My new project: Tact, a simple chat app.

Mirror’s Edge on iPad: 8/10

February 14, 2011

Just finished Mirror’s Edge on iPad.

I didn’t know the franchise before I got the game a few months ago, around the same time as Infinity Blade. I was interested in both of them because they have interesting swipe-based control systems. In Mirror’s Edge, you control the character who is running basically at a constant pace, although she can stop at times. With swipes, you jump, crouch, soft-land, run walls and as shown on the picture, fight. There’s even a boss battle in the end, where you have to knock the other guy down a few times to win.

I quite liked the experience. I like environments that tweak around parameters and introduce limitations which you must work with/against/around. Here, the limitation is that you can’t really control or stop the running, you can just change it’s direction. It was executed well. And swipe controls in games are a great area to be explored. Unlike virtual joysticks or such, I am not limited to a particular area on screen, I can swipe anywhere, and the right thing happens as long as my direction is correct.