 

Other reviews10

Pros:
+ Gameplay (game feel, linear level design)
+ Aesthetics (visuals, audio, presentation, character design, ui)
 Cons:
- Poor script
- Open world (barren, uninteresting collectibles that break flow, level design suffers)
- Skill tree
«Underrated»
The gameplay is just sooo so good. Why does the story have to be so poo poo? Really bad stilted writing and lifeless melodrama. I found myself skipping so many cutscenes as I got to the end — something I NEVER do.

I also was really hoping the gameplay would evolve and get more challenging, like more challenging platforming areas, maybe having to wall run more twisted corridors requiring greater coordination and knowledge of the controls? But that never really happens. The closest to that is the gridnode side missions, of which there are only three. Would’ve gone a long way in providing more replay value for me.
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
«Sit back and relax»
The original Mirror's Edge was one of my favorite games of the PS3/360 era, and is still a blast to play. Catalyst fixes the problem of the weak gunplay of the original, but instead creates a massive ton of other problems in its place. The maps are bland and uninspired, with the open world serving no purpose beyond letting you get bored as you run through the same areas every time you head out to do a mission.
Hardcore parkour. Moving around in this game is fun but I found myself losing interest real quickly.
The parkour feels really satisfying, which improves upon the original game. The combat is also improved, as it feels pleasant while boring in the original. The game progression was better in the original as it was a linear world progression. However in this one it's an open world that you're travelling nearly the same way in every mission. Still, it's a parkour game and that is enjoyable as **** I beat this game in 3-4 days while attending college classes.
Mirror's Edge is an incredible project that has not been realized at the proper level in the first game or the second (Catalyst). But despite this the time which I spent in this game gave me a unique experience, balancing on the edge of aesthetics and full immersion into the "flow". Unfortunately, many people remain indifferent to this, but if you like soul-pacifying game meditations, definitely worth to try. I'm impressed with the gameplay, the unique style of Mirror's Edge, ambient music, the story that rising the important for cyberpunk questions, art, and how DICE tried to convey emotions through the game. For me, this is ideal, simply because nobody can make such a game yet.
P.S. and yeah, freerun and takedowns are great, but the combat system requires an ideal proficiency of keyboard, mouse, and knowledge of all combos under all situations.
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
I wouldn't call it Exceptional nor i'll recommend it if you haven't played the 2008 version. This game is of course better since it's a reboot.
Open World. Better visuals. Combat system. Slight change to the story.

Combat and Story are mediocre but there are other things that are really good about this game. Shouldn't skip at least.
«Boooring»
Despite the popular opinion - i will say one thing: if you liked the original, you should definitely play Catalyst. All the game mechanics we loved are here and almost untouched, with some of the new stuff added on top (like a grappling hook). People are usually frustrated with the empty open world, but if you treat it like a linear game - it works pretty well, and you can knock out all the main story in 6-7 hours straight (compared to 3.5-4hrs of the original) and still have extra things to do, if you'll want to get back to the City of Glass, which is a nice bonus in my opinion. Where the first game left you with a boring time trial on the same missions you already played - here you have a huge set of paths to run after you're done with the story.
«Beaten more than once»