Back about 8 years ago when I was in the industry, I really wanted to make a game based on the concept of running around, a race game on your feet with a ton of obstacles. I saw it as a mix of Crazy Taxi (especially the bright colored arcadey look), the movie Run, Lola, Run, and my own experiences nearby at Venice Beach when I had to navigate through a thick crowd to get somewhere fast. The goal would be to race through crowds, ducking and diving, occasionally picking up skateboards or bikes or whatever, in order to meet up with your friends on time.
Although there were shades of it in my design, I never explicitly thought about adding Parkour (free running) to the mix, mainly because it wasn’t really well known at the time. After the awesome chase scene at the beginning of Casino Royale, apparently someone in the industry got on this track.
The gameplay in Mirror’s Edge looks *phenomenal*, running and jumping and using the environment in a realistic way. I love the need to think creatively about your environment in this - in most games the environment is just a set of simple constraints and does not inspire you to pay close attention to it (think about all those invisible walls you’ve encountered in games - ‘why can’t I go there?’ scenarios). Check it out:
In my game, I had thought of navigating in the third person, which would afford you the opportunity to scan the environment and see the cool ducks and dives of your character. However, I’m really impressed with this first person mode - much more visceral and adrenaline pumping.
As a nitpick, it seems like they had to play the usual teenage angst card and make it an action game with guns and some faceless government to rebel against. I would have much preferred an espionage game, because you can layer in some more nuanced plots there.
A preview is available here (thanks Digg).