All Articles: Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst

EA took their turn on the E3 Press Conference merry-go-round and they came out shooting with both barrels. But one of their biggest new games mostly eschews guns for a more physical form of combat. I’m talking, of course, about the insane parkour that’s at the center of Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst.

In addition to showing the trailer embedded above, developer DICE got a chance to talk about their latest passion project, which seemed unlikely to ever exist just three years ago. Taking place in the city of Glass, and serving as a prequel (of sorts) to the original Mirror’s Edge, Catalyst will reveal the backstory behind Faith, a “Runner” working against the dystopian government:

In Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, you will experience the rise of Faith, a daring Runner who uncovers a hidden truth within the walls of the city of Glass. Through her journey, Faith will explore every corner of the city, from the highest, most pristine skyscrapers, to the dark and gritty tunnels that lie beneath. Players will need to master the environment, using their momentum and timing their combat to fight the oppression of the ruling elite, uncovering the dark secrets behind the city’s beautiful façade. Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst gives players the freedom to explore the entire city, discovering a variety of new activities, like Dash, races from point A to B, environmental puzzles and story missions to complete at their own pace.

Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst is built on top of a sprawling open-world of glass and steel, and DICE has decided to tease out some of the details of that world through the official Mirror’s Edge website. In addition to a biography of Faith, the developer also published a primer on the art of freerunning in the game and a small glimpse at some of the darker corners of the city.

Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on February 23, 2016.

The 2015 E3 Expo beckons and Electronic Arts is getting the show started a bit early with a glimpse at Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst. The new artwork displays the game’s protagonist, Faith, doing what she does best… clinging to the side of a futuristic building. Hyper-modern skyscrapers pierce the horizon while the watchful eyes of a squad of surveillance helicopters hover at the edge of the scene.

We’ll learn more about Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst next week, but for now, Senior Producer Sara Jansson discussed the development team’s vision on the game’s official website:

The team has spent a lot of time re-evaluating every aspect of the game and making it a new experience. This is not a sequel, this is not Mirror’s Edge 2. We have landed on a vision that honors the first game — pushing the boundaries of first person movement and diving deeper into the story behind our heroine Faith — but also brings a lot of great new, interesting gameplay and features to the experience for our players.

In addition to next week’s E3 reveal, fans will get another look at that vision in Mirror’s Edge: Exordium, a prequel comic series which will be published by Dark Horse. The first issue, which will be written by Narrative Director Christofer Emgard, will be available on September 9. The six-issue series will also feature art from some of DICE’s in-house artists including Mattias Haggstrom, Robert Sammelin, Henrik Sahlström, Erik Persson, and Emgard himself. You can sneak a peek at the cover of Exordium‘s #1 at the Dark Horse Blog.

Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst is currently in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One at DICE. It is expected to be released sometime next Spring.

Have Faith… Electronic Arts and DICE have announced a new Mirror’s Edge game is in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. But don’t expect to play it anytime soon as the game is described as being in the “early stages” and will be released “when it’s ready.”

“We introduced Mirror’s Edge and Faith to gamers five years ago, and we’ve waited for the right moment to reunite them,” said Sara Jansson, Senior Producer at DICE. “Thanks to the Frostbite engine and a new generation of platforms, we are now able to deliver a richer world that players will be able to explore with a new level of freedom in both movement and action.”

The Mirror’s Edge reboot (EA is refusing to call it a sequel) will tell “an all-new origin story for Faith.” Currently, it’s unclear how the original game’s story will fit into the rebooted Mirror’s Edge universe. The “origin story” logline points towards this game being a prequel. But then where does all the reboot talk fit?

But it’s coming, that’s the important thing.