Mirror's Edge Catalyst Reviews
Unfortunately, the open world of Mirror's Edge: Catalyst is a sad and disappointing one and if it weren't for the exciting parkour and constant running it would have been absolutely barren. A superficial story, weak characters, and okay visuals make Catalyst is less than stellar continuation of Faith's story.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
At its core, Catalyst's expansion to an open world is a misfire. While side objectives like time trials, dead drops and an entire asynchronous multiplayer functionality make for a longer playtime, it comes at the expense of refinement. Catalyst's direction feels like the opposite of what people have been quite explicitly asking for since the original game came out. As a result, while its breathtaking leaps and adrenaline filled ascents are great in their own rights, Mirror's Edge feels like it has spent the last eight years standing still rather than moving forward.
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst still has fun parkour, but fails as a compelling open-world game.
It's not offensive, and it's not an actively bad time, but it's so very bland and uneventful. I can't really speak for the developers, but Catalyst certainly gives the impression that they'd rather be working on literally anything else.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst had potential. The story was a big disappointment. Not recommended.
I simply didn't like this game. I went into it with high expectations, after having loved playing through the first game past its prime, and ended up being utterly disappointed. Between the numberous gameplay problems, between combat feeling weak and clunky, movement being gutted in favour of a progression system, and the open-world making the game repetitive, this was not something I found almost any fun playing. It's not the worst, but there are so many things done wrong, and so little done right, it just wasn't an experience I could personally enjoy, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a die-hard fan of the series.
I think that there's the potential for a brilliant Mirror's Edge game in the future that has none of the flaws of Catalyst or its predecessor. Unfortunately, that isn't this game, and while I'm relatively satisfied with what's here, I will keep hoping for a genuinely great *Mirror's Edge* title.
Ultimately, Mirror's Edge Catalyst falls short of all our hopes and dashes what little faith I had in the series, pun intended. There are some truly brilliant moments and Mirror's Edge Catalyst looks gorgeous and feels brilliant to navigate once you finally get all the gadgets and extended slides etc. but forcing you through the campaign to get any real modicum of enjoyment hurts the experience drastically.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst still feels like a lot of fun to play through, as the parkour system remains a really successful mechanic for navigating the game world. Dice have made a lot of changes that both hurt and harm the series, but at least you couldn't say that this is a lazy re-working of an eight-year old game.
The gameplay is fast paced and fun if it weren't for the slow battle system. I can imagine the game eight years ago being a unique game that's so different from others, but this sequel is only a redo of the same ideas that adds no value even with the Open World element, but it will suit those who never tried the first game.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Forgetting about the repetitiveness and lifelessness of the environments for a moment, it's clear that there's strong art design behind it all, combining clean lines with bold colours to create a world that feels clinical, cool and futuristic
The only people I'd recommend Mirror's Edge Catalyst to are newcomers to the franchise. The parkour, when it works, is still just as awesome, but the game has just too many detractors for the fans of the original.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst is best when you're on the move, climbing up a tall building and booking it across rooftops. When the world is like a puzzle that you are solving on the fly using all your skills. These moments are in the game, there just isn't that many of them.
Fails to find its flow or rhythm
With a lot of different side missions and player challenge runs, Mirror's Edge Cataylst has some things going for it, even if it limps along on some points. This is one you will either like a lot or have a real dislike for. It lets us down in some fronts, and delivers in others but overall, Mirror's Edge Catalyst can be a fun ride, and may be worth your time but just be ready on what you get!
Faith has finally returned with Mirror's Edge Catalyst. Is it a return to form, especially when her "form" was never all that fleshed out to begin with? It's certainly a decent waste of time, worth visiting on and off through the months, but nothing spectacular.
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst is less 'Still Alive' than it is 'barely breathing', yet it retains a special place in my heart as a game that tried to offer gamers something a little bit different to the norm. Ultimately it's a failure, a broken game with repetitive action and a mechanic that lends itself far better to arcade like linearity rather than open world botch-jobbery. An admirable failure, but one that's left a huge cloud over this poor reviewers' head. I can only hope we eventually get the sequel we deserve that's tight, addictive and stunning. I know you've got it in you, Dice.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst seems to suffer from the exact same shortcomings as its predecessor. It has a weak supporting cast, a forgettable story, and it simply doesn't know how to engage its players on a narrative level.
It's like a giant schoolyard playground, in which players can freely explore and make their own adventures.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst has a strong core built by its movement system, but when it comes time to do anything else than run from point A to point B, you'll probably be more inclined to run away.