The Flow of Mirror's Edge.

I've been playing a lot of Mirror's Edge since getting back on vacation. I'm a pretty big fan, but there are some troubling problems.

For a game that's about "the flow" (as the lead character, Faith, says in the intro), there could be more... flow. The designers do their best. I mean, it's a first person game about parkour. I'm amazed they could pull off a first person game that requires so much awareness of body, distance, and momentum. They use a very bright red to indicate an object that can be used for one of the parkour moves that they introduce. For the most part, this red stands in stark contrast to the rest of the set and is very helpful. In large, open, outdoor levels, it's great. The white of the buildings highlight the boards and bricks that give Faith the ability to do crazy things. The problem is in the indoor levels.

The indoor levels are almost the opposite of the outdoor levels. The outdoor levels usually have a plethora of paths that Faith can take to get from point A to point B. Very few of them are interesting or optimal, but if something goes horribly awry, you can always try something else. Indoors, there is exactly one path to take. Not a problem. Usually, it is obvious which way to go and what to do. There are plenty of unopenable doors and dead ends that are fairly clear before you head towards them. On occasion, though, the one path comes to a large room (or two. or three.). This is where the headaches begin.

The designers forsaw that players would have trouble knowing where to go. The B button fixes Faith's gaze on the next goal or door. But some frustrating times, they turn this off. I don't know if they think it's obvious enough that they don't need it or they are trying to get a player to explore, but it doesn't work. Usually because people are shooting at you. With machine guns.

Last night, I spent about 45 minutes trying to explore a mall filled with cops to find the exit. I would run in, get their attention, delay getting shot by a few minutes, sometimes steal a gun and shoot them back, not find an exit, and die. Over and over and over and over again. My B button direction was turned off and I almost threw the controller in frustration. I cursed the designers over and over again before finally consulting a walk through. (Turns out there was a bar [colored slightly red] that blended in with a low hanging wall that I was supposed to swing to...)

Here's a game design maxim that all this has taught me: Difficulty should not come from not knowing what to do. It should be the task itself that is difficult.

This frustration comes back to the desired experience of "flow." Letting the player guess their route means that they won't stay there very long. The players do not know the rooftops of the city like Faith does. I found myself many times thinking, "Wow. I want to play this level again until I know the route well enough to really run through here." That would be a fun experience. To know where you are going and to use the parkour moves to get there.

Maybe the designers meant for me to think that. Maybe that's the "replay value" in this game. (I put quotes because I won't actually do it...) I think a better solution would be to put some kind of red path in Faith's vision. At least on the rooftops that she is familiar with. That way, we as players, are privy to her knowledge and are more able to sync up with the experience that we paid money to have. Flow is a lot easier when you know which way to go.

Even despite my frustrations about the Flow of Mirror's Edge, I'm still enjoying it. The rare moments when I can confidently wall run, jump, dive, and slide are well worth the money I paid to play this game. I just wish the designers had made it easier to feel that more often.