Mirror’s Edge Catalyst - The Bear and Badger

AJ

Wait, Dying Light is a free running game? I'd just ignored everything about it because zombies. Best go look into it. It's not an FPS with free running, is it?

g.man

Yes. The combat is primarily melee based though. Using guns will attract zeds.

AJ

How much of it's combat, then? I can deal with a bit of combat punctuating the navigation, but not navigation just being to get between combat areas.

Ha! I'm pretty sure the intention of the beta wasn't too sell people other games...

acemuzzy

g.man wrote:

First impressions of this are that it's not just bad, it's unspeakably bad. The controls are appalling and all you get is two preset options, both of which are garbage. Why in the name of God can you not re-map the buttons to suit yourself??? If your going to have a game where the primary function is jumping, then you don't put that function on the left fucking bumper and then deny players the option to move it elsewhere. Jesus wept. Would it have been too much to let me move it to the right bumper, or anywhere else for that matter? Gah! Faith has no weight or presence in the world. She just glides about as if she's on roller skates and the combat is total ass. You just don't feel connected to the world at all. The idea that all your moves are unlockables that must be earned is terrible. The majority of your moves are pre-unlocked in the beta, fuck starting the game proper without them. What idiot thought that would be a good plan? I got stuck on a girder underneath the walkway the game wanted me to be on during the tutorial and couldn't get off it. Movement in any direction was instant death and then the game would just re-spawn me on the same girder. The only way to progress was to reload the last checkpoint and do the entire section I'd just blundered through again. Well done Dice. None of what your doing feels either intuitive or in any way awesome. Seriously, parkour has already been done to perfection this gen. Didn't Dice think it might be a good idea to look at Dying light and see just how fucking far ahead the competition is now? The icing on the cake has to be the dialogue and cutscenes which are absolutely cringeworthy even by genre standards. I find it hard to believe that someone was actually paid to write this puerile guff. They've been working on this title for years now by all accounts, and it just beggars belief how little progress they've made in all that time. This really is an absolute stinker. just awful g.man

Reads like an [8]

g.man

The combat is awesome, as is the parkour.

Unlike ME:C, they absolutely nailed the connection with your avatar to the world. It just all feels absolutely right.

g.man

acemuzzy wrote:

Reads like an [8]

...plays like a turd.

I_R

It'll be a shame if this performs in line with expectations here, the original had a definite following who were always looking for an update. EA don't seem able to reboot any of their older titles. Feels like this has been a bad generation for them actually, mainline BF and the sports seem to be all they have to offer.

g.man

Aye, they had a real golden patch last gen when they took a lot of risks, but they've just reverted to their old ways again now. It's a shame.

FranticPea

Titty too, can't wait for Titty 2.

g.man

Aye, that should be hard to fuck up.

AJ

Think I'll stick that Dying Light on my wishlist ('cause I don't have enough games to play already), thanks g.

g.man

You're welcome.

Syph79

G speaks the truth. I thought Dying Light was going to be a stinker, but it is awesome.

afgavinstan

Skate 4 will save us all.

I can see g's points totally. But I really liked the first. Hmm..

Can definitely say I won't be paying full whack though.

tigersgogrrr

afgavinstan wrote:

But I really liked the first. Hmm..

Can definitely say I won't be paying full whack though.

This, really.

JonB

Not a fan myself, but surprised no one's mentioned this, seeing as it's actually out now.

Reviews are pretty tepid overall, but then some people really liked the original and this is supposed to be an improvement at least.

Bob

AJ wrote:

How much of it's combat, then? I can deal with a bit of combat punctuating the navigation, but not navigation just being to get between combat areas.

Ha! I'm pretty sure the intention of the beta wasn't too sell people other games...

Don't fall for the g. Hype it's average and stuffed full of awful hitting things

Kow

Dying Light is a good game which is punctuated with some absolute shite moments. Running about, clambering up stuff and jumping off roofs doesn't get old, though.

Paul the sparky

Bob doesn't like the tool boxes, because he's Bob.

Gremill

Syph79 wrote:

G speaks the truth. I thought Dying Light was going to be a stinker, but it is awesome.

Thirded? Best game of this gen so far in so many ways, with the traversal and physical connectedness of the world topping that list.

Bob

Kow wrote:

Dying Light is a good game which is punctuated with some absolute shite moments. Running about, clambering up stuff and jumping off roofs doesn't get old, though.

Cliched characters, a rubbish Rpg system and dull, repetitive missions. Solid game, much the same as Dead Island, fun unpolished fare. It's complete absence from every GotY list I read was no surprise.

Webbins

I don't remember the original scoring particularly highly so why they picked this for a reboot I don't know. I didn't mind it, but it felt like a tech demo that worked wonderfully at the start but went quickly downhill when it went indoors. The latest is an EA Access curio at best for me.

[Deleted User]

Mirror's Edge was better than I expected it to be. It wasn't awful, but I have always suffered from the too-narrow field of vision that first person perspective games give you. A free-running arguably game needs a broader range of vision than many of the shooters out there. I imagine that VR could help, but I remain hugely sceptical about VR in general. I see Polygon gave Catalyst 8/10. That made me pause for about two seconds before I carried on with my day.

I would still have prefered this as a third-person franchise.

Kernowgaz

Bob wrote:

Kow wrote:

Dying Light is a good game which is punctuated with some absolute shite moments. Running about, clambering up stuff and jumping off roofs doesn't get old, though.

Cliched characters, a rubbish Rpg system and dull, repetitive missions. Solid game, much the same as Dead Island, fun unpolished fare. It's complete absence from every GotY list I read was no surprise.

You never played Co-op then.

Skondo

I picked this up yesterday along with Dying Light.

Gremill

Started playing the original ME at the weekend - still looks quite nice but the controls are infuriating. There's entirely too much restarting going on to make it enjoyable. I may have been spoiled by Dying Lights take on parkour though.

Webbins

You'll be sorry to hear Catalyst is pretty much the same. Flawed, frustrating, beautiful and ugly, still manages to hit the heights when in full flow before dropping in quality. I should finish the story tonight, it's not been terrible. I've enjoyed being in Faith's shoes, her story and character are more fleshed out, even if the experience as a while is not so memorable.

Gremill

I'm ready to give up on it already and I'm only on the second level! 8 or 9 repeatedly failed attempts to grab a zip line resulting in a plummet and restart.

Very frustrating.

Webbins

That side of it works better in Catalyst, but it's not without the odd hiccup. Trial and error gameplay occasionally too, and there's no place for that in any game. Oddly though, I'm sold on Faith and the world, even though the open world isn't as well realised as it should be.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories