Mirrors Edge: a reflection of where gameplay might be heading

Mirrors Edge, a new approach to FPS/P gameplay by Digital Illusions.

You run rather than gun in this FPS/P game (part 1)

by XboxOZ360

©2008 Grant Smythe

Updated Info - Game play footage and Developers Interview videos: See below:

“`As more new IP’s hit the pages of mags across the globe, you would have to of been living under a rock if you have not yet noticed a certain change in the way developers are dealing with gameplay in their new IP ventures. A change that will hopefully be altering the way we interact will the games of the future.

“`Gamers have been calling out for ages for new innovations in games, but, innovation from a developers standpoint means huge risks factors, and usually will not get the financial support from the all important publishers who will basically be funding the developers of said new IP.

Unless it is run by an in-house development and publishing firm, which can usually absorb the lose if it goes south. However, many 3rd party developers have to rely on their publishers NOT putting the thumbs screws on them to make the game more accessible for all players. Basically meaning, keep it simple, like the rest before it, and don’t go out on a limb with new ideas that could possibly turn sales off, rather than on.

Publishers know that the devil you know is the devil you love, and the one that gamers buy time after time. It’s why sequels, while hated everywhere, are the most popular sales figures in all gaming circles. They require little risk, and the game can basically be shitte, yet it will sell by the container load. It’s a no-risk situation for most publishers. Backing a new IP, let alone one with a new gameplay element, is not what most publishers look for when scouting a new title, or when one is being “pitched” to it for consideration.

As Patrick Soderlund, General Manager of EA DICE, commented about the games concept: “We are a studio that believes in taking risks and taking games in new directions. We made the sandbox experience viable and enjoyable in Battlefield and now, we are looking to do something radical with the traditional established mechanics of first person movement.” Senior producer, Owen O’Brien, also commented that: “We want to change the way that players are able to move in first person. No more restrictions, no more being blocked by simple barriers such as walls and fences. We want to enable the player to move like a real person, with the ability to run, jump, vault and slide in a way that has never been seen before in a first person game.”

Update 16th May - 08: This new Analysis if the GamePlay footage is well worth the look. Showing up several unique items within the gameplay, and the attention to detail that DICE are making with this game. Bearing in mind that this is early gameplay, and a long way from actual finished gameplay code. So we can expect even more when release time comes round.

Continued with Video and full media blowout after the jump:

Game Play Footage, all in-game

They know that making it just that little bit different, and have it involve a different gameplay mechanic, and you could face the wrath of the gaming public, especially the hardcore ones who, while still not the major buyers in the greater scope of things, do have a say big and very vocal say about the games they play, which in turn ends up on screens and pages across the world if the game turns belly up.

Digital Illusions CE (ie DICE) have grab this bull by the horns and given it a damn good shake. Not happy with the run-of-the-mill FPS, which Mirrors Edge is basically work around, they have decided that it’s best to Run, rather than stand and gun. You see, Alice??? is a futuristic courier of world secrets, and is pursued by not only villains, but various law enforcement agencies such as SWAT Teams and Police special ops. Her task it to get from point A, to point B, via C-H-K-Z and arrive at B unscathed and with the goods in good order.

Instead of doing a typical shooters “stand and deliver” style shoot out, the likes of say Rainbow Six, or Army Of Two, or even our good man Jason Bourne or Tom Clancy’s Sam Fisher style of gameplay. The new style of defense is now Parkour (free running), and you get a chance to work on those skills as the game developers have made it a major factor in Mirrors Edge. As you work further into the game, the number of ‘assists’ that were there earlier on, start to disappear, and you’re left to your own devices as to which route would be the best way out. Much like a special Ops searches out a room, and the environment to assess his or her route of escape, or defenese, which ever the case may be.

Here’s what Owen O’brien had to say on the matter “At the start, everybody thought: ‘Yeah, that sounds cool, but it’s not going to work’, a lot of other people have tried it and failed, and this is why we think we’ve got something really innovative, because we’ve overcome all these hurdles and got something that really works now. We believe we’ve got freedom of movement that you haven’t seen in this genre of game before – it’s more like what Prince Of Persia has done, but in firstperson.”

“There’s always been a lot of focus on the gun in firstperson games,” says producer Tom Farrer, ruefully. “No one puts that much focus on the movement; how you move around the environment. We wanted to capture a real sense of physicality. Games like Unreal Tournament have movement – double jumps, rocket jumps – but it’s very abstracted. We wanted to place you in the world and convey the strain and physical contact with the environment.”

O’Brien further describes the game’s basic philosophy as a “through the character” experience rather than a “through the gun” experience. “The aspirations of that are that you have a body, that the camera movement is organic – and it should feel like it’s really you, it should feel fluid and realistic. We wanted to work, not on creating bigger and better and more intricate weapons, but on really bringing in the hands of the person.”

Tobias Dahl, the lead animator on the project at DICE has the job of making it all work. This of course requires a huge change in how the game is developed, how much is spent on making the polygons work, and the need for greater number of them “What you usually see when you look at the hands in firstperson shooters is that you have a big loss of volume when it comes to the lower arms, the knuckles disappearing and so on,” as he explains. “I would say most of the firstperson shooters just ignore the hands and focus a whole lot on the weapons. We have projects at DICE where we have lead weapon artists and a crew under him or her to develop the shaders for the weapons – but then you have these low-polygon cubic hands holding the weapons. We focused on the hands from the start. So we have no loss of volume, we have veins showing and knuckles that grow depending on how the hand is bent. In a normal firstperson game you have about 30 animations for the hands – right now, I think we’re up to 300.”

The game does feature guns, however, but they act more like tools rather than as the focus of the game. “Principally, this is an action adventure,” says O’Brien. “We’re not positioning this as a shooter – the focus isn’t on the gun, it’s on the person. As the marketing is saying, it’s ‘putting the person back into firstperson’. So it’s all about you, it’s about the movement.”

So sure, you will have your trusty side arm, and you could stand and shoot it out, but what would that achieve. You’d not only probably get yourself killed, but you’d fail in your basic courier mission, getting the mail there on time, and in good order. No one wants their top secret documents and microfilm covered in blood, now do they. Let’s get real . . as O’Brien further comment on about what their basic aim was, “The first thing we wanted to get was the feeling of actually sprinting, to get a feeling of speed and momentum in the game,”

Game Developers Interview GDC’08

As you will notice from the screens, there’s a distinct colouring style about the game, yet, look closely, and you’ll see an exceptionally well detailed land and building environment that is there at your full disposal, to use and abuse as you see fit. Yes, the obvious big red items are those that you can use your Parkouring skills on, and they are very evident , especially early in the piece, but as time goes on, the number of usable items lessens, and you have to be on the constant look out for any opportunity available to you. Sussing out every room, wall, fence and rooftop for possible hand-holds and slides to run up, over and down.

The detail is excellent actually, and in many cases, looks quite realistic, even a little too realistic, but the lack of people is quite evident, and this is for a reason, so Digital Illusions say. It’s part of the theme of the game, rather than a mechanic of it. giving you free run of the environment, rather than restrict your movements. You can of course actually turn off the Red Assists if you like, that is of course if you’re foolish enough to do so, as you will most likely end up splat on the pavement more than you will at your destination

It’s not nice dropping from a 10 - 20 store building onto your feet, they sort of make their way to the top of your head for some odd reason . . Something to do with moveable object meeting immovable object. So I personally will be keeping the Red “Show Assists” signs on thank you very much. I like my virtual feet and arms where they are, and have become very attached to them, albeit virtually.

We will be following this game most closely, as it’s one of the few that has raised our interest in new games of late. Many of which we will be covering over the next few months. But one thing you can be assured of, that gamers, especially Xbox 360 gamers, will NOT have a shortage of great looking and excellent playing games coming their way in 2008 and into 2009.

NB:

Part 2 of the game’s conception and development will continue next week. So stay tuned, and hopefully we may have some new pics and storyline for you to follow up on.

©2008 Grant Smythe

Click any image for Full View:

Remember to stay tuned for Part 2 of this amazing game next week, and how Digital Illusions are taking the First Person Shooter/perspective into another realm.

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• New Gaming Environments - Far less humdrum playing fields.
• Unreal
• The Orange Box: Portal
• The 300 best freeware games hand picked