Admiral Snackbar
Member
Changing your Tag on the website and seeing it update within the game in a second or so is REALLY cool.
This game is fun as hell.
This game is fun as hell.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst EA Access Trial Now Live
- Thread starter Fortinbras
- Start date
Falchion
Member
I just went there and tried to do that but apparently I don't have any unlocked yet. It's a cool feature that I'll definitely use when I have more time after release.
Even if you don't want to play it straight away. Please consider buying it full price at launch. This is the type of unusual and ambitious game that rarely gets made. Sending a message to EA that unusual games can be financially viable is good for the Industry.
toddhunter
Member
Unfortunately the only message EA would get is "lets put open world in to everything and don't bother with the story or characters, it'll sell big time".
Which is probably correct, but isn't necessarily helping.
ASSauLTxMasTER
Member
GavinUK86
Member
Well this was a weird glitch. Couple hours in, involving an exposion. Nothing too spoilery, it was in one of the trailers.
Story and characters weren't the draw of the original Mirror's Edge, so I'm really glad the gameplay is still there. I enjoy navigating the open world with it, so I'm personally pretty happy.
You're welcome.
There might be a yearning for Parkour in the back of your mind somewhere, try to supress that until there's a price drop or something =)
EDIT: some funnies from the trial (no spoilers)
http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/Cobalt Izuna/video/18202301 = I call this... Hahahahahaha
http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/Cobalt Izuna/video/18202312 = And I call this... the combat is severely underwhelming. This strat works on every enemy I came across in the trial.
QuantumSquid
Member
This is unimpressive as hell damn...
Care to elaborate?
Played for about two hours, it's pretty good. Only issue I have with it is the resolution and some fps drops, but it doesn't look that bad. More playable than say, BF4, but doesn't look quite as good as Battlefront.
Gameplay is pretty fun, characters or okay-ish, story is somewhat interesting so far, but didn't get too far in.
Gameplay is pretty fun, characters or okay-ish, story is somewhat interesting so far, but didn't get too far in.
No, it wasn't. But the original had... something. An identity, personality, je ne sais quoi.
This one though, from what I've played of the beta and what I've seen today, is giving me heavy Watch_dogs vibes.
Open World, Platforming Mechanics, the Viability of a game with an Ethnically Diverse lead.
EA took a small risk making this game. If they learn nothing else other then Risks can be profitible it would be worth it
Not for me. Watch_dogs looked pretty awful and I still liked the Catalyst beta, even with the Faith voice actress change. I guess it'll depend on how I enjoy the game past the beta area.
I liked the Morgan Freeman character particularly.
toddhunter
Member
Maybe, but I would see it the other way.
If it fails, all those things are bad.
If it suceeds, EA will have a franchise they will want to make "even bigger", as per their other hits. We know what happens then.
The best chance is some sort of middle level of performance. So best to buy after the first price drop to send a distinct mixed signal.
Basically we will never get a game like the first one.
plasmawave
Banned
This new game's aesthetic seems even more sterile than the original.
I guess I just don't know why someone would play the combat with the same action over and over again.
Not only does it get boring but the game encourages you to run or jump with more damage being dealt when doing so.
I'm not saying the combat is good but it does a better job than the first game did at maintaining the feel of the movement. And just like the movement, the combat does feel really good when you hit everything perfect.
Yeah it's my pet peeve with games in general. I always find what's optimal and use that. If I can find this out so early on in a trial, then that's a problem with the game design. I'm not going to be able to find the combat challenging or rewarding if I'm purposefully stopping myself from using what's available.
I'm surprised the designer didn't catch this. That you're invincible for like 80% of these movements, and the only thing to stop you doesn't work with this combination.
This game, like Devil May Cry, seems to freeze enemies from attacking you if they're off-screen or something.
The parkour doesn't really have this issue. It's rewarding enough to maintain momentum.
P.S. this above technique literally makes you almost invincible. I don't know if the enemies ever get harder, but you can be surrounded with 5 or so enemies and there's no way you can ever fail the fight.
The first game with disarming was more rewarding.
I think that's one of my problems too, everything looks too clean. Despite the fact that you see more people around in Catalyst, the world of the original felt more lived in.
The idea of the game is that combat should be handled without disrupting motion flow. That, in my opinion, is the design idea. I think this is supported by publicity / developer comments, by the complete removal of player guns, and by tutorial sequence(s) where you literally fail if you don't land the smooth chain combat moves to get past the guards.
If that's the primary design idea, then I think the ability to use a different playstyle isn't a design failure -- it's people choosing to avoid the rewarding motion flow. You yourself mentioned it's rewarding to maintain momentum.
I will say that the optional communication towers seemed at odds with this, since they don't lend themselves to smooth motion as easily. Maybe that's for people who want to experiment with brawls?
Speaking of being invincible, that's also designed into the game in a different area. If you're maintaining full speed (flow), bullets literally won't hit you.
Except there are many upgrades for combos and situations where you are locked in until you beat everyone up.
They suck, and are worse than in the first game.
I was hoping the post-beta content wouldn't have a lot of lock-in, must defeat all enemies areas. I'm sorry to hear that. How many have you seen post beta?
NullPointer
Member
Or seriously, Dying Light. The parkour in that is fun as all hell and makes too much sense with the setting. Completely different kind of game of course, but it'll scratch that parkour itch and then some.
In the trial, it got more and more common with some of the side-quest stuff.
I rolled my eyes when one character said "hey, they installed these satellite things, take them out!" =(
But I would love to buy this game if I could just play the main stuff on its own. After thinking for a while, the open world is really the big downside here. I would like it if I could focus on story first but at least 50% of your time doing the story in the trial is traversing the open world.
That game gave me motion sickness (first game to do so haha). Can I turn off any settings in the menu on console?
NullPointer
Member
It has three settings: "Full", "No HUD" that removes everything, and "No Navigation", which removes the minimap and objective markers, but shows health, XP, current objective text.
I'm watching the Giant Bomb Quick Look and it's kind of hilarious how un-self aware a lot of Western AAA developers are with their UI and game design - like how many parodies does it take to make them realise just how ridiculous and absurd the hand holdy waypoint (a red version of Fable 2s golden trail) and all of the xp notifications and billion collectable pop ups are.
I was kind of looking forward to this but now I think it's going to be a game I play for a few hours but then abandon when it becomes clear how sterile and pointless the whole thing is (e.g. FarCry since 3). Maybe I'll wait for a price drop because the gameplay itself, outside of shitty enemy AI and mission design and characters and NPC animations, looks as good as the first.
Also, side note but I really despise skill trees these days. It's all just incremental pointless crap. How about instead of that junk you just design your game better so that the abilities are acquired as you naturally use the games mechanics rather than because I picked up 200 widgets?
I was kind of looking forward to this but now I think it's going to be a game I play for a few hours but then abandon when it becomes clear how sterile and pointless the whole thing is (e.g. FarCry since 3). Maybe I'll wait for a price drop because the gameplay itself, outside of shitty enemy AI and mission design and characters and NPC animations, looks as good as the first.
Also, side note but I really despise skill trees these days. It's all just incremental pointless crap. How about instead of that junk you just design your game better so that the abilities are acquired as you naturally use the games mechanics rather than because I picked up 200 widgets?
samueljustice00
Member
Then just play the first one! Jeez. It's dumb comments like that that stop developers exploring new ground.
Exploring new ground for the sake of it isn't worth praise on its own. You need to have a reason to explore the new ground and you need to do it well.
GavinUK86
Member
Yes, that's exactly why developers don't explore "new ground".
I'm really disappointed with the visuals on PC. The performance doesn't seem like a decent pay off for what we're getting visually either.
This is taken on Ultra at 1080p.
I guess some might say it looks fine but not in my opinion. It's also got an awful AA solution. The entire image just feels dull and blurry. Considering how everything is so shiny and reflective it's hilarious how barely anything actually has a reflection. Faith doesn't in 99% of things.
I don't understand the complaints about the filler quests. In normal open world games like RPGs etc. the base gameplay isn't really strong enough to stand on its own. This is not the case with ME.
I don't want to be bogged down with long drawn out explanations of character motives and back stories. I just want to be given a nav point and be told to run. These supposed filler missions are actually a bunch of time trails. It's just like complaining that there's very little story behind why you're racing in Forza or GT.
The world is also really well designed for free running, it is a ton of fun just exploring. Also the level design in the story missions is great.
I don't want to be bogged down with long drawn out explanations of character motives and back stories. I just want to be given a nav point and be told to run. These supposed filler missions are actually a bunch of time trails. It's just like complaining that there's very little story behind why you're racing in Forza or GT.
The world is also really well designed for free running, it is a ton of fun just exploring. Also the level design in the story missions is great.
A good story doesn't need to be drawn out. You can be concise and high quality at the same time. The writing in this is cringeworthy and the cutscenes all overstay their welcome anyway.
Frostbite and open world doesn't mix, maybe. Or maybe this game had a relatively meager budget.
Garrett Hawke
Member
I think the latter tbh. I'm really enjoying it but it definitely feels like it had quite a low budget for a game so ambitious.
I'm sure EA have never expected this to sell gangbusters. So yeah a relatively (as in relative to the usual EA AAA game) small budget sounds plausible. Still I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
Wonder how the user created content will pan out. This might be the last Mirror's Edge game for a all we know so I hope this stuff has some legs and after a while everyone is just sharing and competing on the best user made time trials (at least I guess this is how it works?)
Glitchesarecool
Member
Am I crazy or does Mirror's Edge Catalyst look way, way slower than Mirror's Edge? Like her full speed doesn't even seem that much faster than walking.
Also combat looks fucking terrible still.
Also combat looks fucking terrible still.
If they haven't made real drastic changes compared to the beta then yes, your are crazy.
I'm talking about the missions dotted around in the world not the main story.
mrqs
Member
This game looks bad as hell on the PS4/Xbox One. This is really sad.
For me it looks like an game that would launch on day one that the new consoles arrived. Textures and filtering are so bad
I truly loved the first one, this is a cold shower that made me wake up to reality and see how they didn't know what made the first one great. It's so mediocre in it's structure Feels like an Uibisoft game with lazy side missions and bad characters.
Edit:
BTW, i really think this art style looked way better. Buildings in Catalyst are just white blocks or grey blocks (REALLY). And that feeling of the first game is nowhere to be found on Catalyst.
I'm downloading Mirro's Edge 1 today just to remeember how great it was, i'll post a comparisson later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N1TJP1cxmo
For me it looks like an game that would launch on day one that the new consoles arrived. Textures and filtering are so bad
I truly loved the first one, this is a cold shower that made me wake up to reality and see how they didn't know what made the first one great. It's so mediocre in it's structure
Feels like an Uibisoft game with lazy side missions and bad characters.Edit:
BTW, i really think this art style looked way better. Buildings in Catalyst are just white blocks or grey blocks (REALLY). And that feeling of the first game is nowhere to be found on Catalyst.
I'm downloading Mirro's Edge 1 today just to remeember how great it was, i'll post a comparisson later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N1TJP1cxmo
Chiramii
Member
I don't know what I should expect from my rig when it comes to this game. Can someone else with something close to my system specs tell me how the game runs?
Core i7-2700k
16 gigs of RAM
R9 290 (latest driver)
Game running on SSD
1680x1050
Performance takes a huge hit during daytime in-game, and I'm playing with medium/high settings. I don't have raw FPS numbers but my trained eye would guess somewhere around the 30-50 FPS range. Can I expect an increase in FPS by just upgrading to W10? I'm on 8.1 right now. Strangely, game ran much smoother during the beta for me.
Core i7-2700k
16 gigs of RAM
R9 290 (latest driver)
Game running on SSD
1680x1050
Performance takes a huge hit during daytime in-game, and I'm playing with medium/high settings. I don't have raw FPS numbers but my trained eye would guess somewhere around the 30-50 FPS range. Can I expect an increase in FPS by just upgrading to W10? I'm on 8.1 right now. Strangely, game ran much smoother during the beta for me.
Xaero Gravity
NEXT LEVEL lame™
Yep, I'm in the same boat.
There were some reports of this game running like shit on W7 compared to W10 but I don't know how accurate they were. I know it was running like ass on my 280X/W7 during the beta, at least, enough to dissuade from buying this game.
This game was always going to be a day one purchase since i loved the original game. However, impressions on here are a bit disheartening. So i'll wait until reviews and player impressions. I might even dig up my ps3 copy and play that in the meantime.
The sad part in situations like this is that lower sales might give the impression to the publisher that there is little interest in this franchise while the real message is that there might be little interest in "yet another open world game with the usual filler quests, upgrades, collectables and jank". And it might end up being the last game in the franchise due to the publisher not correctly understanding that message.
But i'm still hoping it will be an enjoyable game.
The sad part in situations like this is that lower sales might give the impression to the publisher that there is little interest in this franchise while the real message is that there might be little interest in "yet another open world game with the usual filler quests, upgrades, collectables and jank". And it might end up being the last game in the franchise due to the publisher not correctly understanding that message.
But i'm still hoping it will be an enjoyable game.
NullPointer
Member
Watched some of the Giant Bomb Quick-Look, and while it did look like there's plenty of parkour goodness to be found here, it looked very simplistic.
Do new areas of the open world open up with more complex routes that require more advanced moves? Are more complex routes only available in later areas of the world to account for the need to unlock special moves, or are those possibilities scattered all over the open world? And how far in do you have to play to be able to explore the full map at your leisure?
Last bit, the visuals in the Quick-Look looked very blurry, and with a very aggressive depth of field effect. I'm hoping that this isn't the case on PS4 because it makes everything look rough.
Do new areas of the open world open up with more complex routes that require more advanced moves? Are more complex routes only available in later areas of the world to account for the need to unlock special moves, or are those possibilities scattered all over the open world? And how far in do you have to play to be able to explore the full map at your leisure?
Last bit, the visuals in the Quick-Look looked very blurry, and with a very aggressive depth of field effect. I'm hoping that this isn't the case on PS4 because it makes everything look rough.
Nope, you don't need to buy the game. The free trial is free.
The Giant Bomb crew have no idea what they're doing. Alex didn't seem aware that there was such a thing as a time trial and didn't consider replaying missions one of the things you can do, or should be doing, when asked what there was to the game. What should truly be testing your skills is optimizing your routes and nailing the execution in order to improve your times. There's basically no feedback, at least not here, that covers these aspects of the game though, so who knows how well they pulled it off.
Xbone is 720p and very blurry. PS4 is 900p and still not great.