My Catalyst Experience

Aesonclast

Side quests... I usually do every one of them... until this game. Spending nearly 40 minutes per side quest.. the game got much better when I started ignoring them. It was fun running by a quest giver that said something like "I'm over here" and I would mutter "stuff it" as I ran by...

Combat... just awful. Large open areas but expecting me to wall-run-attack? Forcing you to fight before allowing the game to continue? More awful. End of the game battle before ending? Awful.

Natural parkour divided up to be skills you earn... yikes.

Pain points - timed towers to get on train... good grief... I hated that I had to fight through KrugerSec, but those buggy towers... yikes (not to mention the horrible save points... yeah yeah it's timed ). I'm not sure I can clearly indicate one fight I had to do, but it was horrible.. you come out of a stairway area into a lobby with a hunter and several ranged enemies.... that was such a pain... I had to pull them individually... took hours to do... sure, i'm a parkour expert... with no ability to use a gun... and people are shooting at me.... makes sense!

The final run -- wow... so impressive! Psychotic that we're doing it but... impressive!

Story, cut scenes, graphics, music? Beautiful.

Steveglowplunk

I wish that guns could be kept in this game. I don't see why people hated guns in the first Mirror's Edge. There's no other games that allows you to shoot your way through a bunch of enemies with a pistol while doing sick parkour moves. The absence of guns made Mirror's Edge Catalyst way too painful in some missions, like fly trap and family matters. I think combining the current combat system with the ability to use guns would be perfect.

Aesonclast

@Steveglowplunk

In my opinion, a game about parkour and running from the bad guys, guns should be a very last resort (e.g. if cornered). Otherwise, Faith and company should be like assassins -- never seen and should have routes in the world that never involve traveling through wide open spaces like you experience in Catalyst.

Steveglowplunk

@Aesonclast

The combat in the first Mirror's Edge was...not so good so I preferred using guns most of the time. But in Mirror's Edge Catalyst the combat has been improved. I do enjoy the combat but I think guns should still be an option.

ImUrFriend

Steveglowplunk wrote: »

I wish that guns could be kept in this game. I don't see why people hated guns in the first Mirror's Edge. There's no other games that allows you to shoot your way through a bunch of enemies with a pistol while doing sick parkour moves. The absence of guns made Mirror's Edge Catalyst way too painful in some missions, like fly trap and family matters. I think combining the current combat system with the ability to use guns would be perfect.

Wow I thought I'm the only one who actually liked the guns in the first one. True, you can do tricks like in the movie The Matrix which is kinda sick. The shooting while 180 degree twist while on slow motion is a badass move. Catalyst's combat feels like I'm playing Mortal Kombat for a while with the Capoeira Takedown moves at the end. It's great, but that does not reflect Faith at all.

MichaelT

Aesonclast wrote: »

You come out of a stairway area into a lobby with a hunter and several ranged enemies.... that was such a pain... I had to pull them individually... took hours to do...

The game's combat is fine, if it took you hours to do that simple area it means you're... you haven't had enough practice with the combat. You can use your environment on all combat scenarios, at least I could.
And no, guns should not be in the game.

Aesonclast

MichaelT wrote: »

Aesonclast wrote: »

You come out of a stairway area into a lobby with a hunter and several ranged enemies.... that was such a pain... I had to pull them individually... took hours to do...

The game's combat is fine, if it took you hours to do that simple area it means you're... you haven't had enough practice with the combat. You can use your environment on all combat scenarios, at least I could.
And no, guns should not be in the game.

Oh you can say it... I'm not good at games. I know it already

I'm fine with the guns to a degree, but a parkour character shouldn't be toe-to-toe with enemies like that. Deus Ex games give you multiple avenues to accomplish a task (run and gun or stealth, play your way, etc).

BOSSGreatWall

I didn't mind the guns in the first game either. In fact I was surprised that so many people didn't like it. It could be frustrating at times, but it was also worth it when you finally fought through all the enemies. And using the guns gave me a buzz too- I felt powerful in a different way than when I was running.
It did say in the first game that guns aren't carried by runners because of their extra weight, only grabbed and used when needed. So I guess it could have been an extra option in Catalyst, instead of the be-all-and-end-all in ME. I think, however, that it would be difficult to incorporate it into the gameplay alongside the new combat system.

Aesonclast

BOSSGreatWall wrote: »

I didn't mind the guns in the first game either. In fact I was surprised that so many people didn't like it. It could be frustrating at times, but it was also worth it when you finally fought through all the enemies. And using the guns gave me a buzz too- I felt powerful in a different way than when I was running.
It did say in the first game that guns aren't carried by runners because of their extra weight, only grabbed and used when needed. So I guess it could have been an extra option in Catalyst, instead of the be-all-and-end-all in ME. I think, however, that it would be difficult to incorporate it into the gameplay alongside the new combat system.

I think I must have ignored the guns in the first one because honestly... I don't recall guns being in the first one at all.

GeoffreyOmega

I tend not to like the idea of guns too. The game is centralize around parkour and not faith's ability to deal with a threat with a bullet. While in the first game, which was messy in all department with its almost comic approach I didn't bother the inclusion, I would really have not see that work in Catalyst and nor I wish DICE goes this way for the next of the series.
I do regret the ability to "dodge" bullet though. The "bullet don't hurt you" if you are at your momentum really sucks. I wish the game would have been a bit more competitive there and more ennemies would have been equipped with deadly fire arm ranging from gun to more deadly weapons.
Not that I dislike the taekwondo aspect of some fight, on the opposite, but it's just wayyyyy too easy and it does remove the sensation of a threat since bullet don't hurt you as long as you keep attack them and don't take a hit.
The first game had it right about the bullet system, although, I'm not for weapons equipment in a future game or that should be justify with the narrative and probably dig deeper into a game that create choice ala Bioware's game why not.

BOSSGreatWall

Yes, the Focus Shield that you can acquire in Catalyst is less realistic to me, and it takes away the tension and danger ME's combat had.