How Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst Is Telling Faith’s Origin Story

DICE is throwing some cyberpunk into their first person platformer.

As we said before, the first Mirror’s Edge was a special game with a lot of heart. The design didn’t always hit the mark, but the game’s art direction and personality made it a cult favorite. When it comes to the newest installment in the franchise, DICE has made it their mission to emphasized what made the first game a fan favorite while shedding the dead weight. One thing that means is more time spent world building and storytelling. With the newly re-titled game unveiled at EA’s press conference, everyone is wondering how that story will work. We’re here to tell you.

So, what is the story?

Corporations rule the city of glass with an iron fist of media and ruthless secret police. When we meet Faith, she isn’t the scrappy runner living outside the system from the first game, but instead an emotionally disillusioned pawn of the corporations. She runs missions in the world in corporate espionage and has given up hope at anything more in life.

Apparently, that all changes when Faith stumbles upon a plot that involves various factions vying for control of the city. Faith must make a choice: bow to the system or try and change it forever?

What are these warring factions?

We know of two: Krugar Corp, which is your typical all controlling mega corporation, and the shady resistance movement known as Black November.

Black November? Any relation to Guy Fawkes Day of November 5th?

We wouldn’t be surprised if that were indeed the case. It’s probably a combination of that and the fact that “Black November” sounds really catchy.

So Faith is caught in the middle of the conflict between those two groups?

We don’t know for certain, but that’s probably the case. In all probability she’ll have to find her own way between their agendas… In the end becoming a “catalyst for hope and change” as DICE phrased it.

What does Glass City feel like?

It looks like the devs took the city from the original and injected a lot of life into it. Not only is the game open world, but it has vibrant touches like pedestrians and traffic. There are also some really nifty weather effects such as rain. It feels like some Blade Runner was injected into the world of Mirror’s Edge, but not enough to make it feel like a different IP. Rather, Faith’s world is now more firmly cyberpunk, complete with 1980s lens flares, a little bit of cybernetic enhancement, and augmented reality interfaces. So, despite the fact Mirror’s Edge is in many ways a prequel it also feels like it has a next generation (not the consoles) quality to it.

So, when all is said and done is Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst really a prequel?

It technically takes place before the first game, yes. However, just experiencing the world tells you that the setting has been reimagined into something that takes the first game’s vision and takes it toward its full potential. Don’t think of it in terms of prequel or sequel, but instead as Mirror’s Edge Plus: a fresh start that’s aiming to complete the promise DICE made to everything with that first announcement trailer more than seven years ago.