The in-level cut-scenes are 3D
Flight also gives players their first look at an in-game cut-scene (or perhaps I should say their first "significant" look; early on, a few places in the game briefly take control away from you). Inside the green office, you discover your police officer sister standing by the desk of murdered mayoral candidate Robert Pope. You don't have control over Faith during the scene, but it plays out in first-person to keep you in character. It also ends with a first-person hug as Faith attempts to calm down her sister.
 
The between-level cut-scenes are 2D
Remember that 2D cartoon-like video EA released back in July? The one everyone compared to an Esurance commercial? The only thing from the game that has received much criticism thus far? That's one of the between-level cut-scenes. "I wanted to do something different with the storytelling," says senior producer Owen O'Brien. "When you're in the level, I wanted to keep the player in Faith's body, so all the action -- all the cut-scenes, everything that happens when you're in the level -- is from the first-person point of view. Which is great for immersion, but can get a little bit restrictive for a whole game and for storytelling and for emotions.... [Also,] to do that well, you've got to put an awful lot of time and money into it, and even then, you still do get into the uncanny valley situations.
 
"All our animators were focused on the gameplay, and I wanted to keep them focused on that rather than them tweaking cut-scenes. Plus, a lot of people skip cut-scenes anyway. So we just thought that trying this different style, a different graphical style, might be more interesting or engaging for the player. I'm a big fan of Flashback and Another World [Out of this World in the U.S.], and it's kind of a slight homage to those."

Everybody falls
It's reasonable to look at the official video footage released by EA and DICE and think you can bounce from building-top to building-top with ease. You can do it; it's just not always easy.
 
Mirror's Edge doesn't act like the chase level in a traditional action game, in which the developers remove obstacles and script the whole thing so players don't get stuck in what's supposed to be a cinematic moment. Here you have to legitimately earn every movement -- if you leap off a building and try to grab a pole in the distance, you better line yourself up perfectly, because if you're a few inches to the left or right, you will fall rather than grab it. Mirror's Edge doesn't apply an auto-assist or "magnetism" if you get close to something to make things flow smoother.
 
That's not to say the game is unforgiving -- most falls result in you just having to make a couple of jumps to return to where you slipped, and the ones that kill you send you to a nearby checkpoint -- but be prepared to fall a lot more than you see in the official video footage the first couple of times you play. It makes certain parts of the game a bit frustrating at first, but this adds a lot of realism and value for players who want to compete for scores in the Time Trials.

You can customize your controls...somewhat
One of the more interesting aspects of Mirror's Edge's controls is that in the default setup, the developers put the jump and duck buttons under your left fingers (L1/L2 or Left Bumper/Left Trigger, depending on your console). You'll find other control options, but none that focus on the face buttons. Given that the Right Trigger/R2 acts as your punch/fire button and you need to be constantly looking around with the right analog stick, this makes sense, but for me it took a bit of adjustment to feel comfortable using the left shoulder buttons frequently.
 
"A lot of people sort of instinctively want to move [the jump button] down and put it on 'A,' but that's impossible," says O'Brien. "We don't actually allow the player to remap movement on to the face buttons. The reason they're up on the shoulders is because if you have to take your thumb off the right analog stick while you're performing moves, you're actually making the game harder for yourself, because you can't jump and aim at the same time."
 
The PS3 version also offers optional motion controls for three actions: You can flick the controller up to take an enemy's gun away when it flashes red, you can tilt it forward just before you hit the ground on a big jump to roll rather than crash, and you can tilt it left and right to keep your balance when standing on a beam. You can do all of these things with buttons and the left analog stick, too, if you choose.

You can take cover while moving
Yeah, I realize this sounds like something someone in marketing made up, since every game has a cover system these days, and your game must be terrible if it's missing one. But I assure you that this is an original thought from my brain. As you run through each environment, you can use buildings/boxes/etc. as line-of-sight cover from enemies shooting at you. To be clear, there are no cover mechanics -- you can't lean up behind a wall or poke your head around a corner while your body relaxes -- but many environments are designed so if you zigzag through them at the proper angles, you'll protect yourself from enemy fire. In the Flight level, I came across a scene with an enemy in the distance shooting at me, and by moving back and forth between pillars off to the side, I was able to get close and knock him out without taking much damage -- it's easy to imagine techniques like this being necessary later in the game and on harder difficulty settings.

It has a Pacifist Trophy/Achievement
For players who make their way through Mirror's Edge without shooting anyone, the developers have a series of Trophies and Achievements, one per level and one for the entire game. In the PS3 version, after making my way through the first level this way, I got a "Pacifist" Trophy, which seems like a clear reference to the Geometry Wars Achievement-turned-mode Pacifism that's based on the same avoidance concept. Beyond collecting bags, finding alternate paths, and working on Time Trial scores, this seems like the final way to get replay value out of the game.

Vous avez bien regardé la vidéo ? Regardez-la encore, car vous ne ferez probablement jamais ce niveau ainsi. Non pas que vous soyez incapable de trouver le même chemin, mais vous n'aurez jamais la même fluidité de déplacements, à moins de vous acharner.  
 
On a pu essayer Mirror's Edge hier au Festival du Jeu Vidéo à Paris, sur un niveau différent (celui montré depuis des mois). Le jeu se base sur du trial&error basique, au point que ça rappelle parfois Trackmania: on gagne en vitesse, on saute, on tombe. Mauvais angle de saut, ou saut un peu trop tôt, un peu trop tard... On respawne un peu avant, et on réessaye. Au final, la progression est très hâchée, et les niveaux de la campagne solo risquent donc de ressembler à une longue succession de chutes. Il y a quand même un petit côté vexant et addictif qui fait que l'on continue à jouer, mais le jeu risque d'être surtout intéressant pour ses time trials, une fois qu'on a bien maîtrisé le rythme des sauts et des niveaux.  
 
Un bon point à noter: le léger remapping des contrôles, différent des autres FPS au pad, fonctionne heureusement très bien