Don't forget about PhysX, Mirror's Edge was one of the games that pioneered the tech. Cloth simulation, interactive volumetric fog, broken glass shards, everything calculated by the GPU in real time. This was like Ray Tracing back in the day, only nVidia GPUs had it, at least that's how they sold it.
You still need nvidea to get those features on PC now. I recently built one and was impressed with the fidelity of the additional effects. Although it's not gamecanging, it's a nice upgrade that slightly increases interactivity.
The cloth shattering when the helicopter shoots through it... Never see anything like that today, the only thing closer was batman arkham asylum (also UE3 and physix) with the smoke and paper sheets. Modern day game development is a joke
@@youdontsay193 Physics is pretty hard to get right which is often why they used third party software. Rockstar had a third party create theirs for GTA 4 and onward. Nvidia's is obviously PhysX. Havoc Physics was pretty popular at the time too. The thing is it's not easy to get it right and performant too. PhysX is still very expensive on modern GPUs and people complained a ton about it when it was still a thing
I had some involvement with this when I was at EA back in the day and you're right - DICE were rightfully very proud of this game and put a huge amount of work into it to create something very different to anything else out there. The runner vision was a particular standout, although there were some at EA who pushed for a more traditional HUD, even though it wasn't necessary and would have detracted from the look of the game. As we always used to say, "when in doubt, head for the red" and you'd find your way 🙂 I think the only issue any of us had with the game was the fact that, towards the end of the game, as the number of enemies increased, it became very tempting to pick up guns and go for a more traditional FPS play style, but you were always better off just running.
Even so, the gunplay still felt really satisfying somehow. I kind of had this feeling towards the end of the game that I was finally getting revenge for every time I was shot while performing a jump or climb, haha.
It's a fair criticism, but at the same time gunplay was slow, awkward, and punishing, so it was kind of its own deterrent. I don't know anyone who really likes the game (i.e. the flow of each level) and regularly used guns.
I think he completely got the game's atmosphere, that's the only way this soundtrack could become this good, he perfectly caught the feeling that the world of this game calls in our hearts.
"Always lead and never follow. Mirror's Edge changed how i see game development and in many ways that curious and rebellious heart that Faith had is actually what makes THE FINALS work and it actually gave birth to that." Rob Runesson - Meet The Makers
Omg you’re so right!🤯 I actually never played mirrors edge and am a HUGE finals fan, ima definitely check the game out, everything about it looks so good!😍
1:10 I remember first time seeing this high cloth simulation where it actually destroyed where you shoot, I remember using a shotgun and got stunned for how realistic it was, and up until this day, I don't think I have ever stumble upon this type of cloth simulation in any games... RTX is good and all, but man, those cloth simulation are top tier.
A good art style in a game will look good no matter how old it is, not something I personally think we see much anymore since most AAA games tries to look as realistic as possible.
Completely agree. It's why games like Okami and Metroid Prime will stand the test of time, despite there being arguably "better" looking games made since.
Look at Bioshock, Half Life Series or Halo 3 or even the original XIII. A good artstyle and lighting is much, much more important than realistic and high resolution assets
I remember watching Mirrors Edge videos back in 2015. I always thought it was a 2015 game lol. I had NO clue this was from 2008 - this is genuinely impressive.
damn, 16 years... i was in middle school and still remember how i bought the game with my all of my lunch money that i was going to spend on candy for my first school crush... no regrets haha
@@samhyatt4863 I see the similarities in the design, sure, but what I really want is that atmosphere. Ain't got no time to git good, I just wanna chill on top of a skyscraper and enjoy the view.
@@InfiniteDarkMass if you lowkey just sit in the maps of the finals in a private match.... youll get those same vibes 100%. ESPECIALLY WITH RAYTRACING ON.
I love how clean the city looks. Everything is painted white and there is just glass everywhere. This is especially true in the sequel. I love the look of the city. I wish i could live there.
GOD its so funny seeing you make a video about the game today, I literally played through the whole game yesterday again for the like however manyeth time i've played this game. and even tho i have a 1440p monitor its still mesmerizing playing through the game, it baffles me how the game visually hasn't aged all that much aside from the lighting style which honestly is still amazing for 2008. imaging the possibilities this game could have with today's lighting capabilities would be my only reason for maybe wanting a visual remaster or remake, so long as it doesn't interfere with the games overall art design
I really enjoyed your commentary. I love that you took the time to research the history of the game and dove into some of the technical BTS. It really does blow my mind that this game is from '08, whenever I see it and think about it that thought never occurs to me. It always feels like oh yeah it came out a while ago but never feels that old. Wild. Hats off to the developers and the wild amount of effort that went into the game.
This is the exact type of game that you remember how insane it looked when you were a kid and when you go back to see it you think like " Oh I am sure it looked good just because I was young and remember it differently " like it is with a lot of older games, but mirror's edge still really holds up. If I were to never hear about this game and you'd show it to me today I would probably think it's a game released in like 2019-2020 that went under everyone's radar because it just looks up to par with recent games. Incredible piece of work.
My favourite little movement trick in Mirror's Edge was that there was a button your could press midair to tug your legs up higher, the curle as you say in video. I don't know that there was every a point in the game that you needed it to progress, but as you got into trying to do the time trial versions of missions you could shave SO much time off of missions by turning every little mantle into a full clear hurdle over an obstacle. It was a quick simple trick to learn that made you so much faster.
Jack, this is one of many reasons why you are a legend. You bring attention to games that really deserve the shout out. This is still one of my favourite games of all time. The whole vibe is euphoric when your chaining the free running elements together and soaking in the ambient music with the stunning art style. It was always a blast to speedrun. You can turn off the runner vision and try to improvise with the surroundings which is good for repeat playthroughs. Mirrors Edge will always be in my top ten.
I think most of the games in that era look better that games from today, because the focus wasnt on having realistic graphics but rather on good and unique visuals with a special artstyle
That's absolutely false. Games like Mirrors Edge or Bioshock still wanted to be photorealistic and push the hardware. The artistic style was not everything...
I just beat this game for the first time ever earlier today on PS3 lol. It's always interesting when you're interacting with a piece of media that you assume is forgotten, but then you realise how appreciated and interacted with it still is.
@@udance4ever Surely not good, PC has tweak mods, you can control everything from resolution, framerate, physx framerate etc. And you have mods. Anyhow vanilla M.E. is alright, I remember it ran alright on my old gtx760 with physx on
If you boot up Mirrors Edge on PS3 it’s still one of the most beautiful games on that platform, high resolution, clean lines, colorful. Actually one of the first games where you saw your feet when you looked down lol - It’s to this day one of my favorite games
when I first saw the finals teased, I immediately knew this game was going to be the spiritual successor to mirror's edge for me, and I've been playing it every day since; such an underrated fun game
And guess what? a bunch of the main artists and developers of Mirror’s Edge are actually in charge of The Finals! Notably, Rob Runesson, who was (essentially) the art director of both mirror’s edge games, is one of the co-founders of Embark Studios and is the chief content officer of the finals. And he also runs the entire EE hunting community of the game and is very active in the official discord, always answering questions about his experience in making ME and BF games.
@@samhyatt4863 yeah dude you’re so right!! my guy Rob, his taste is impeccable 😮 I’m so glad the old DICE devs stuck together and made Embark, they’ve been killin it
when i recently replayed the game i noticed that the first person camera in the game acts very lively, it will tilt, bounce and etc when perform difference movements such as turning and landing, maybe most games even including MEC don't have that, which i think is actually a very very great design for a fps camera.
One of my fav games of all time. Same with Catalyst. I use to speed run ME, good times coming up with fast routes and skips, nothing like the flow. It always surprised me that no spin off games spawned from it. Shame really. Both games honestly still hold up today and i always go back to them often.
What I loved about the original Mirror’s Edge was that it had that perfect “near future” aesthetic. There were clean, bright environments, but also modern technology and architecture that made the world feel somewhat grounded in reality. I liked Catalyst a lot, but I felt they leaned too hard into the cyberpunk/futuristic aesthetic with all the shininess, holograms and drones flying around. It had style, but not the same style as the original.
I miss this game so much. I actually held two world records in this game. One if them was on accident. One if my claims to fame. Definitely want to play it again now.
The cult following is strong. There’s a decent chance within the next 10 years imo But more important is that it’s actually a super good game-not something that simply tries to milk the IP
Unfortunately it didn't have the same charm as the first game. The parkour and traversal was great but they misunderstood what was so special about the first one.
@@spooney6388 Imo even indies play it safe most of the time, sometimes even more than AAA because indies need to make money to survive -while AAA can afford to have slip-ups here and there without their company going out of business.
With mirrors edge the idea is a free flow, smooth parkour feel. So the textures are kept clean and crisp and fairly simple. A lot of games need to realize sometimes less is more. Or brain can insert a lot more information into a scene than it takes out. So super high res details in a fast paced action game probably go unnoticed much of the time.
I’m currently in the process of learning this game! It’s a wonderful game for 2008! I wish catalyst could’ve been more up to spec with what we used to have, but honestly the fact that it’s still here and it’s been kept alive is amazing! Thanks for the video ❤!
I remember playing this in my barracks room as a young man in the army while i was between deployments and was absolutely blown away by it then. I jump back in here and there and it has already impressed me how well its stood up, both in graphics and gameplay.
i remember being blown away by this game and replaying the demo so much then bought the game just to reaplay the whole game like 5 times. the art design sound design and music really all blended together to make a captivating experience.
They didn't really shoehorn them in. It's intentional that it was very basic and a little clumsy. You weren't intended to go around constantly disarming guys for a chain of Chicago reloads. (Dropping an empty gun for another, in case the term isn't known.) You can't even move at full speed while handling one. It's more of an "In a pinch" situation, or in the underground section. Clearing the snipers.
@@Meravokas Imo it broke up the gameplay pretty awkwardly, especially in later levels. Not that I hated how the shooting felt, but in a game about speed and fluid movement it felt out of place. Also story-wise it's funny to think how many cops Faith killed lol.
@@YoyMcFroy It's not a required element though. I mean. There were a few places I needed to use them, but ideally you want to avoid the combat altogether whenever possible anyways.
I always thought that that feeling was intentional; Faith is a runner with some hand to hand training but no real firearms experience. It's not part of her standard kit, she doesn't start running with a gun, nor tries to keep one and just grab fresh magazines. It's a momentary necessity and a 'convenience' to get a weapon but not something in her particular wheelhouse or skillset worth keeping or heading out with.
When a game looks ray traced but it came out in 08. This game is really cool. Remember myself playing on my potato computer on Vista. Aged beautifully.
During high school, I was in CADD, and my end of year project was a Mirror's Edge animation. Built the whole city, character model, and animations to match as close as possible because I loved this game so much!
No wonder The Finals is so amazing. Some of the developers at DICE, who worked on Mirrors Edge (and leadership) are developers (and leadership) of The Finals. ❤
"Always lead and never follow. Mirror's Edge changed how i see game development and in many ways that curious and rebellious heart that Faith had is actually what makes THE FINALS work and it actually gave birth to that." Rob Runesson - Meet The Makers
I like that you mentioned the speedrunning community for this game. A few years ago I decided to stream as I replayed this game cause I loved it so much. Someone from the speedrunning community hopped in and then joined a discord call with me for hours teaching me how to speedrun. While I discovered I wasn't cut out for PBs and WRs, I did make a friend in the process haha
One of my FAVORITES of all time. I'd love to see a revival of this style. The second one didn't hit quite as well. Love your variety on the channel! Cheers!
A more impressive game at that time released on 2009 was Killzone 2 on ps3. The game is outstanding, it's amazing and it's very surprising since it's on a ps3. Seriously take look at it, that game still surpases new games that come out.
Will forever be one of my favourite games. I'll keep playing it every now and then throughout my life, to remind me of those blissful 2008 golden era Xbox 360 days. The world is so different now and I'm sure we'll never see a game quite like this ever again.
Loved this game when it came out and even did a television review of it (while in high school). The style and the physics blew me away at the time. Just how clean and polished it all was. And the surprising lack of jank in the controls made it easy to achieve great flow that keeps you feeling like a badass. Well a graceful one.
The core game loop here is so impressive - not only because they achieved some amazing stuff graphically and with the physics in 2008, but that the loop is extremely well design. The core game loop presents the challenge of getting into the flow state. The reward? Being in the flow state. Incredibly simple, but so addictive. I remembered playing this years ago, and loving it. This video summarized it extremely well.
Exactly. The true genius of this game was the controls. It was automated juuuust enough to be playable with KBM/Controller, but wasn't so over-scripted you didn't feel like you were controlling the character so much as politely if they could, please, if it's not too much trouble, do something. For example, yes, Faith would auto-grab pipes and ledges, but you had to communicate your intent by making sure it was in the middle third of your screen. That was a perfect balance, IMO, between over frustrating controls (like, say, you also had to press a "Grab" key to grab the ledge in a very narrow window of time, which would seem like a good idea on paper...but would kill the flow), and being completely automated (just fling Faith somewhere in the vicinity of the pipe and she'd get dragged to it like it was magnetic). Like Faith on a beam three hundred feet above the street, DICE maintained a perfect balance.
I still vividly remember playing the demo for this in the summer on a PS3 with my first HD tv. The visuals and that soundtrack was such a fresh experience. It’s not the best game in the world but stuff like this made you feel so optimistic about the future of games. Seeing so many bland looking games nowadays makes me appreciate these games even more concidering how much weaker the machines were.
I was 11 when this game came out and I played the hell out of it on Xbox. Even went as far as trying to do parkour at the park with my friends growing up
Another inspiration was surely "Sonic the Hedgehog", because I was so often in the flow and lost it seconds later that it kept me motivated to get back into that flow... I loved the game, the story was also great and intense. It was pure art. It is still pure art.
I replayed Mirror's Edge last year and it's still fantastic. I like how you transported the adrenaline rush it gives you, the pacing is incredibly satisfying. Also nice to see someone who's moving around the game as intended. Don't know if you pointed out but interesting was also that you could use guns but you did not have to, actually the game can be finished without killing anyone (it's hard though).
the secret is the art direction and style. also, pre-baked raytraced lighting with lots of indirect lighting that gives the game a sense of photorealism.
I remember playing this game (I think it was the last game I ever got bundled with a graphics card) and thinking it was going to change the way games were played. I never finished it though... The one rooftop level puzzle where there's a bunch of bad guys shooting at you was very hard and I never figured out how to get past it.
Crazy to watch this. I remember getting the bag with the game as well. I took it to school for my books hahaha. And I was trying to speedrun this level for a long time. Great game. Thanks for the video
Mirror’s Edge world design, soundtrack, and atmosphere are perfect. It is still a very beautiful game that easily looks like it could have released in the 2020’s
It looks good still because the textures are mostly not too complicated. Primarily smooth and/or flat surfaces with very little color variation. Mostly white/grey. Then you upscale that and have decent enough lighting, it's gonna look good.
Got this game for Christmas the year of its release and boy did it leave me longing for a Mirror’s Edge II. The time trial levels were AMAZING challenges too!
I just want to point out that baked lighting (like lightmaps and shadowmaps) isn’t unique to this game. Jackfrags didn’t say it was, but focusing on it here might make people think it’s not used elsewhere. Even today, a lot of games use baked lighting instead of real-time lighting for different reasons. Mobile games often go this route, and if a game needs to run on lower-spec systems, baked lighting is the better option. The downside is you still have to re-bake everything if something moves, which is still a problem devs face, though the process has improved over time. That said, the lighting in Mirror’s Edge is still amazing even now. The team did a fantastic job, using some clever tricks to make it look great. Sometimes lighting is placed in ways that aren’t 100% realistic but improve the overall look. Today, real-time lighting is more common when games want dynamic effects like turning lights on and off, using flashlights, having a day-night cycle, or light spilling into a room when you open a door. Edit: I'd actually love to know how long entire scenes took to re-bake. Like even a couple years ago in UE4 i'd go and do other activities while i waited for lighting to bake.
This game is 16 years old, absolutely wild that it still looks this good. Thanks for tuning in and I hope you enjoy the video! ❤
First
It officially hit it's Sweet 16!
Wonder how crytalist looks now
Have you seen Black on ps2? ... it shts on games today and its like 100 years old now 😅😂
Thank you for the spotlight on this great game!
Mad props to whoever decided to NOT use any sort of HUD ingame. No health bars, No stamina bars, no direction arrows etc...
And then ME2 thew it out of the windows
Pity that Mirror's Edge 2 blew it all. But that's why nobody remembers the zecond one even existing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@TheArklytetheres a 2nd 0.0, i fell in love with this game for so long and I remember saying why did thry never make a sequel
@@naiko8412 you know what, you're correct, there never was a second game, my mistake;)
I still remember playing BF3 and it glitched and the entire HUD UI disappeared… awesome immersive experience.
Don't forget about PhysX, Mirror's Edge was one of the games that pioneered the tech. Cloth simulation, interactive volumetric fog, broken glass shards, everything calculated by the GPU in real time. This was like Ray Tracing back in the day, only nVidia GPUs had it, at least that's how they sold it.
You still need nvidea to get those features on PC now. I recently built one and was impressed with the fidelity of the additional effects. Although it's not gamecanging, it's a nice upgrade that slightly increases interactivity.
RIP Ageia. I really wanted a dedicated PhysX card in 2006. Never happened. I never got my 7950GTX, either, unfortunately
@@Bstone410you can still turn on physx in games even with AMD gpus but it won't perform as well since it's nvidia tech
The cloth shattering when the helicopter shoots through it... Never see anything like that today, the only thing closer was batman arkham asylum (also UE3 and physix) with the smoke and paper sheets.
Modern day game development is a joke
@@youdontsay193 Physics is pretty hard to get right which is often why they used third party software. Rockstar had a third party create theirs for GTA 4 and onward. Nvidia's is obviously PhysX. Havoc Physics was pretty popular at the time too. The thing is it's not easy to get it right and performant too. PhysX is still very expensive on modern GPUs and people complained a ton about it when it was still a thing
I had some involvement with this when I was at EA back in the day and you're right - DICE were rightfully very proud of this game and put a huge amount of work into it to create something very different to anything else out there. The runner vision was a particular standout, although there were some at EA who pushed for a more traditional HUD, even though it wasn't necessary and would have detracted from the look of the game. As we always used to say, "when in doubt, head for the red" and you'd find your way 🙂
I think the only issue any of us had with the game was the fact that, towards the end of the game, as the number of enemies increased, it became very tempting to pick up guns and go for a more traditional FPS play style, but you were always better off just running.
I remember fondly getting the achievement for not killing anyone. I didn't know it was an achievement.... it was just how I played it.
I used to love picking up the guns and doing some mad parkour matrix style combat lines. It was unique!
Even so, the gunplay still felt really satisfying somehow. I kind of had this feeling towards the end of the game that I was finally getting revenge for every time I was shot while performing a jump or climb, haha.
It's a fair criticism, but at the same time gunplay was slow, awkward, and punishing, so it was kind of its own deterrent. I don't know anyone who really likes the game (i.e. the flow of each level) and regularly used guns.
This is my favorite game just for its awesome atmosphere. I’ve revisited it every year at least once.
Solar fields did wonders for the soundtrack on both this game and mirrors edge catalyst
Glad someone mentioned SOLAR FIELDS
I think he completely got the game's atmosphere, that's the only way this soundtrack could become this good, he perfectly caught the feeling that the world of this game calls in our hearts.
the GOAT of his lane honestly, couldnt imagine a soundtrack more spoton for the games theme except maybe undertale.
Mirrors Edge is iconic. The art style in The Finals looks similar, thats part of the reason why I enjoy that game so much
it’s made by a ton of the same artists and developers and leadership!
"Always lead and never follow. Mirror's Edge changed how i see game development and in many ways that curious and rebellious heart that Faith had is actually what makes THE FINALS work and it actually gave birth to that."
Rob Runesson - Meet The Makers
@@nonr.2347that gave me chills. And I just knew the Finals had the same people working on it. It screams Battlefield and Mirrors Edge
I can see a lot of Mirrors Edge also in the first Dying Light
Omg you’re so right!🤯 I actually never played mirrors edge and am a HUGE finals fan, ima definitely check the game out, everything about it looks so good!😍
1:10 I remember first time seeing this high cloth simulation where it actually destroyed where you shoot, I remember using a shotgun and got stunned for how realistic it was, and up until this day, I don't think I have ever stumble upon this type of cloth simulation in any games... RTX is good and all, but man, those cloth simulation are top tier.
Astrobot 😏
PhysX
A good art style in a game will look good no matter how old it is, not something I personally think we see much anymore since most AAA games tries to look as realistic as possible.
Completely agree. It's why games like Okami and Metroid Prime will stand the test of time, despite there being arguably "better" looking games made since.
Even when they go for a “stylized” look it’s just Fortnite lite
Yeah that’s what he said in the vid
Look at Bioshock, Half Life Series or Halo 3 or even the original XIII. A good artstyle and lighting is much, much more important than realistic and high resolution assets
Call of Juarez is also an example, as is Borderlands!
You could also say, the game is "Still Alive" ;)
Love the song and the game
Still Alive is one of my favorite song of all time and i'm a picky guy,spotify is aids for remove the song from it
@@CiceroFryman-t8n you totally a valve games fan... did you know that portal has song also called "still alive"?
@@DanielWindows Yes,that GLaDOS one,but to be honest it doesn't give as much vibe as this one for me
I remember watching Mirrors Edge videos back in 2015. I always thought it was a 2015 game lol. I had NO clue this was from 2008 - this is genuinely impressive.
There was a remake made by DICE with the Frostbite Engine called Mirrors Edge Catalyst in 2016.
@@radioactivehamster660 That's the 2nd game not a remake
@@goodmoney2998 Reboot would be a more accurate term yeah
@@Jackerlus as a joke yeah but official speaking it's the 2nd game.
Catalyst is 2016 game.
Feels good seeing childhood favorites stand the test of time 16 years later
damn, 16 years... i was in middle school and still remember how i bought the game with my all of my lunch money that i was going to spend on candy for my first school crush... no regrets haha
We need more games like Mirror's Edge. The soundtrack, the environment, the storyline, the parkour, it will always be one of my favorite games.
Try The Finals! it’s made by a ton of the same people who made Mirror’s Edge, and it’s basically Mirror’s edge but PvP haha
@@samhyatt4863 I see the similarities in the design, sure, but what I really want is that atmosphere. Ain't got no time to git good, I just wanna chill on top of a skyscraper and enjoy the view.
@@InfiniteDarkMass i honestly think the finals takes that same atmosphere, and turns it up to eleven. The maps are nothing short of breathtaking.
Isn’t there a game called ghost runner or something? Parkour w swords?
@@InfiniteDarkMass if you lowkey just sit in the maps of the finals in a private match.... youll get those same vibes 100%. ESPECIALLY WITH RAYTRACING ON.
I love how clean the city looks. Everything is painted white and there is just glass everywhere. This is especially true in the sequel. I love the look of the city.
I wish i could live there.
GOD its so funny seeing you make a video about the game today, I literally played through the whole game yesterday again for the like however manyeth time i've played this game. and even tho i have a 1440p monitor its still mesmerizing playing through the game, it baffles me how the game visually hasn't aged all that much aside from the lighting style which honestly is still amazing for 2008. imaging the possibilities this game could have with today's lighting capabilities would be my only reason for maybe wanting a visual remaster or remake, so long as it doesn't interfere with the games overall art design
Thanks for the reminder to listen to Lisa Miskovsky's 'Still Alive' again and drown myself in nostalgia, been a few years since I last did that.
i was really listening 🎧 it yesterday ❤
Heck yeah, it gets all the feels going
I can hear it without listening to it
the game still runs on mordern windows btw. i got a hard copy last year for 5 bucks or so :D
That song puts me in a trance-like state. Oh yeah, and it takes me straight back to 2009.
I really enjoyed your commentary. I love that you took the time to research the history of the game and dove into some of the technical BTS. It really does blow my mind that this game is from '08, whenever I see it and think about it that thought never occurs to me. It always feels like oh yeah it came out a while ago but never feels that old. Wild. Hats off to the developers and the wild amount of effort that went into the game.
This is the exact type of game that you remember how insane it looked when you were a kid and when you go back to see it you think like " Oh I am sure it looked good just because I was young and remember it differently " like it is with a lot of older games, but mirror's edge still really holds up. If I were to never hear about this game and you'd show it to me today I would probably think it's a game released in like 2019-2020 that went under everyone's radar because it just looks up to par with recent games. Incredible piece of work.
Definitely
Baked lighting looks good. Just inflexible.
In a linear level based game that's not much of an issue.
Mirror’s Edge is a right of passage for many PC gamers
*rite (a ritual)
If that is the case then consider me a neophyte undergoing said ritual: I just started it for the first time this past weekend 😉🤙
My favourite little movement trick in Mirror's Edge was that there was a button your could press midair to tug your legs up higher, the curle as you say in video. I don't know that there was every a point in the game that you needed it to progress, but as you got into trying to do the time trial versions of missions you could shave SO much time off of missions by turning every little mantle into a full clear hurdle over an obstacle. It was a quick simple trick to learn that made you so much faster.
Just in case someone out there doesnt know, theres MULTIPLAYER, WEATHER, NEW PLAYABLE MAP,ETC. MODS STILL WORKING TO THIS DAY!
LONG LIVE MIRRORS EDGE
i cant wait to get into this after my first replay!
@@ceasarperez6246 long live mirrors edge
Weather??
@@RyansAlwaysEaton weather mods! Storm, snow, late night rain,etc. Check um out!
multiplayer... 😮😮😮
Wasn't expecting this - Great video and amazing/timeless game, one of my all time favourites! Music and ambience is also spine-tingling
Jack, this is one of many reasons why you are a legend. You bring attention to games that really deserve the shout out.
This is still one of my favourite games of all time. The whole vibe is euphoric when your chaining the free running elements together and soaking in the ambient music with the stunning art style. It was always a blast to speedrun.
You can turn off the runner vision and try to improvise with the surroundings which is good for repeat playthroughs.
Mirrors Edge will always be in my top ten.
one of the greatest ever. I cant wait to share years down the line.
Welp, that's "Still Alive" stuck in my head for another 2 weeks
I think most of the games in that era look better that games from today, because the focus wasnt on having realistic graphics but rather on good and unique visuals with a special artstyle
That's absolutely false. Games like Mirrors Edge or Bioshock still wanted to be photorealistic and push the hardware. The artistic style was not everything...
And the focus now is "how big can we make this world"
@@r.daneel.90Bioshock definitely didn't try to look photorealistic....
Games in that era were about "how bloomy" can we make the game look rather than realism or art style
@@velaikka it still tries though, with a more stylized art style, especially with the characters, but it tries. And it looks technically powerful.
Free running was popularized in France so I always thought this was a project full of passion/pride
I just beat this game for the first time ever earlier today on PS3 lol. It's always interesting when you're interacting with a piece of media that you assume is forgotten, but then you realise how appreciated and interacted with it still is.
how is the PS3 port compared to PC?
@@udance4ever Surely not good, PC has tweak mods, you can control everything from resolution, framerate, physx framerate etc. And you have mods. Anyhow vanilla M.E. is alright, I remember it ran alright on my old gtx760 with physx on
@@saradomimah - good to know. now u have me curious & have the game on my wishlist on steam!
If you boot up Mirrors Edge on PS3 it’s still one of the most beautiful games on that platform, high resolution, clean lines, colorful. Actually one of the first games where you saw your feet when you looked down lol - It’s to this day one of my favorite games
The Finals feels like the spiritual successor to this combined with Battlefield's rush mode and team fortress 2. All mashed up into one!
Couldn't have said it better.
No wonder The Finals is healing my inner child.
when I first saw the finals teased, I immediately knew this game was going to be the spiritual successor to mirror's edge for me, and I've been playing it every day since; such an underrated fun game
And guess what? a bunch of the main artists and developers of Mirror’s Edge are actually in charge of The Finals! Notably, Rob Runesson, who was (essentially) the art director of both mirror’s edge games, is one of the co-founders of Embark Studios and is the chief content officer of the finals. And he also runs the entire EE hunting community of the game and is very active in the official discord, always answering questions about his experience in making ME and BF games.
Yesssss
@@samhyatt4863 yeah dude you’re so right!! my guy Rob, his taste is impeccable 😮 I’m so glad the old DICE devs stuck together and made Embark, they’ve been killin it
Really surprised to hear that it's a 2-3 hour length because I know it took me at LEAST twice that in 2008 when I was 11 haha
REAL
even Catalyst is 2-3 hour if you try hard enough as well
Your video was much like this game: simple, clean, concise, beautiful. Nice work, Jack!
Glad you liked it!
Those years they started making the best games ever. AC 1 , Mirrors Edge etc ... . They Don't make them like they used to anymore.
BF3, ME1, AC1... So many good games came out in that era of gaming.
You should do more videos like this, kind of reviews of older games but not to in depth.
when i recently replayed the game i noticed that the first person camera in the game acts very lively, it will tilt, bounce and etc when perform difference movements such as turning and landing, maybe most games even including MEC don't have that, which i think is actually a very very great design for a fps camera.
bodycam and unrecorded have that
One of my fav games of all time. Same with Catalyst. I use to speed run ME, good times coming up with fast routes and skips, nothing like the flow. It always surprised me that no spin off games spawned from it. Shame really. Both games honestly still hold up today and i always go back to them often.
What I loved about the original Mirror’s Edge was that it had that perfect “near future” aesthetic. There were clean, bright environments, but also modern technology and architecture that made the world feel somewhat grounded in reality.
I liked Catalyst a lot, but I felt they leaned too hard into the cyberpunk/futuristic aesthetic with all the shininess, holograms and drones flying around. It had style, but not the same style as the original.
Loved the technical explanation of the lighting, thanks for that
I miss this game so much. I actually held two world records in this game. One if them was on accident. One if my claims to fame. Definitely want to play it again now.
catalyst is also one of my favorite games. Felt like i was the only one playing it tho
You're not alone. I go back at least once a year and replay it.
I can only pray for a Mirrors Edge revival
The cult following is strong. There’s a decent chance within the next 10 years imo
But more important is that it’s actually a super good game-not something that simply tries to milk the IP
Me too. Love that game
Unfortunately it didn't have the same charm as the first game. The parkour and traversal was great but they misunderstood what was so special about the first one.
@@MossXM I felt the same. I enjoyed playing the game, but the vibe didn't feel the same.
A lot of old games have this potential. Appreciate ya sheddin light on this, Mr. Frags!
This is the first video I have ever seen that has an 8K option. Damn.
Same. Didn't know that was an option at all. Nice.
This was at a time where game developers dared to try new things and didnt solely make games to earn money
well we've got soo many indies now that do that, the tradeoff is that they have much smaller budgets for that
@@spooney6388 Imo even indies play it safe most of the time, sometimes even more than AAA because indies need to make money to survive -while AAA can afford to have slip-ups here and there without their company going out of business.
With mirrors edge the idea is a free flow, smooth parkour feel. So the textures are kept clean and crisp and fairly simple. A lot of games need to realize sometimes less is more. Or brain can insert a lot more information into a scene than it takes out. So super high res details in a fast paced action game probably go unnoticed much of the time.
I’m currently in the process of learning this game! It’s a wonderful game for 2008! I wish catalyst could’ve been more up to spec with what we used to have, but honestly the fact that it’s still here and it’s been kept alive is amazing! Thanks for the video ❤!
I remember cooking my Nvidia 9600GT GPU with this epic game. Loved it very much.
I remember playing this in my barracks room as a young man in the army while i was between deployments and was absolutely blown away by it then. I jump back in here and there and it has already impressed me how well its stood up, both in graphics and gameplay.
I remember playing this game back in the day. It looked so futuristic and clean.
i remember being blown away by this game and replaying the demo so much then bought the game just to reaplay the whole game like 5 times. the art design sound design and music really all blended together to make a captivating experience.
jack playing one of my fav childhood games wasnt on my wishlist but HERE WE ARE? one of the simplest yet most immersive games of all time
Putting a gun in the thumbnail reminds me of how they shoehorned guns into the game lol
They didn't really shoehorn them in. It's intentional that it was very basic and a little clumsy. You weren't intended to go around constantly disarming guys for a chain of Chicago reloads. (Dropping an empty gun for another, in case the term isn't known.) You can't even move at full speed while handling one. It's more of an "In a pinch" situation, or in the underground section. Clearing the snipers.
@@Meravokas Imo it broke up the gameplay pretty awkwardly, especially in later levels. Not that I hated how the shooting felt, but in a game about speed and fluid movement it felt out of place. Also story-wise it's funny to think how many cops Faith killed lol.
@@YoyMcFroy It's not a required element though. I mean. There were a few places I needed to use them, but ideally you want to avoid the combat altogether whenever possible anyways.
I always thought that that feeling was intentional; Faith is a runner with some hand to hand training but no real firearms experience. It's not part of her standard kit, she doesn't start running with a gun, nor tries to keep one and just grab fresh magazines. It's a momentary necessity and a 'convenience' to get a weapon but not something in her particular wheelhouse or skillset worth keeping or heading out with.
@@rob.3143 that's fair, I'd just rather she avoid guns altogether lol
When a game looks ray traced but it came out in 08. This game is really cool. Remember myself playing on my potato computer on Vista. Aged beautifully.
I've had this game in my Backlog for far too long... I need to get it played one of these days...
Do it, you can beat it in an afternoon
@@fearingalma1550 Wait, wut!? Seriously!!? O_0
@@JoshuaGanoTyraxLightning 4-6hr at most if you're just doing the main story, and you will not be able to do anything about time trial scores lol
@@fearingalma1550 I'm no Speedrunner, that's for sure. Thank you so much for the info! :D
During high school, I was in CADD, and my end of year project was a Mirror's Edge animation. Built the whole city, character model, and animations to match as close as possible because I loved this game so much!
DUDE GREAT FEELS, THANKS FOR THIS UPLOAD
I still love to speed run this game on ps3
There is always new tricks to learn
And the mechanics will take a lifetime to master
9:05 hol' up, am I still watching Mirror's Edge gameplay or is this The Finals trailer?
No wonder The Finals is so amazing. Some of the developers at DICE, who worked on Mirrors Edge (and leadership) are developers (and leadership) of The Finals. ❤
@@TAPORZZ14 Yeah, I heard, but this very section has made it entirely obvious. Both are great games :)
Seoul map is mirror's edge hahahahha
"Always lead and never follow. Mirror's Edge changed how i see game development and in many ways that curious and rebellious heart that Faith had is actually what makes THE FINALS work and it actually gave birth to that."
Rob Runesson - Meet The Makers
@@nonr.2347 I am glad for that. The similarities are definitely apparent and it is done really well :)
The matrix games and Star wars Jedi academy implemented wall running and parkour techniques fairly well, for being even earlier games.
I like that you mentioned the speedrunning community for this game. A few years ago I decided to stream as I replayed this game cause I loved it so much. Someone from the speedrunning community hopped in and then joined a discord call with me for hours teaching me how to speedrun. While I discovered I wasn't cut out for PBs and WRs, I did make a friend in the process haha
Man this is one of my favorite games EVER.
Real glad to see it pop up on this channel.
This game is the reason I bought the Xbox 360 back in the day!
I really like how the outside areas are so bright In this game. It really matches the color palette of objects, giving it a unique look and feel.
This is a game I would love to see get ported to VR
and then hear ppl trying to climb up furniture 😂
One of my FAVORITES of all time. I'd love to see a revival of this style. The second one didn't hit quite as well. Love your variety on the channel! Cheers!
When I saw the thumbnail, I honestly thought this was the finals.
Thats so awesome thats so true! says a lot about the finals and this artstyle, how good it is!
A lot of the same people worked on both
A more impressive game at that time released on 2009 was Killzone 2 on ps3. The game is outstanding, it's amazing and it's very surprising since it's on a ps3. Seriously take look at it, that game still surpases new games that come out.
The only dated visual that really stood out were the player's hands, especially at 0:06
all the textures really if you get close enough but in motion it looks amazing
Will forever be one of my favourite games. I'll keep playing it every now and then throughout my life, to remind me of those blissful 2008 golden era Xbox 360 days. The world is so different now and I'm sure we'll never see a game quite like this ever again.
2:23
Thats a very complicated way to explain what a server room is :D
lmao so true
Glad you made video about Mirrors Edge. One of my all time favorite games❤
Got it cheap in steam sale for 2€.
just added it to my list so I can catch the next sale!
2008 was a great year for games. A good chunk of my favorite games of all time came out between 2007-2011
THE FINALS??
yep pretty much 😂
I remember being blown away by this game when it was first previewed. Still in visual awe of the game all these years later.
Loved this game when it came out and even did a television review of it (while in high school). The style and the physics blew me away at the time. Just how clean and polished it all was. And the surprising lack of jank in the controls made it easy to achieve great flow that keeps you feeling like a badass. Well a graceful one.
The core game loop here is so impressive - not only because they achieved some amazing stuff graphically and with the physics in 2008, but that the loop is extremely well design. The core game loop presents the challenge of getting into the flow state. The reward? Being in the flow state. Incredibly simple, but so addictive. I remembered playing this years ago, and loving it. This video summarized it extremely well.
Exactly. The true genius of this game was the controls. It was automated juuuust enough to be playable with KBM/Controller, but wasn't so over-scripted you didn't feel like you were controlling the character so much as politely if they could, please, if it's not too much trouble, do something.
For example, yes, Faith would auto-grab pipes and ledges, but you had to communicate your intent by making sure it was in the middle third of your screen. That was a perfect balance, IMO, between over frustrating controls (like, say, you also had to press a "Grab" key to grab the ledge in a very narrow window of time, which would seem like a good idea on paper...but would kill the flow), and being completely automated (just fling Faith somewhere in the vicinity of the pipe and she'd get dragged to it like it was magnetic).
Like Faith on a beam three hundred feet above the street, DICE maintained a perfect balance.
I still vividly remember playing the demo for this in the summer on a PS3 with my first HD tv. The visuals and that soundtrack was such a fresh experience. It’s not the best game in the world but stuff like this made you feel so optimistic about the future of games. Seeing so many bland looking games nowadays makes me appreciate these games even more concidering how much weaker the machines were.
Ages very well. Always loved it, got it in 2008.
I was 11 when this game came out and I played the hell out of it on Xbox. Even went as far as trying to do parkour at the park with my friends growing up
Oh my gosh the memories flooding back. Mirrors edge was a bug and impactful part of my childhood. Thank you for this Jack
Thank you for recognise this old gem
Minecraft: "No one will ever beat me!"
Another inspiration was surely "Sonic the Hedgehog", because I was so often in the flow and lost it seconds later that it kept me motivated to get back into that flow... I loved the game, the story was also great and intense. It was pure art. It is still pure art.
Mirrors edge is one of the best feelings I've ever experienced
I really like that you present such a variety of content that almost always champions a certain video game. Thanks for the upload.
THE FINALS, which has developers from this game, also has a really nice art style like this.
I replayed Mirror's Edge last year and it's still fantastic. I like how you transported the adrenaline rush it gives you, the pacing is incredibly satisfying. Also nice to see someone who's moving around the game as intended. Don't know if you pointed out but interesting was also that you could use guns but you did not have to, actually the game can be finished without killing anyone (it's hard though).
the secret is the art direction and style. also, pre-baked raytraced lighting with lots of indirect lighting that gives the game a sense of photorealism.
Man Mirrors Edge was a fantastic game!
I have my life tradition - rerun Mirror's Edge every summer
Thank you for bringing attention to this game everyone is sleeping on. Mirror's Edge has the most beautiful universe I've ever seen in a video game.
I remember playing this game (I think it was the last game I ever got bundled with a graphics card) and thinking it was going to change the way games were played.
I never finished it though... The one rooftop level puzzle where there's a bunch of bad guys shooting at you was very hard and I never figured out how to get past it.
One more try!
Crazy to watch this. I remember getting the bag with the game as well. I took it to school for my books hahaha. And I was trying to speedrun this level for a long time. Great game. Thanks for the video
Mirror’s Edge world design, soundtrack, and atmosphere are perfect. It is still a very beautiful game that easily looks like it could have released in the 2020’s
Ive always like how clean the world is. Very comfortable place to be
It looks good still because the textures are mostly not too complicated. Primarily smooth and/or flat surfaces with very little color variation. Mostly white/grey. Then you upscale that and have decent enough lighting, it's gonna look good.
Jack you’re brilliant when it comes to your dialogue and giving us background and development info at the same time 🔥💯
the guy in the last shot is an actual famous parkour runner that had a little guest role :)
Amazing! So glad to see you cover this game. It is one of my favourite games of all time! Love it. Cheers!
Got this game for Christmas the year of its release and boy did it leave me longing for a Mirror’s Edge II. The time trial levels were AMAZING challenges too!
I just want to point out that baked lighting (like lightmaps and shadowmaps) isn’t unique to this game. Jackfrags didn’t say it was, but focusing on it here might make people think it’s not used elsewhere.
Even today, a lot of games use baked lighting instead of real-time lighting for different reasons. Mobile games often go this route, and if a game needs to run on lower-spec systems, baked lighting is the better option. The downside is you still have to re-bake everything if something moves, which is still a problem devs face, though the process has improved over time.
That said, the lighting in Mirror’s Edge is still amazing even now. The team did a fantastic job, using some clever tricks to make it look great. Sometimes lighting is placed in ways that aren’t 100% realistic but improve the overall look.
Today, real-time lighting is more common when games want dynamic effects like turning lights on and off, using flashlights, having a day-night cycle, or light spilling into a room when you open a door.
Edit: I'd actually love to know how long entire scenes took to re-bake. Like even a couple years ago in UE4 i'd go and do other activities while i waited for lighting to bake.
It's easy to see how the team from this game would've made The Finals.
The art style is just so similar.