Opinions on how Catalyst has improved upon the original Mirror's Edge

ridleyeater

I know that the game is not out yet, and nothing is final until the copies are shipped, but we have seen a lot of what Catalyst has to offer. The beta has shown us bits of story, bits of gameplay, the art style of the game, and much more. So I am interested to hear what people think has improved since the first Mirror's Edge. I also want to hear about what everyone thinks can be improved.

Perhaps it is unfair to compare the two, really. Catalyst is a different game than Mirror's edge, and the goals in this one were different than the goals of the original. But that aside, the original is the only game that we can compare to Catalyst, so that is why I believe it is relevant now.

Devs, feel free to participate as well. You guys made the game, so is there anything that you think you did particularly well compared to the first game?

TL;DR
What did Catalyst do better/worse than the original?

Personally, I think that there is a lot that DICE is doing right with this game, especially when compared to the first. The entire game is a lot more...I think "accessible" is the word. The first game was difficult for newcomers to grasp, because it was really the first of its kind.
I remember dying over and over again in the first game, because I did not have the right mindset when I first started playing. So now that the guns have been taken out, and the movement has been improved, the emphasis on the flow is much more defined. Focus shield also seems to encourage the player to keep running, and keep the flow going, which I think is a very good way to remind us that we are playing Mirror's Edge, which is not a first person shooter.

Simplex

They managed not only to keep the exact same feel to controls despite the game being on an entirely different engine, they were able to add to moveset without altering the balance. The roll out of slide lets you keep momentum, speingboarding from any obstacle opens a lot of traversal opportunities (which is SO important in an open world game). They even kept the sidejump boost trick from the original in a form of shift move. DICE literally added to a moveset to fit the open world scheme yet managed to retain the balance and the feel. THAT is truly a work of art. Can't stress enough how perfect the work they have put into it is.

CookieMan

Simplex wrote: »

They managed not only to keep the exact same feel to controls despite the game being on an entirely different engine, they were able to add to moveset without altering the balance. The roll out of slide lets you keep momentum, speingboarding from any obstacle opens a lot of traversal opportunities (which is SO important in an open world game). They even kept the sidejump boost trick from the original in a form of shift move. DICE literally added to a moveset to fit the open world scheme yet managed to retain the balance and the feel. THAT is truly a work of art. Can't stress enough how perfect the work they have put into it is.

^this^