DICE are retooling the PC version with enhanced graphics and - video card permitting - the NVIDIA PhysX engine to allow more accurate physics modelling of the virtual cityscape and the many, many things that can realistically fall off it.

As you can see in the trailer (after the jump) it does look rather lovely. Suitably equipped PC owners will be able to realistically fall off things in January.

DICE Puts Faith in NVIDIA PhysX Technology for Mirror's Edge [Game Info Wire]

This game has gotten a lot of attention – not just for the parkour gameplay, but also for Faith and her dynamic background that’s meant to jibe perfectly with the plot authored by Rhianna Pratchett (daughter of novelist Terry Pratchett). But for all its edginess, does Mirror’s Edge really stand apart as a different kind of game, or does it fall short of the far window ledge of innovation?

Loved:
The Parkour: Assassin’s Creed can bite it – Mirror’s Edge is the real deal when it comes to free-running. Though the game is linear, the motion of Faith as she runs and the sheer opportunities for flinging yourself off of building tops or bouncing off of drainage pipes makes you feel free as a bird. The controls lend themselves fairly well to the movement – most of what you’ll be doing is pressing forward on the analog stick to build up speed and then mashing L1 at key moments to execute jumps or start wall-running towards a goal.

The City of Electric Fences: The city is almost more interesting than the main character. It’s a sprawling metropolis that at one point was a free society; now it’s controlled by a fascist mayor that insists on painting everything white, green, blue or orange and putting electric fences in seemingly random places. Everything appears to be speciously clean and orderly, which makes it all the more upsetting when you realize – through cut scenes, character dialog, and scrolling news headlines on elevator ad screen – that something bad went down here, something that drove Faith to live on the edge her whole life.

Time Trial Mode: This is where Mirror’s Edge really shines. Instead of having you accomplish some story-based objective (which requires guys in thick armor to shoot at you), the entire point of this mode is to explore a level and find the fastest way to get from point A to point B. That’s what parkour is all about, so it’s no surprise that the game feels the most fun when that’s all you’re supposed to be doing.

Hated:
The Melee Fighting: The game spends the first three chapters of story mode teaching you not to fight. Instead, you’re taught that speed is your best ally. This is all well and good when it’s used to get away from the guys with guns; but when the game drops about seven of them into an area and then specifically tells you that you’ve got to fight them, it’s almost like you’ve been betrayed (not to mention this is the primary cause of mid-level loads). So instead of doing parkour – which is about not letting obstacles slow you down – you’ve got to stop and box. Doesn’t help matters that Faith is kind of shit at boxing, and most of her moves don’t do much damage, especially to the shooters wearing armor. Reaction Time will be your best friend in these situations, letting you can slow things down enough to disarm your attacker. (I wondered why they needed to include “bullet time” in a game where you weren’t supposed to be shooting anybody – and now I know.)

Where Am I Going? What Am I Doing? Who the Hell is That Guy?: To be fair, Mirror’s Edge had a lot going on with the gameplay – it was going to be hard to have a story that didn’t get upstaged by the action. But the plot is so second-string that you completely forget about in the middle of levels. Why am I chasing this guy again? I have a sister? What? And to make matters worse, you almost never know where you’re going when you start a level – Mirror’s Edge doesn’t do maps or that magical golden trail a la Fable II. Sometimes, when you’re starting a level from the tippy-top of a building, Faith will pan her vision towards a distant object and maybe the guy giving you orders over your ear piece will say “Head for that orange building.” But more often than not, he’ll just say “Head for the financial district,” and you have to figure out where that is based on where all the red-colored ramps and pipes lead. This “runner vision” red would be a lot more useful if it happened consistently. Sometimes you’ll be running up to a pipe and it won’t turn red to indicate that you can climb it until after you’ve already jumped for it, praying that it was a viable climbing object.

Trial and Error – LOTS of Error: I resent any game that expects you to die over and over again until you learn the exact way the game wants its puzzles to be done. In Mirror’s Edge, the feeling is almost ten times worse because the game touts “freedom of motion” so much that you mistakenly believe there might be more than one way to solve a puzzle. Every so often, there is – and you’ll get lucky with that double wall-run to bypass the swinging bars – but mostly, there’s just one way to solve the jumping puzzle and if you don’t know it, you’re road kill 50 feet below. (And what is with Faith being able to ninja-kick metal doors down, but not being able to knock open a wire mesh fence?) This problem only gets worse when attackers are added to the mix. So not only do you have to find the one magic way to get from point A to point B, but you’ve also got to outrun the guys shooting at you from behind (and some of them have shock darts – dicks). Expect to die a lot and don’t bother trying to be creative with your parkour – it will end in death.

Mirror’s Edge will divide gamers bitterly over whether it’s the dog’s bollocks because it’s challenging and fresh or it’s lousy because it’s repetitive to the point of being bland. Both factions will find plenty of ammo for their arguments in the first three chapters of story mode alone: the parkour really is like nothing you’ve ever done before in a video game, and the puzzle-solving/melee fighting is nothing you haven’t seen a billion times in other video games.

The bottom line is that DICE reached for the stars with their game design, and then chickened out before they got to their goal. There are moments when Mirror’s Edge feels like it has all the momentum of a powerful game that truly is different and special, but these moments usually happen right before you’re forced to melee a few dozen guys armed with sniper rifles. At this exact moment, the game stops feeling new and fun and starts feeling old and tired – and maybe adds a few more points to your blood pressure.

Mirror’s Edge was developed by EA Digital Illusions CE (DICE), published by EA, and released in North America on Nov. 12 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (PC version due January 2009). Retails for $59.99 USD. Completed story mode on PS3, tested time trial mode.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

So, that PS3 Exclusive DLC? Well, we have no idea - maybe DICE have cooked up an exclusive pair or downloadable trousers or something - but the main DLC? A DICE spokesperson told GameCyte, “It’s downloadable content for both platforms.”

The DLC will join the PC port, previously rumoured to have been delayed until 2009, has been confirmed for release in January of next year.

Update: Mirror’s Edge PC Dated, Multiplatform DLC Confirmed [GameCyte]

Try and — you can't always make something different just for the sake of it, but try and be creative, and do something unique. I think that's what gaming's all about; I think that's what we're here to do.

And I think at times it's great to mimic real life — there's no bigger fan of sports games than myself, and I want them to be real, clearly. I don't want them to play different; if I'm going to play football, I want to play football. I want to play it as it is, you know? It's great for me; I love that. But, in the other genres, I think in certain circumstances, there's a real gap to be unique, and be different, and be creative.

Worth a read through whether you're awaiting its release or not. I always find reading about the various design processes and considerations of different teams to be enlightening at the very least.

The Philosophy of Faith: A Mirror's Edge Interview [Gamasutra]

Here's the thing - Mirror's Edge absolutely should 'go gold' in the proper old-school meaning of the phrase. A lithe young free running lass should then don loose fitting clothing and temporary tattoos and leg it across the rooftops to whatever 3rd party disc duplicator or certification center forms the next stage of modern games production.

Do it DICE. Do it.

Mirror's Edge completed EA ships gold disc to factory

Awards were handed out in three categories: Field Of Vision (for devs who work hard to implement proper support for widescreen), Narrow Minded (for devs who fail to support, or even actively discourage, widescreen gaming), and an overall Game of the Year. And the winners were:

Field of Vision: Valve, Introversion

Narrow Minded: DICE, EA Sports

Game Of The Year: Call Of Duty 4

As someone who does the bulk of his gaming on my 24” widescreen monitor (got both my PC and 360 hooked up to it), I can only say…DICE & EA Sports, you’re doing it wrong.

HOUSTON, TEXAS, October 22, 2008 - Widescreen Gaming Forum (WSGF) announces the recipients of its first annual awards.

Field of Vision - This award recognizes developers for implementing proper support of widescreen and Surround Gaming displays.

* Valve Software (Half-Life 2) - For their 100% track record of producing games that become WSGF Certified for perfect widescreen support. Their Source engine provides perfect widescreen and Surround Gaming support, enabling any developer to embrace widescreen.

* Introversion Software (Darwinia and Defcon) - The indie developer, which bills itself as “the last of the bedroom programmers,” proves that studio size does not preclude technical excellence. Both Darwinia and Defcon are WSGF Certified.

Narrow Minded - With tongue firmly planted in cheek, the WSGF recognizes developers who actively discourage or prevent support of widescreen displays.

* DICE (Battlefield 2) - While always describing their Battlefield games as “cinematic,” DICE forcibly limited the aspect ratio to a decidedly non-cinematic ratio of 4:3. Additionally, they helped foster the idea that playing in widescreen constituted “cheating.”

* Electronic Arts (EA Sports). Beyond publishing the Battlefield series, EA consistently removed widescreen support from the PC versions of its EA Sports titles - while including full support in console versions.

Game of the Year - Call of Duty 4 was voted by the members of the Widescreen Gaming Forum as 2007 Widescreen Game of the Year. Only releases certified by the WSGF as having perfect widescreen support were considered.

For additional details visit http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/awards

About the Widescreen Gaming Forum The WSGF is the world’s leading resource for information on widescreen displays, widescreen gaming, and Surround Gaming. It works tirelessly to analyze how games operate in widescreen and Surround Gaming resolutions, and provides custom solutions where the developers' efforts fall short.

The WSGF website features detailed game reports, a comprehensive collection of widescreen monitor and notebook specifications, and an excellent support forum. Additionally, the WSGF provides screenshot and gameplay video comparisons to showcase the benefits of widescreen and Surround Gaming. The WSGF offers pre-release Certification services to game developers to ensure their games properly support widescreen and Surround Gaming.

Mirror's Edge with Bonus! [GameStop]

The game will hit stores on PS3 and Xbox 360 November 13th.

Mirror's Edge is looking like a bit of a corker, though so maybe we can forgive EA DICE Senior Producer Owen O'Brien his enthusiasm. Speaking to AusGamers, O'Brien revealed that the game was merely the first part of a larger story..

"The story we're telling at the moment is kind of a trilogy, a three-story arc," said O'Brien, "I think there's a lot of scope to take the story in different directions, or maybe tell someone else's story. But certainly for these first couple games, it's all about Faith."

Whoah! Easy now, Owen! Don't get too far ahead of yourself. Lets just do the three groundbreaking AAA titles for now, yes?

If the prospect of two more plot-based installments isn't enough, though, the first sequel will apparently come with a 3D level editor. Dystopian parkour marriage proposals, anyone?

Mirror's Edge to be a trilogy: level editor planned for sequel [Qj.net]

“A groundbreaking videogame demands an equally provocative theme song,” said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing for EA. “We’ve taken an unprecedented approach to this track, bringing together several of the world’s top remixers to create an album that will not only cross genres and borders, but also redefine how great new music can be delivered to the world.”

Yes, over and over again. Not exactly new, but interesting nonetheless. Folks who pre-order the game from Best Buy will get a special CD containing the original tune and an exclusive Benny Benassi remix. Woot chicka chicka woot.

DICE Announces Mirror’s Edge Remix Album Hitting Airwaves This November

Swedish Pop Star Lisa Miskovsky’s “Still Alive” Remixed by Top DJs Including Benny Benassi, Paul van Dyk and Junkie XL

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced that a remix album for their highly anticipated title Mirror’s Edge™ will be digitally released worldwide on November 11th in conjunction with the launch of the game. The album features the title track “Still Alive” performed by Swedish rock/pop star Lisa Miskovsky and remixes by some of today’s hottest artists including Benny Benassi, Paul van Dyk, Junkie XL, Teddybears, and Armand Van Helden.

“A groundbreaking videogame demands an equally provocative theme song,” said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing for EA. “We’ve taken an unprecedented approach to this track, bringing together several of the world’s top remixers to create an album that will not only cross genres and borders, but also redefine how great new music can be delivered to the world.”

Recorded exclusively for Mirror’s Edge, “Still Alive” was written and produced by Rami Yacoub and Arnthor Birgisson who are best known for their chart-topping work with artists Pink, Britney Spears and Kelis. The song was performed by Lisa Miskovsky who earned international acclaim for her #1 self-titled debut album and #1 Platinum follow-up Fallwater. She also won Sweden’s top music awards including Best New Artist, Best Female Artist and Artist of the Year.

“When given the opportunity to work with Lisa, Rami and Arnthor, who are all avid gamers, we knew we had something very special on our hands,” added Magnus Walterstad, Audio Director at DICE. “With ‘Still Alive,’ we created a Mirror’s Edge theme song that is able to stand on its own two feet as well as accurately representing the emotional experience of playing the game.”

The complete track listing for the Mirror’s Edge Remix ALBUM is as follows:

ARTIST SONG
Lisa Miskovsky Still Alive – Mirror’s Edge Theme Song
Benny Benassi Still Alive – Remix
Junkie XL Still Alive – Remix
Paul van Dyk Still Alive – Remix
Teddybears Still Alive – Remix
Armand Van Helden Still Alive – Remix

“This is a terrific song from a tremendous new artist,” said Terry McBride, CEO of EA label partners Nettwerk Music Group. “And every one of these remixers responded not only to the power of the track itself, but also to what this project will mean to the continued convergence of music and gaming. Our entire worldwide marketing team is committed to making this a landmark digital release.”

When customers pre-order Mirror’s Edge at Best Buy in the U.S., they can pick up a music CD containing the theme song to Mirror’s Edge and an exclusive remix by Benny Benassi.

Mirror’s Edge is a revolutionary first person action adventure game that delivers players straight into the shoes of Faith, a modern day heroine who traverses the vertigo-inducing cityscape, engaging in intense combat, fast-paced chases and challenging puzzles. Mirror’s Edge was recently awarded “Best Xbox 360 Game” at the GC Developers Conference in Leipzig, Germany, “Best Action Game” of Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) by IGN and the Game Critics Award for “Best Original Game” at E3 in July.

Mirror’s Edge is being developed at EA Digital Illusions CE AB (DICE) in Stockholm, Sweden. Available on the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system on Nov 11, 2008 across North America and in Europe, the game is rated “T” by the ESRB and “16+” by PEGI. For more information on EA DICE or Mirror’s Edge, please visit www.ea.com, www.dice.se or www.mirrorsedge.com.

And who should be there but Dude Huge – in town to promote his new game, Gears of War 2. At first I didn’t think it was him, but after spying the Iron Maiden shirt and confirming with other games journalists, I waltzed up to the man. And apologized that I wasn’t halfway across town, playing his game.

“Yeah, shouldn’t you be playing your own game, Cliff?” a passing PR rep quipped.

“Play my game,” Mr. Huge said to me. “You’ll like it, I promise.” He elbowed the PR rep. “Give me a controller!”

I’m not sure if they let Dude compete (I’m not even sure who won, since I had to leave early), but the four players with the best times went home with engraved iPods, while the rest of us scored sweet messenger bags and two MP3s off the soundtrack.

Time Trial mode in Mirror’s Edge is interesting because it 1) forces you to rethink a level you’ve played in the story mode and b) you can see how other players thought it out. For example, you’ll run through the level and slide below a railing. Then you hop a fence and race up a ramp to nail a cross-building jump. You score a time of, say, 1 min and 3 sec. The next time you play the level, you can turn on the ghost mode and race against yourself – maybe vaulting the railing, skipping the the ramp for a shallower angle on the jump to the building (padding it out by pressing the slide button so Faith rolls on impact instead of smacking into the side of the building).

Above: Doesn't this view just make you wanna jump off something? Like, in a Parkour way?

Soon, you’ll find all sorts of shortcuts, bypassing stairs in favor of wall-jumping or discovering a different way to jump the fence from a higher spot. The only thing that’s hard to think around is the cross-building jump; if you miss it, you’re fucked. Luckily, you can pause and restart the trial, if you come a point where you know you’ve blown it.

The level we played was broken into four parts tracked by a line on the right side of the screen. While running, when I hit a check point, a time was given to me – turning the bar for that portion of the level red if I was behind time or green, if I’d gained time. I only got green on one part, where I found a path that lead straight up over an air shaft. If I caught enough air on the jump, I’d clear the railing and the stairs, arriving at the jump to the final building a whole two seconds faster than if I’d taken the stairs.

After three tries, I got my initial time of 1:10 down to 1:03. This was nowhere near good enough to be in the top four as I saw guys getting as few as 53 seconds (the time to beat was 50 – set by one of the programmers, I think). I think Dude Huge eventually got his time down to a minute flat.

A cool feature about Time Trial is that you can go online and upload your best time and also download other people’s ghosts to race against. Seeing how other people handle the course in completely different ways really makes you re-think a level you’ve played a billion times.

I’m just happy this game is coming out at all. I even dragged producer Nick Channon aside for an “interview” just so I could tell him how happy I was to play a game where the main character was 1) a chick and 2) an A cup.

“That was the biggest thing for us,” Nick Channon says, prompting me to stifle a laugh. He quickly realized the pun and added, “We wanted someone who stood out – but in a normal way.”

I suppose that’s what Time Trial is – a game mode that stands out because it’s so “normal” (like, standard, with every racing game), and yet it feels… new. Dynamic. Awesome.

The game hits shelves November 11 for Xbox 360 and PS3. PC should arrive in late January.

I'm not sure [about] wall-running, but certainly the others — certainly the sense of physicality in the world: the running, jumping, vaulting, [and] sliding...I think, yeah, we will definitely try to incorporate them into future Battlefield games.

Shame. No wall-running? Battlefield could really have done with a parkour class, would have blown the game wide open.

Making Mirror's Edge: Behind the Scenes at DICE [1UP]

Mirror's Edge looks brilliant when you see the blue skies, the clean art style, the sense of motion. But that's easy for us, all we've ever seen is a near-finished product. How, then, did DICE manage to pitch the game when none of those things were in place? They did it like this.

Guildford, UK – Sept 18, 2008 – Take a leap of ‘Faith’ this November! DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that the highly acclaimed first-person action adventure title, Mirror’s Edge™ will ship on November 11th for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system. The PC version of Mirror’s Edge will ship later in the winter. Prior to launch, players worldwide will get an early peek at the game when the demo* becomes available via Xbox LIVE™ Marketplace and PLAYSTATION® Store. The demo will feature the prologue of the game including the tutorial and a segment of the single-player story mode. Starting September 26th, players who pre-order Mirror’s Edge at selected retailers will get an exclusive code that unlocks the Time Trial mode in the demo.

Time Trial mode challenges players to find the fastest route across the rooftops and through the streets. Players can upload their best time to the Mirror’s Edge leaderboards for their friends to download and compete against. Players can see their friend’s ‘ghost’ run as they race their way through the course to the top of the leaderboards.

“Mirror’s Edge is bringing something new to the action-adventure genre this holiday by putting the player in the shoes of the hero, seeing what she sees, feeling what she feels,” says Owen O’Brien, Senior Producer, DICE. “We wanted to create an entirely new experience, with a different type of heroine and a world that not only looks fresh and new but has unique gameplay.”

Mirror’s Edge was recently awarded “Best Xbox 360 Game” at the recent GC Developers Conference in Leipzig, Germany. It also received the “Best Action Game” of Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) by IGN and the Game Critics Award for “Best Original Game” at E3 in July. Mirror’s Edge delivers players straight into the shoes of Faith, a modern day heroine who traverses the vertigo-inducing cityscape, engaging in intense combat, fast-paced chases and challenging puzzles. With a never-before-seen sense of movement and perspective, players are drawn into Faith’s dangerous world.

Mirror’s Edge is being developed at EA Digital Illusions CE AB (DICE) in Stockholm, Sweden. The game is rated “T” by the ESRB and “16+” by PEGI. For more information on EA DICE or Mirror’s Edge, please visit www.ea.com, www.dice.se or www.mirrorsedge.com.

PS3 to get exclusive Mirror's Edge DLC News [Eurogamer]

CPU: Pentium 4 at 2.4 GHz / Athlon 64 2800+
RAM: 1GB
GFX: GeForce 6 Series with 256MB VRAM or higher, or ATI X1650 (or HD2400)

Mirror’s Edge PC Impressions, System Requirements Revealed [GameCyte, via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Earlier this morning Fahey filled us in on Bad Company's upcoming conquest mode which you can download later this week. In this video EA Dice Producer Gordon Van Dyke illustrates what you can expect. It marks a return to very a familiar style of gameplay for those who are veterans of the Battlefield series. Best of all it's coming to you free of charge!

Here’s the Comic Con exclusive Mirror’s Edge mini comic [Siliconera]

It was a great experience working with the team at DICE to help breathe life into Faith; her world, relationships and backstory. My heroines and heroes have always been the ones who were ordinary, but through the events of a story, became extraordinary. Faith is skilled, but she's certainly not a superhero. She has her flaws, like all of us. In short: she's real. That's her appeal.

Mirror's Edge drops this winter. Full press release after the jump.

DICE Unveils Rhianna Pratchett as Writer Behind Mirror’s Edge

Original Fiction in Mirror’s Edge Introduces Faith – a Strong New Iconic Videogame Heroine

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—“Once this city used to pulse with energy; dirty and dangerous, but alive and wonderful. Now it is something else.” – Faith. DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced that writer and story designer Rhianna Pratchett is responsible for crafting the intricate script for Mirror’s Edge™ – a unique first-person action adventure. Pratchett introduces players to Faith, a ‘runner’ in a world where communication channels are highly monitored and the movement of human traffic is closely watched. When Faith’s sister gets framed for a murder she did not commit, Faith finds herself on the edge of the city, on the wrong side of the law.

“It was a great experience working with the team at DICE to help breathe life into Faith; her world, relationships and backstory,” said Rhianna Pratchett. “My heroines and heroes have always been the ones who were ordinary, but through the events of a story, became extraordinary. Faith is skilled, but she's certainly not a superhero. She has her flaws, like all of us. In short: she's real. That's her appeal.”

Mirror’s Edge delivers players straight into the shoes of this modern day heroine as she traverses the vertigo-inducing cityscape, engaging in intense combat, fast-paced chases and challenging puzzles. With a never-before-seen sense of movement and perspective, players are drawn into Faith’s world.

“We were excited to work with Rhianna to develop the story, setting and character of Faith,” said Owen O’Brien, Executive Producer, DICE. “We were extremely lucky to be able to work with someone who is not only a writer, but also a core gamer, to create the world of Mirror’s Edge.”

Pratchett has been recognized by the videogame entertainment industry for numerous achievements in her 10 year gaming career including being voted by Next-Gen.Biz as one of the 100 most influential women in the games industry. She’s also worked on a number of high profiles games including Heavenly Sword and Overlord that have been nominated for a BAFTA and Develop Award for creation of story, character and new intellectual property. For more information on her work, please visit www.rhiannapratchett.com.

Mirror’s Edge is being developed at EA Digital Illusions CE AB (DICE) in Stockholm, Sweden. This revolutionary new take on the first person action adventure genre will ship this winter for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system and for the PC. This product is not yet rated by PEGI or ESRB. For more information on EA DICE, please visit www.dice.se or www.ea.com.

[Pic]

Has EA DICE managed to provide a combination of solo and multiplayer experiences worthy of your gaming dollar, or has the mixed focus resulted in mix review scores? The critics arm themselves after the jump.

Eurogamer
...that famed Battlefield freedom has finally been translated into a coherent single player campaign, where your choice of route can have a distinct bearing on your chances of success. Governed by a linear succession of objectives, the route you take to get there can often be genuinely up to you. Be it stealthily on foot, sniping everything from afar or storming the gates in a tank, you simply use whatever hardware's at your disposal and set about taking down everyone in your way, in whichever way you can. With gunships and motorboats occasionally upping the ante further still, the moments when Bad Company is firing on all cylinders are thrillingly epic.

GameTrailers
Bad Company has a slightly different feel than other shooters, and not just because of the much higher things-blown-up to things-not-blown-up ratio. Weapons feel powerful—especially considering how destructible most of the world is—but accuracy isn’t as unnaturally precise as it is in some other shooters and this can make weapons feel less lethal. On the other hand, fans of shotguns will be very happy at the effectiveness of their weapon.

GameSpot
Be sure to crank the volume up to 11—Bad Company has some of the finest sound design out there. A sniper shot echoes perfectly through the mountains, while indoor firefights are so loud you may want earplugs. Visually the game does not fare as well. While it's by no means ugly, there is a strange graininess on each texture. Even looking into the clear blue sky in the first scene of the game, you'll be amazed at how fuzzy it looks. Of course, the destructible environments and exciting explosions make up for any graphical shortcomings.

TeamXbox
Battlefield: Bad Company knows what it wants to do and does it. The gameplay is simple and easy to wrap your mind around, but opens up to a lot of different strategies. The explosions are visceral and fun, and the game looks great too. Yeah, I bitched about the color palette, but there are moments when you realize they’re going for that smoky, hazy look that a battle-ravaged landscape would have and it’s O.K. It may not be a magnum opus like GTA IV, but Battlefield: Bad Company is a great piece of mindless fun to waste away some hours with this summer.

Not nearly as bad a company as I was expecting.

DICE confirms five Battlefield titles in development [GI.biz]

It's a lengthy podcast. The comment It's at timestamp 37:22 if you want to hear it for yourself. netGameRadio is suspender-popping proud at all the attention this has earned, but all that attention has put a whammy on its servers.

The entire podcast can be retrieved from TotalGamingNetwork, too.

The Inside Battlefield Show [netGameRadio via TotalGamingNetwork

Faith Is A Vampire [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

The Gold Edition pack features exclusive content with behind-the-scenes action and strategy videos giving Battlefield: Bad Company players tricks and tips on how to own the battlefield. The Gold Edition also gives gamers early access to five unique weapons that players can take into battle. These weapons can also be unlocked after the launch of the game by ranking up to the highest level in multiplayer mode.

The Blockbuster Entertainment Experience of the Summer Isn't at the Movies... Battlefield: Bad Company Ships on June 23

Special Gold Edition Offers Fans Exclusive Content at Launch

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Prepare for the gold rush! This summer, the blockbuster action event of the season will not be in theatres. EA DICE, a studio of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that Battlefield: Bad Company™ will ship to retail outlets on June 23. Action fans and gamers worldwide will get their chance to join the 'B' company on exciting, sometimes irreverent, missions that take them through deserts, cities and mountain terrain to capture the spoils of war. Players will experience the tactical, destructive power in the deep single player campaign or go online for intense multiplayer action that only the Battlefield team can deliver.

For a limited time only, gamers will be able to purchase the Gold Edition of Battlefield: Bad Company. The Gold Edition pack features exclusive content with behind-the-scenes action and strategy videos giving Battlefield: Bad Company players tricks and tips on how to own the battlefield. The Gold Edition also gives gamers early access to five unique weapons that players can take into battle. These weapons can also be unlocked after the launch of the game by ranking up to the highest level in multiplayer mode.

"Players can forget about using walls as cover as we've fundamentally changed the way to play shooters offline and online through the use of tactical destruction," says Karl-Magnus Troedsson, Senior Producer for Battlefield: Bad Company. "Players will get the chance to reap the spoils of war this summer as they annihilate the enemy and search for gold in the dark, character-driven, single player storyline while returning Battlefield fans will love the intense and vehicle-heavy multiplayer."

Developed by Sweden-based developer EA DICE (Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment, www.dice.se), Battlefield: Bad Company will be available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. The game is rated "T" by the ESRB and "16+" by PEGI.

All guns are available to everyone. However, we want to give some exclusivity to those who buy the Gold Edition. They will get the five Gold Edition weapons from Day One when they put the disc in. People that don't buy the Gold Edition can get the five additional weapons by getting to the final rank in the game.

As for the remaining five weapons, those will be available to everyone free of charge via various marketing promotions run by EA, along the lines of 'Fill out this survey, get your gun code'. The fact that they were originally listed as purchasable via Xbox Live, according to Troedsson, was a simple miscommunication.

All of you noisy bastards who complained vehemently from day one should give yourselves a big pat on the back, as community voices were the reason the change was made.

It's really important for us to get across that we do listen to what people say out there. We don't have time to run around and comment on everything but we do listen to what people say out in the community. It's really important feedback and that's why we make changes like this.

We Want Free Weapons! [IGN.com - Thanks Dave!]

"It's OK," I said. "Hey, is this the one that's free, or that other one?"

McWhertor tells me I'm confusing it with Battlefield Heroes.

"How much are they charging for it?"

"$60"

"WTF! That's insane, it's fun, but $60?"

But ten minutes later I'm back on the game and I can't seem to stop playing it. I even sneak in a piddly five minutes of playing between the time I put the Lemon Chicken in the stove and I need to come back up to check on it.

It's an addiction!

The thing is I'm not sure why I'm having so much fun with it. Battlefield: Bad Company, on it's surface, seems to be pretty much like every other Battlefield to come before it. You start off in a map by choosing your class and then drop into a rolling fight with live players.

In this particular Battlefield you're fighting to either defend some chests of gold or blow them up. The chests of gold are located at different points on the map and as they are destroyed the map enlarges to show more chests of gold that need to be blow to bits or saved.

There are some tweaks. For one thing you earn upgrade points by ranking up in combat and can drop out of the game and use those points to unlock weapons for use by the different classes. Most of the unlocked weapons are rifles of one sort or the other, but there are also some pretty neat gadgets, like anti-tank mines or sticks of dynamite.

There's also the destructible environment, which looks pretty damn cool and even effects gameplay quite a bit. As Mark explained in his earlier impressions of the game, the destruction is very controlled. You can't, for instance, totally level big buildings. You can though blow gaping holes in walls to avoid a map's natural choke points.
You can also use artillery to literally chew up the terrain, creating man-sized pot holes in the ground. You can also saw through trees with a machine gun, removing the cover that snipers find so tantalizing.

Like I said, this effects gameplay in a lot of interesting ways, but I almost find the visual effect much more impactful. It just looks kick ass to be chasing a running bad guy with a machine gun and have trees falling around him as you zero in. It's neat that when you're running away from tank fire walls are literally blowing up around you.

So I love the game, I can't stop playing the game, but something keeps telling me that I'm not sure if I would want to spend $60 on it. Maybe it's the knowledge that EA is also going to make a selection of weapons available through DLC purchase, or that by buying the Gold Edition of the game you get a wider selection of weapons. Looking over the weapons, I don't think they're really going to give anyone a distinct advantage, but it just feels wrong.

Bad Company is tremendous fun, but if EA wants to use it as a vehicle for DLC micro-transactions maybe they should cut down on the price a bit. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some gold to explode.

I suppose that makes sense. Still, we're not much for microtransactions and the ability to buy your way into experience with time-limited multipliers that cost real money. It just makes us want to wash the pain away.

EA Goes Free-To-Play: Battlefield Heroes' Producer Speaks [Gamasutra]

It's a bit too much work/questionable legality for our tastes, but let us know if you've a friend's cousin's roommate has had any success with stealing the otherwise free product. Oh, and if you're really interested in Bad Company, be sure to check out our impressions. We used the more traditional game art for that post.

Battlefield Bad Company beta leaked, playable? [Xbox360Fanboy]

In Mirror's Edge, you are a parkour prodigy (you know, one of those super humans who treats a city landscape like a giant jungle gym). To make parkour relevant as a game's protagonist that's set in a not-so-distant future, developers came up with a Storyline. You are a bikeless messenger, the underground's only hope in a world when digital transmissions cannot be trusted to be secure.

And while I'm pretty snarky about the whole backstory, when all the gameplay stuff starts, I bite my tongue pretty hard. (Note: these impressions are from watching a realtime demo of the game, not my own hands-on).

Mirror's Edge is set in what you might call a hyperrealistic world. Every building is snow white and odored with glossy, mirror-finished windows. It's hyperbolic—the buildings are more buildingy than normal buildings—as if all creative/quirky architecture has been sapped in the interest of militaristic city planning precision. (Ed note: unfortunately, the graphics are disappointingly not quite as razor sharp as these screens would otherwise suggest).

The world feels cold despite sunny skies and, if my memory serves me correctly, sounds surprisingly quiet.

What you do hear very well are the sounds of yourself. Treading on the rooftops, you notice your feet hit the ground and the air enter your lungs. And it makes sense because the perspective is not like a normal FPS view—instead of a standard convention in which you might see a floating gun at all times, Mirror's Edge celebrates the corporeal. There's no hud. When you look down, you see your sad legs and feet. When you somersault, the world will spin.

And expect to somersault a lot. Because once you are handed a package to deliver, the game is all about momentum. Take a few steps back...then run as fast as you can, jump to the next building, roll out of the landing, slide over an obstacle, hop a fence, surf down a crane, leap for the next rooftop (in bullet time) and...fall short, grasping onto a drain pipe...until you climb up to safety.

The demonstration never showed someone plummet to the streets below, but my guess is that you don't want to.

This is the game. Sure, you'll encounter cops along the way (who will chase you, shoot at you, etc) along with news choppers (who just think you look pretty or something), but other than some jarringly vicious hand-to-hand combat and the occasional gun power-up (damn, somebody gave in on that element), you will be running. A lot.

What I'm not so certain about is this: to better illuminate your potential path, key objects glow red so they're noticed. The mechanic seems to work, as the large environment can become daunting (and with no guidance you could find yourself running around a maze). But I can't help but wonder if these epic sequences will suffer from such stark environmental contrasts clearly intended for gameplay alone.

However, until I get a chance to actually play the game, I'll give Mirror's Edge the benefit of the doubt. This one has some potential.

Disclaimer: these impressions are eyes-on only. No one at the GDC EA event from which this write-up stems had the chance to play.

You launch the game through the website. a big button on the front and center of the page. You go through a series of screens to select your character and join a game, and you're in. Why is this moment so exciting? The start of the game is also the end of all advertising. That's right, in Battlefield Heroes, despite EA drawing their profits from advertisements, players will not be subjected to dynamic in-game billboards destroying the mis en scene.

As for the combat, it's sort of like Battlefield Light. Players choose between 3 classes (soldier, heavier gunman and spy) and let it rip from there. The third-person gameplay is a cross between capture the flag and team deathmatch. Each team races for 50 kills, but capturing a flag gives the successful team a score modifier that will affect the fragcount (meaning a 2x modifier will give your team two kills for the price of one).

The level we saw tested featured both tanks and planes. The tank was designed to be easy to drive, with each mortar round exploding light a classic Adam West punch. The plane looked just as easy to operate, with the fun option of dive bombing a teammate to give them a seat on your wing. (Note: the pilot can also leave his seat to sit on the opposite wing, in which case the plane will land softly on the pillow-like ground). Yeah, this ain't realism.

Then there's the power-up system. On top of your base skill set, you'll occasionally have access to more powerful techniques. Do things like see through walls or replenish health. It's a balancing system for casual players, and it's one part of the game that actually reminds us more of Shadowrun (R.I.P) than Team Fortress 2.

So are we pumped? Not really. Don't get us wrong, for a free web game Heroes looks great. But for those used to online multiplayer fragfests, Heroes' simple (read: rudimentary) mechanics will grow dull quickly. It's hard to see in the promo clip above, but there's something about the physics and general interface that just feels a generation younger than the current consoles...let alone PCs.

But honestly, we're not so sure that Battlefield Heroes is intended for anyone reading this article anyway. We're betting it's EA's gateway drug for casual gamers to try out shooters. And with that hat on, the game could be quite successful.