Mirrors Edge Catalyst Review

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is a First-Person Action adventure game from EA DICE. Catalyst puts the player in the free-running shoes of Faith, a Runner in the city of Glass who is trying to get answers about her family’s murders. Mirror’s Edge Catalyst builds upon the foundation of the first game and adds new things but also takes away things that made the first game so great.

Mirror’s Edge is a unique game as it focuses on free-running but in first person. This is the pillar that the game is built on and thankfully it does it well. Running around the city felt smooth and free. The introduction of an open world which was not present in the original was a great addition as I would find myself getting lost in the world and just finding interesting ways around the city without following the path the game had laid out. Whilst this was great there was one thing that really got in the way of me enjoying the game more and that was the unlock system. Catalyst features a skill tree that gives faith extra abilities such as maintaining momentum and stronger melee but it also forces you to unlock  some essential movement techniques such as rolling out of a jump and quick turning, things that the original game included from the start. This made the game feel a little slower at times as I wanted to get to places but didn’t have the ability required even though it was a simple quick turn or slide. That is not to say however that it got in the way too much; once I had these abilities I completely forgot about these issues.

Combat has changed slightly in Catalyst. Now there are combos and special moves you can pull off to fight the various enemy types ranging from simple goons to heavily armoured foes who require quick timing and fluid movement. This sounds great but in gameplay, the enemies just felt like a hindrance more than a threat. There is a momentum bar that acts as a shield so if you get shot at, you will simple ‘block’ the bullets with strange Free-Runner Magic… this made me feel invincible even though I was running around in a tank top and fashionable trainers. Sometimes, the game would force combat on you and other times it would let you just run straight past however what the game fails to tell you which one each fight is. Sometimes I would run past an enemy and would fail a mission because I didn’t fight him.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is a beautiful game. The mix of simple colours and complex structures is such a great mix that often I would just stop playing and admire the scenery. Whilst the scenery was great, the characters were not so good. Characters looked good at best, each looking very bland and low quality. This could be overlooked as you don’t see characters faces very often but when you do, you are reminded about how much care went into the world and not who lived in it.

Sound in Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is just as great as the first. The soundtrack is fantastic and hearing the slides and squeaks of your feet on different ‘terrain’ really added to the immersion of running around the city. Each hit on an enemy felt impactful and every wrong landing felt heavy. Sound is one of the shining points for Mirror’s Edge Catalyst.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is currently priced at £44.99 and is available now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC through Origin.