Gaming Update: Mirror's Edge Edition

Thank the Sky Bully, this week is finally ovah! The past few days have been nothing short of hellish, chock-full of finals, research papers, and articles for the campus newspaper. I apologize to anyone who spent yesterday waiting with bated breath for this Gaming Update -- obviously it's a little late. As you can well imagine I am quite exhausted. Last night I voted option "drunken celebration of the semester's end" over option "blog about video games 'n stuff 'n junk." But now that I have a whole month to myself I can get back to what's really important -- posting here!

Look forward to more interesting shit than "gaming updates" next week. I assure you all that I made this blog with the intention of writing more illuminating entries, not... to keep a gaming journal.

Anyway! Despite being so busy, I did manage to squeeze in a few hours of gaming this week.

Monday I replaced my daily Chrono Trigger treadmill sessions with Castlevania: Order of the Ecclesia ones. This game is balls-to-the-walls hard. I've actually stumbled off the treadmill a few times by getting too absorbed in the game. I'm not exactly thrilled to admit that. The thing is, I'm no stranger to Castlevania games. Far from it. So Ecclesia's challenge comes as a surprise to me. It's not a torturous difficulty, like say Devil May Cry 3's, and so the game is still very much enjoyable. Me likey.

Bigger, better, and more important news: I finally picked up Mirror's Edge. Unfortunately, I had to become a relative expert in transhumanism in a short amount of time, so I only played through the prologue and first chapter. I think I'm in love. Mirror's Edge is such a welcome break from the usual gaming rigamaroll of shooting shooting shooting, slashing slashing slashing, drab earthtones, and over-muscled protagonists. I... I want to play more. But I have to go do school work. Hrmph. Being responsible blows.

Wednesday I snuck in a few more levels of Mirror's Edge while taking a short break from academics. I figured out what the deal with this game is. It's all about letting go -- literally -- and having faith (pun intended) that things will work out. We (people who play video games) are so used to testing the water to see if it's safe. We rarely dive in head-first. I can see why a lot of people would have trouble acclimating to this game. Mirror's Edge encourages the player to maintain lung-bursting speeds and then blindly leap, slide, or swing forward without pause. Sometimes, the rush can be downright scary. There's a satisfaction from accomplishing well-performed acts of parkour in the game, though, that you just can't achieve from "safety-first" platforming.

Reviewers bitch about the game's combat, but honestly I can count the number of firefights you're forced to participate in on one hand. Mirror's Edge is a story of Man versus Nature. The combat doesn't really take place between Faith and the Blues so much as it does between Faith and her environment.

I wouldn't go so far as to call Mirror's Edge art, but I do consider it to be ahead of the curve -- the video game equivalent of that movie that doesn't try to be every other movie for the sake of success. Despite the fact that I have yet to finish the game, I can honestly say everyone should play through the game at least once. Rent it, borrow it, pull a heist involving shipment trucks -- whatever it takes.

Friday I beat Mirror's Edge. I am officially adding this game to my list of "Xbox 360 Must Owns," which so far includes Mass Effect, The Orange Box, and BioShock. These are all games I replay once every 1-2 years. Games like that justify their pricetag, in my opinion. Mirror's Edge is much shorter than the others, but that's not necessarily a bad thig. I can imagine replaying this game twice a year since it can be finished in a sitting or two. I hope that EA capitalizes on XBox Live and provides ample DLC. I would certainly pony up $15 for any significant expansion to the game.

Next up? The new Prince of Persia.