200°

Mirror's Edge vs Mirror's Edge Catalyst (2008 - 2016)

The Mirror’s Edge Catalyst Beta is in full swing showing off some impressive visuals and more open world gameplay. However, the graphics are a different matter entirely which when compared to their predecessor raise the question: which is more favourable?

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cramgaming.com
OoglyBoogly2916d ago

Other than more detailed and realistic reflections in Catalyst there isn't really that much of a difference. In some places the first one looks better!

Odd that after 8 years we get something that's not really THAT much better graphically. Even the reflections that are missing COULD have been done so if that were the case there'd hardly be any difference at all.

Have graphics really not progressed that much or is it just the art design?

dadavis19922916d ago

Graphics have progressed quite a bit, it's just hard to tell from a comparison like this. The original Mirror's Edge used a completely pre-baked lighting system, so all the realistic light/shadow, color bounce, radiosity, etc... is calculated before hand and then 'baked' onto the objects. It looks great (even today) but other than npc's, the player, and a few movable objects per area, all the lighting is static and cannot be affected in-game. Catalyst, on the hand, uses a dynamic lighting solution that calculates complex properties of light/shadow in real-time and allows for the open world design, day/night cycle, movable objects etc... An open world Mirror's Edge would have been impossible with the old lighting system. The trade off with the new system is that some of its lighting solutions are a little less accurate and the game artists don't have quite as much control over the exact appearance of any given area in the game.
Hope that helped :)

Salooh2916d ago (Edited 2916d ago )

People don't appreciate what they will get. It is an open world that run at 60fps and look gorgeous!!

It is a huge improvement over the last game , these comments are astonishing me. This is why i only trust my taste and my look at games. It is hard to see someone completely fair and objective when judging a game..

Lamboomington2916d ago (Edited 2916d ago )

I don't know... I'm looking at the comparison and immediately I can tell one is much much better graphically than the other. To add to that, as others have said, ME1 used a lot baked lighting. ME catalyst is realtime. Even putting that aside, Catalyst looks much better to me in the video.

Spyroo2916d ago

This is 60fps on all platforms.

Open worldr

Screen space reflections

Better character models

solidsloth112916d ago

I'm a huge fan of the first game (PC and PS3) and I just played the PS4 closed beta today... it was very disappointing for me. The graphics are not up to par, at all. I went back and played Mirrors Edge 1 on PS3/PC Highest settings and it just LOOKS better, yet it's 8 years old. I get that Catalyst has more going on technically, but it's so washed out in some areas. The frame rate drops, live billboards & other textures are low-res, reflections aren't great, street level & scenic detail is poor and lacking shadows... it only looks impressive in cut-scenes that seem to use better assets, with a hit to the frame-rate. Honestly, overall it looked like a PS3/360 game (cut-scenes aside). Also, maybe it's just me but the original used color in the city scape wayyyy better imo.

It's more than graphics though. Combat is OK... with no weapons at all (not even police batons?), AI seems kinda dumb. They stand there why you do the same attacks over and over. I kept climbing to a low roof and jumping down on them. The others just waited for me to do the same jump attack on them. Over and over. The open world, so far, has been blah. The whole experience has been boring, really.

Anyways, first time commenting on this site. Curious to see if others feel the same way after trying the beta. Hopefully final release will look better.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2916d ago
kraenk122916d ago (Edited 2916d ago )

The reduced to the max stylised look of the original looked more appealing to my eyes. The same goes for Faith's character design. That said Catalyst still looks gorgeous.I hope they don't mess up the soundtrack as the one from the first game also was fantastic.

Billybobjoey2916d ago

They brought back Solar Fields, the same composer for the original, so I'm sure it'll be great.

kraenk122916d ago

Great news, thanks for the info.

Yetter2916d ago

Faith talks to much now. Shes not as likeable. Gameplay is so awesome though.

kraenk122916d ago

Yeah, it seems like they made her less edgy, more appealing to the masses.

mogwaii2916d ago

Onceit got inside i couldnt tell which was which, i thought the footage id seen of the beta looked impressive but so did the original when you put them side by side, not a game for me though.

2916d ago
annoyedgamer2916d ago

Well they certainly didn't do a good job with Faith, she just looks angry all the time now. Although I think that was their intention unfortunately.

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80°

Battlefield 2042 Mirror's Edge Easter Egg Surfaces in Season 4 Map

It seems that in Season 4, DICE has snuck in a Battlefield 2042 Mirror's Edge Easter egg in the new Flashpoint map.

220°

10 Old Games With Outstanding Graphics

GF365: "There are some games with extraordinary visuals that impress us to this day. Here are old games with outstanding graphics."

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gamefreaks365.com
ShwaaMan446d ago

Bioshock still looks fantastic, one of my all time favorites.

Yui_Suzumiya446d ago

Beyond: Two Souls on PS3 can compete with modern day graphics.

SonyStyled446d ago (Edited 446d ago )

Same as Killzone 2 and 3, uncharted 2 and 3, Infamous 2, Heavy Rain, Resistance 3

jasonismoney446d ago

I wish this was entirely true, but you might want to load up Killzone 2 and Resistance 3 again.

SonyStyled446d ago

@jason I watched some gameplay videos of KZ2 and R3 on my full screen. They are on par or succeed graphically to the first person shooters mentioned in the article that also launched on the seventh generation of consoles. Try the same and see what you think

cthulhucultist445d ago

Killzone 3 was super impressive! I could not believe the graphics back then as I was regularly pausing the game to stand in awe looking at the surroundings! Resistance however did not impress me that much. Heavy rain is also another amazing graphically speaking game. It almost felt next gen

Fist4achin446d ago

I always thought the first 3 Gears of War games looked great and still hold up for today.

SonyStyled446d ago

They did for their day. I recently played gears judgement with on the 360 and the draw distance was so blurry. The characters up close look great though

JEECE446d ago

Far Cry 2 was awesome. In addition to having demonstrably better physics and AI than later games in the series, it had a lot of design decisions that, criticized at the time, have since been praised in games like BOTW and Dark Souls.

iNcRiMiNaTi446d ago

It might not be super amazing by today's standard but I thought Mgs3 looked really good

JEECE446d ago

In terms of art style it still holds up.

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270°

Mirror's Edge achievement designer: "Achievements have been bad for gaming"

Ubisoft Massive lead gameplay designer Fredrik Thylander, previously of DICE where he worked on Battlefield and Mirror's Edge, has spoken out about achievements and trophies, arguing that they "have been bad for gaming."

Machina463d ago (Edited 463d ago )

The achievements in Mirror's Edge opened my eyes to a whole other way of approaching the game. Since some of the toughest and most rewarding ones are basically whole levels turned into time trials with very strict time requirements, they force you to become much better at the game - in a way that difficulty levels just don't - and made me appreciate the mechanics that much more (especially the momentum-based running and platforming).

They actually made the game better for those like me who really enjoyed the game but wanted more of it, basically adding a new level of difficulty that took a long time to master/overcome. It added some extra longevity to a very short game.

He says "it eats resources that could have made the game better". I'm curious what he thinks the time he spent designing the achievements for the game would've been better spent on, because I expect bang for buck-wise achievements are a pretty efficient way of adding value to a game for the people who end up loving it.

shinoff2183463d ago (Edited 463d ago )

I kinda see his point but I also see your point.

I've been trying to remember what games over the years have had their own trophies inside the game before trophies and such were a thing and all I can think of is the star ocean series

Christopher463d ago

I think his point, though not elucidated upon because of Twitter limitations, is not that they can be bad but that they are used improperly to extend gameplay rather than reward actions.

Nebaku462d ago

Harvest Moon: Magical Melody on the GCN did.

In fact it actually built the game around it.

RpgSama462d ago (Edited 462d ago )

I am very OCD about playing games that I can platinum, in that sense I probably avoided playing games that I knew I would be unable to 100% complete.

I do think there are other people like me and also feel there should be an option for you to individually deactivate getting trophies on specific games, just so you play them and they do not go to your account.

-Foxtrot463d ago (Edited 463d ago )

I don't know. I used to think Achievements / Trophies were ruining games at first but then I saw the positive, if you totally love a game then they would offer you replay value by going after the last achievements to 100% the game. It made you explore every last bit of the game to achieve this and sometimes pushed you into areas or scenarios you probably might have missed.

It was a blast to get them on Oblivion / Skyrim, Fallout, Witcher, God of War, Elden Ring etc

Don't get me wrong, I do think there's achievements which are annoying, the ones where you need to find all collectibles which end up being missable AND are like trying to find a needle in a haystack are a kick to the balls, you know the majority of us are just going to use a guide to find them so what's the point.

Kind of a shame Nintendo haven't gotten a full system in place, they are so behind.

jambola462d ago

Nintendo seem to either be ahead of their time by years
or behind by 10 years
no in between

Rimeskeem462d ago

I enjoy having something to go for and feeling accomplished when doing something hard. I just hate it when achievements are based on things you can't really control. Like when something is for MP and the MP is just dead.

MadLad462d ago (Edited 462d ago )

I used to be a hardcore achievement hunter back in the day, but I couldn't care less nowadays. I just want to play games the way I actually want to play them, and don't care to waste my time just to get a little pop-up.

AzubuFrost462d ago

I envy you sir. I just gotta have every single achievement whenever I play a game. On my Steam profile I have an 83% completion rate out of 35 games, and my OCD is telling me to keep upping that percentage higher.

MadLad461d ago

Yeah. Back then, though I'm not sure what my actual completion rate was, I was mainly an Xbox player. I had close to 80k gamer score during the 360 days.

It just doesn't excite me anymore. I have less than 20% completion on my Steam account, though I have a pretty asinine amount of games there at the same time.
But I don't really bother with any of this anymore. If there's an interesting achievement I might aim for it just because I find it fun, but usually I just get that pop-up, say "cool" and continue with the game.

Outlawzz462d ago

Never been a fan of achievements. I just want to play the game however it may present itself to me, there's an overflow of achievements to seek in real life lol

Great for those that enjoy them though, much respect to the platinum hunters, it ain't easy lol

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