Mirror's Edge (For Windows Phone)

Mirror's Edge (For Windows Phone)

Price: Free Demo/$3.49 (AU)

Download Size: 131MB

Marketplace Rating: 5 Stars

Since this game has been announced, I've been obviously quite keen to give it a go - Although it was originally only released on the Lumia Marketplace (apparently?) I'm unsure as to whether it is now available on other Windows Phone Devices as of this moment. Nevertheless, I was excited when I heard it was coming out and downloaded the demo almost instantly - I loved the original Mirror's Edge (On xBox 360 and PC) and really hoped this would be a similar if not exact copy of it, portable.

First Impressions

At first, the whole thing is incredibly exciting. The download size is fairly big for a phone game - But, if it's worth it, it doesn't matter really. So after the semi-long wait, you finally get to see the Menu screen which is almost an exact remake of the original game (not for phones). This was great, I was excited. While the game doesn't seem like it really costs a whole heap, always go for the demo (if there is one available) before you buy a game, just incase it's not what you expect. Even if it's $0.99, it's just better to check it out before you buy it, simple as that.

Starting a new game, you can instantly see that this is not going to be as close to the original game as first thought. While I'd love to add more screenshots, we all know the capability of Windows Phones being able to take screenshots is not exactly present, so forgive me for this.

The Bad

At first, the graphics will seem rather blocky - but remember, this is a phone, graphics can't really get that much better than what they have achieved without it being either consistently lagging or having a massive download size, or both. They managed to hit right in the middle of all this. Anyway, the game is not as 3D as the original, so don't expect to ever see classic shots like this:

That first person view of Mirror's Edge was one of the reasons I really loved the entire experience. You were the runner - not just a set person in a story, even though to an extent you were in the cut scenes and such. The phone game is not first person, it's actually a side view, similar to Super Mario, as seen here:

Admittedly, the whole thing left me more disappointed than I'd like to be. While you can still run, jump, slide, wall run etc. It just really doesn't have the feel of the original game. The tutorial you go through is pretty simple, but once you get to the second level it becomes slightly more challenging, and I found myself lost a few times, stuck in a hole I couldn't properly get out of because I missed a jump somewhere. It's a very arcade-style version of Mirror's Edge, and it's official - So it's from the original creators themselves. It feels somewhat like a side-on view of Temple Run.

The Good

While, as I mentioned, the game is not really close to the original, it can't really be expected of them to be able to create a game in first person with similar or all aspects of the original game. It really just is an arcade version of Mirror's Edge, and if you look at it like that, the game itself really isn't that bad. The graphics are neat of the cityscape, and quite well done, probably where the semi-big download size comes from. It's peaceful, but the soundtrack seems a little full on very early.

The controls are fairly workable, sometimes you'll end up sliding or jumping or doing something a bit silly when you slide in slightly the wrong direction with your finger, but it just means you have to pay a lot of attention and get the controls down pretty quick. They're not exactly difficult, just need some getting used to. 

The Verdict/Should I buy it?

The game itself just doesn't feel like the original, but it's still nostalgic. Seeing Faye jumping from building to building and over those little/not so little red objects just brings back good memories, and a glimmer of hope for Mirror's Edge 2 being a possibility? I certainly hope so!

The game itself is hard to say whether you should buy it or not. Any fans of the series definitely need to at least give the Demo a go, I know personally even though I loved Mirror's Edge, I won't be buying this phone version. It's just not the Mirror's Edge I remember - But it really all comes down to opinion, give it a go!

(As a Nostalgic Game) My Rating: 5.0

(As an Arcade Game) My Rating: 8.5 

Ahh! The confusion!

Defender & Defender 2 (For Android)

Defender & Defender 2 (For Android)

Price: FREE.

Download Size: 6.90MB

App Store Rating: 4 1/2 stars

While I'm usually mostly against trying to play games on a cellular device, this particular game seems to have me utterly hooked. I played the original Defender months and months ago; I gave up on it after being unable to advance past level 50 due to the difficulty and my unwillingness to use actual money to buy items to get me any further. The great thing about this game? It hardly uses any battery.

The Multi-player Aspect

Defender 2 seems to have tried to eliminate the above issue by slightly dumbing down the difficulty and adding a Multi-player aspect that allows you to earn in-game currency to advance your arsenal  even when you are not playing the 'campaign'. While this is particularly helpful, it does get to a point where you are constantly playing against other players whom are your level that have obviously used actual money to buy things that give them a massive advantage.

In saying this I have also found that even though these players have the extra objects and projectiles it's not impossible to win. One only has to make a simple mistake to completely lose it, and if you do lose against another player you still get rewards (no matter how small they may be).

The Upgrades

The original Defender upgrade tree was very linear, and this goes the same for Defender 2. Although the upgrade system is incredibly improved and much easier. Getting new things and better weapons are fine and dandy but some things seem utterly useless; such as a Multi-Arrow that cuts the original damage of a single arrow in half and fires two arrows that do half damage. This seems unessential; yet many of the opponents I face on Multi-player seemed to have jumped on the Multi-arrow boat before upgrading other things. For example; increasing your "Agility" allows you to fire a lot of arrows within a short time frame, and it's very cheap to upgrade compared to everything you need to accomplish to get these Multi-arrows, another reason they are useless.

Unfortunately very early into the upgrading process you will run into the lava moat and magic tower upgrades. These are cheap, but once you have them you cannot upgrade them again without a LOT of magic crystals. 150, to be exact - and you only get 1 - 2 of these crystals per level. This is obviously a tactic to get you to buy crystals with real currency, but it's nothing to fall for. The large lava moat seen in the first picture is actually the upgraded (150 crystal) moat, cut that in half and you have the original moat you can get for under 10 crystals. Upgrading how much it burns the creatures that walk across it could do a great deal of damage, too. (But that isn't cheap, upwards of 7000 coins.)

(Taken from my actual game)

As you can see, these are some of the upgrades. In the top right hand corner you can see the bow I'm using along with my spells. On the left hand side are tabs, the first one is about your strength and bow abilities, the second are spell upgrades, third is your city wall and lava moat upgrades and the last is the bow choices. You unlock more of these bows and upgrades by buying other upgrades - Which is honestly pretty neat.

(The Bow Upgrades)

Improvements

While the game itself is wonderful there are minor improvements that could really enhance the game in my opinion. For example; more upgrades and a less linear upgrade system. More choices would keep more interest and motivation to play onward. More varied monsters to fight against would be a great thing; right now there is less than 5 regular creatures (and I'm on level 72?!) and only one that has any long range ability, not including the boss fights (on levels ending with a 0, such as 40,50,60..) so some variation would be nice. The bow upgrades are almost ridiculous, the "Phantom" bows are the only ones worth even using as they have the abilities of both the green and red bows (Pictured above) combined, so there really is no point having the other ones as available options, considering the bows are pretty cheap anyway. Less repetitive music would also be a nice change.

There are also a few "achievements" in the game, which can be seen when you are choosing to play Multi-player or by yourself.

They can be seen along the top. These achievements are insane and are nothing close to simple. Having more of these that are easier to achieve would be fantastic, and keep me interested in trying to push forward. Some of these achievements include using spells upwards of 1000 times or killing 30,000 monsters. Each of these things gives you a little reward for completing them such as 5% extra experience during battles, but this reward is something incredibly little for something really hard to achieve. These are improvements that would just make the game a little more enjoyable.

So, should I download it?

Yes, yes you should. It's a great time waster and it's 100% free. The systems it uses are fantastic and really keep you interested; I for one want to prove I can achieve the 150 crystal upgrades without using actual money and sadly enough I probably have the time to do so. It's incredibly addicting and before long you'll be wanting to pick it up and play it all night long. Who needs sleep, anyway?

My Rating: 7.0