And, much like Halo 1, the art style keeps it from aging too much.

Great comparison. It's one of those rare timeless games that I play through again all these years later just because.

I liked the story. If this game we're coming out two years after the original instead of eight years, I'd be more sympathetic with narc's argument. At this point, however, there is a logic to what they've chosen to do. Many gamers don't know the original story and never will.

Yeah, I might pick this game up and I've never played the original. So Yeah. I only care about what they have done for this game.

You'll miss out on some great music/atmosphere, then...

I feel like I'm missing out on both unless they are combined.

I liked the story. If this game we're coming out two years after the original instead of eight years, I'd be more sympathetic with narc's argument. At this point, however, there is a logic to what they've chosen to do. Many gamers don't know the original story and never will.

Yeah, I might pick this game up and I've never played the original. So Yeah. I only care about what they have done for this game.

You'll miss out on some great music/atmosphere, then...

01. Introduction 0:00
02. Edge & Flight 5:35
03. Jacknife 12:33
04. Heat 19:00
05. Ropeburn 26:03
06. New Eden 33:19
07. Pirandello Kruger 41:13
08. Boat 48:23
09. Kate 55:55
10. Shard 1:03:13
11. Lisa Miskovsky - Still Alive 1:10:30
12. Lisa Miskovsky - Still Alive (Instrumental) 1:15:06

I liked the story. If this game we're coming out two years after the original instead of eight years, I'd be more sympathetic with narc's argument. At this point, however, there is a logic to what they've chosen to do. Many gamers don't know the original story and never will.

Yeah, I might pick this game up and I've never played the original. So Yeah. I only care about what they have done for this game.

If this game we're coming out two years after the original instead of eight years, I'd be more sympathetic with narc's argument. At this point, however, there is a logic to what they've chosen to do. Many gamers don't know the original story and never will.

Good point, I hadn't considered that.

Holy crap.

Why in blazes does a game franchise with a single entry need to be rebooted? Why would anyone rationally want to become a fan of a franchise that reboots itself after a single entry? This seems like the worst example of film industry envy we've seen yet, especially the origin story boner.

Here's the thing: the origin story of a character is something you care about AFTER you care about the character. A fan of Mirror's Edge who liked that game, and liked Faith, might wonder, "hey, I wonder what happened-- how did Faith become a runner, and how did this world she is in get the way it is?"

Of course, now the Faith you knew and the world she lived in and the events you witnessed with her are gone, replaced by a new world with some of the elements the devs liked, but none of that pesky continuity.

Unbefreakinglievable.

Nobody liked Mirror's Edge for the story. You're not throwing much away.

I liked the story. If this game we're coming out two years after the original instead of eight years, I'd be more sympathetic with narc's argument. At this point, however, there is a logic to what they've chosen to do. Many gamers don't know the original story and never will.

The world in this one seems much less interesting.

However, this is a unique type of game. Mirror's Edge was all about the game play. The game play is a nice evolution on the original, and nothing is like it, seriously. If they rebooted every subsequent game, I wouldn't be too upset. It's the game play we're there for. Plus, better to do it after one game and make a set of sequels than to try to force in a prequel or sequel story into a story meant to have one installment. Then we get Halo 4, in a bad way.

In the end what I do remember about Mirror's Edge is the way it felt to play, the art style, and feeling like a badass when things were flowing just right. And they appear to have nailed those things.

Holy crap.

Why in blazes does a game franchise with a single entry need to be rebooted? Why would anyone rationally want to become a fan of a franchise that reboots itself after a single entry? This seems like the worst example of film industry envy we've seen yet, especially the origin story boner.

Here's the thing: the origin story of a character is something you care about AFTER you care about the character. A fan of Mirror's Edge who liked that game, and liked Faith, might wonder, "hey, I wonder what happened-- how did Faith become a runner, and how did this world she is in get the way it is?"

Of course, now the Faith you knew and the world she lived in and the events you witnessed with her are gone, replaced by a new world with some of the elements the devs liked, but none of that pesky continuity.

Unbefreakinglievable.

Nobody liked Mirror's Edge for the story. You're not throwing much away.

On the other hand, I could not tell you a single thing that happens in the story of the first Mirror's Edge, and I loved that game and played it quite a bit. So a reboot doesn't bother me on a personal level.

There is probably much more story this time around, since we get actual cutscenes. I am assuming this is a prequel given the circumstance the game starts in. No way to know until the full game drops.

I thought that was confirmed. Maybe not, maybe it was just rumor, but I feel like I've known that it's a prequel for quite a while now.

Actually, did some googling and came up with a bunch of stories, but this is the first one I clicked on. Mirror's Edge Catalyst is a full reboot. According the quotes, the first Mirror's Edge is basically wiped from the canon and Catalyst is a new beginning.

Edit: For the lazy, the game's design director said:

Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst is a reboot. We basically took the things we really liked about the first game. Faith, first and foremost, the first-person free-running gameplay, and also the aesthetics, which we’ve built on, of course. But it’s a reboot.

We’re telling Faith’s origin story, so the events of the first game actually don’t really exist. Maybe they will at one time in the future.

Holy crap.

Why in blazes does a game franchise with a single entry need to be rebooted? Why would anyone rationally want to become a fan of a franchise that reboots itself after a single entry? This seems like the worst example of film industry envy we've seen yet, especially the origin story boner.

Here's the thing: the origin story of a character is something you care about AFTER you care about the character. A fan of Mirror's Edge who liked that game, and liked Faith, might wonder, "hey, I wonder what happened-- how did Faith become a runner, and how did this world she is in get the way it is?"

Of course, now the Faith you knew and the world she lived in and the events you witnessed with her are gone, replaced by a new world with some of the elements the devs liked, but none of that pesky continuity.

Unbefreakinglievable.

The loading screens are boring and take way too long. They look and act a lot like Quantum Break loading screens, and I hate those, too. I don't mind that they take that long when you're first loading a map, but it should be much quicker if you're reloading a checkpoint after failure. This seems especially problematic in games that often require perfect execution of complex moves.

Yeah, it's annoying to do a dash trying to beat your score and have to wait on that loading screen after each attempt.

The music, as Cody said, is underwhelming.

Agreed.

I like the new fighting moves, but the NPCs don't handle collisions with geometry very well. If they're knocked into things or onto things and remain upright, they can look like they're having some kind of fit.

I found the best way to defeat the NPCs is to shove them into an object that causes them to fall over. They will immediately be defeated regardless of how much health they have left. It would be nice if the damage was more minor so they could get back up.

Maybe some of these things will improve in the release version.

Yep, this is definitely a beta. I'd expect things to be improved significantly by the team the game is released.

The music, as Cody said, is underwhelming.

I like the new fighting moves, but the NPCs don't handle collisions with geometry very well. If they're knocked into things or onto things and remain upright, they can look like they're having some kind of fit.

Maybe some of these things will improve in the release version.

That's for clarifying that it's a reboot. They said that a long time ago, but sites [cough, Giant Bomb, cough] keep getting it wrong.

There is probably much more story this time around, since we get actual cutscenes. I am assuming this is a prequel given the circumstance the game starts in. No way to know until the full game drops.

I thought that was confirmed. Maybe not, maybe it was just rumor, but I feel like I've known that it's a prequel for quite a while now.

Actually, did some googling and came up with a bunch of stories, but this is the first one I clicked on. Mirror's Edge Catalyst is a full reboot. According the quotes, the first Mirror's Edge is basically wiped from the canon and Catalyst is a new beginning.

Edit: For the lazy, the game's design director said:

Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst is a reboot. We basically took the things we really liked about the first game. Faith, first and foremost, the first-person free-running gameplay, and also the aesthetics, which we’ve built on, of course. But it’s a reboot.

We’re telling Faith’s origin story, so the events of the first game actually don’t really exist. Maybe they will at one time in the future.

Anyway, on the to the game, just a few quick thoughts.

The game is gorgeous. After I downloaded it on Xbox One, a buddy of mine gave me an extra code for the PS4 version, which is the one I've played. I haven't fired up the Xbox One version, but I'm going to try and do it and see if there's any real noticeable difference, because I've read a few posts other places that say the Xbox One version is significantly worse. But this is the internet and people love to complain about tiny differences, so I'd like to see for myself.

The game controls like a dream. It's very fluid and satisfying.

Time will tell if it grows on me, but after about two hours, I'm still not sold on the open world design. It's not nearly as awful as I imagined, but I still don't necessarily like it right now. I feel like I spend more time lost and trying to figure out how to get to where I need to go, rather than looking for the best way through the obstacles. This will probably get better and easier as I play more in the full game and get more familiar with the city, but right now it sucks. Maybe I'm just dumb.

The missions seem good though, with cool environments. Hopefully we get some long missions throughout, in the style of the first Mirror's Edge. So far the ones I've done have been really short, but I've only done a few of them.

The one thing I feel I need to say is that it feels like Mirror's Edge. Not just similar, but it feels like I've jumped back into the same world. Whatever issues I discover in the Beta, whatever weird moneymaking scheme reveals itself later on, this game was clearly made by people who understood what made the original special, and they were able to make it feel right. That is an extraordinary accomplishment.