Except for the successes of Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) and LittleBigPlanet (PS3), platformers have fallen out of fashion over the last five years. Once the dominant genre, they have fallen behind in the popularity stakes compared to 1st person shooters and 3rd person action games. The days of good Sonic games and stellar Disney games (e.g. Aladdin) are, sadly, long gone. The arrival of Mirror’s Edge seeks to re-invigorate as well to redefine the fading genre. It achieves this mainly through introducing a 1st person perspective; this feature hasn’t been used in platformers before and gives the game a freshness that makes it easy to forget its flaws.

The first thing that will strike anyone about this game is its clean, modernist graphical style. With its combination of bright blues and reds among a stark white backdrop, it would be no exaggeration to say it could be easily mistaken as IKEA’s vision of the future. This style is in keeping with its setting: the game is set in a totalitarian future in which the government is overbearing and the population avoids the streets. An underground network of “runners” has been set up to deliver information the government disapproves of. Luckily for the runners, the city is dominated by skyscrapers so the runners have the ability to jump across roof-tops and navigate slim ledges for the right to free speech.

You are assigned the job of a runner called Jane and the game’s story develops from this scenario, including a plot that sees you trying to clear your sister’s name (she’s been set up by a mysterious organisation). Needless to say, the story is standard fare, but it does its job as a backdrop for the game’s unique gameplay. Those familiar with the new sport of Parkour will immediately identify with Mirror’s Edge. Though the main path through the game’s story is very linear, progress through each level can usually be approached in two ways. The pacifist method, of running, jumping and wall running away from enemies while they shoot at you, is usually successful and really gets the adrenaline pumping. You can also take the more “GTA” approach, of stealing the enemies’ weapons and letting fire. While it is a welcome option to have, the gunplay is a bit loose and unfulfilling compared to say Halo or Gears of War.

Free running proves ultimately to be the best way to play as the game excels when reduced to its basics. Running away from enemies, as you combine jumps and rolls with wall running provides thrills that are unique to this game. While it is similar to the Prince of Persia games, Mirror’s Edge has a more immersed feel because of its 1st person perspective. The game also benefits from a greater reliance on set pieces. The best moments come when you are forced into a corner and have to think on your feet: one scenario saw me with a helicopter close in pursuit, with nowhere to go but to scale across a crane that acted as a bridge between two buildings and jump to safety on the other side. If you’ve seen the opening of Casino Royale you can imagine just how cool this set piece is. It certainly provided me a great feeling of achievement and the “wow” factor that can be lacking in more generic titles.

In spite of its break away from traditional forms, Mirror’s Edge is also quite an easy game to pick up and play. While it may take a while to get used to the controls (pressing a shoulder button to jump feels odd at first), the game employs a series of visual hints to guide the player onwards. Objects that are coloured red normally mean you need to jump off/interact with them and this ensures that the player does not get confused, as well as making the game very visually striking. One drawback of this is that it can feel a little on rails at times so those who enjoy exploring a game’s environments will be disappointed. There is little to no exploration and it can be feel a bit too rushed at times, with little pause to take a breath. For me, though, this adds to the streamlined gaming, of forgiving checkpoints, eye catching set pieces and a gaming experience unlike any other.

So, after all the fresh gameplay on offer, it is a shame that Mirror’s Edge is almost criminally short. Completing the story mode will probably take under a week and for a game so reliant upon its single player, this makes you feel short changed. There is a time trial to add to the game’s lifespan, with a leader board of the best times, but this option is likely to interest avid gamers only. This lack of value, along with its frustrating combat, ultimately makes Mirror’s Edge a game of limitless promise that it sometimes fails to deliver on. While it is not a game for the faint hearted nor those looking for a game with great depth, if you enjoy games that get the blood pumping, you won’t go wrong by taking a running jump straight into Mirror’s Edge.