Mirror’s Edge Catalyst Videos Reveal Game’s Movement And Combat

Mirror’s Edge was a cult classic when it released in 2008, but also took flak for its awkward combat sections and momentum-killing puzzles that dampened the game’s fluid movement and momentum. As the long-awaited sequel, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, approaches its release date in May, developer DICE has released new videos highlighting how this new instalment will handle the series’ trademark movement.

“The fluidity of movement, and how your mind, hands, and controller work in unison is key in Mirror’s Edge Catalyst,” it reads on the official site. The accompanying video shows Faith and a small group of other runners vaulting, running, rolling, and sliding through a neometropolis. It’s worth noting that the pristine, gleaming white monochrome of the first game’s cityscape seems to have been replaced with pulsing, neon urbania, and the minimalistic use of color to highight useable objects has been nixed for floating “waypoints” players can follow:

Despite its heavy presence of armed guards, Mirror’s Edge was never really a game meant to feature combat. A new trailer would indicate that DICE are putting a heavier emphasis on fighting with style, rather than running away with style, this time around. The video shows Faith executing a series of high-flying martial arts moves, from wall-vaulted roundhouse kicks to manual disarming grabs and throws reminiscent of Aikido. One scene even shows Faith and a partner runner (wearing a sleeveless hoodie, for some reason?) tag-teaming a guard, hinting at some of the new combat possibilities being explored in Mirror’s Edge Catalyst.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst releases on May 24 in North America for the PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.