Mirror's Edge Catalyst PS4 PlayStation 4 1

Mirror's Edge Catalyst is a reimagined story set before the events of the first title and has built upon the free running and combat system of the original to bring a totally fresh and more fluid experience. With upgraded visuals that look stunning on the next generation consoles and are especially sharp on the PlayStation 4, this is the game that fans have been waiting for.

In Catalyst there is a lot more freedom with a totally new area designed from scratch, called the City of Glass, to explore. You are able to free roam and select missions on a world map in whatever order you'd like. This includes a selection of different missions to choose from; Story missions, Billboard Hacks, Races, and Combat missions have all been confirmed so far. Every task during missions allows you to use multiple routes that when successfully taken give you a great sense of accomplishment.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst PS4 PlayStation 4 2

Hacking billboards involves Faith having to scale buildings to reach digital billboards to hack and display her runner's group logo. This mission type feels like an addition that was added to flesh out the free roam map, it reminds us very much of the inFAMOUS: Second Son billboards that Delsin Rowe graffitied. We found the billboards to be a nice distraction from main missions as it is a short but enjoyable way to experience and test all of Faith's different skills.

Races involved Faith using all her free running skills to go through a set of checkpoints dotted around an area of the map in the quickest time possible. These races make sure to test every ability Faith has in her arsenal; sliding through vents, climbing up pipes, quickly changing direction, and barging through doors - all of these skills must be mastered in order to reach a three star ranking. We found the races were very enjoyable with the free running flowing really smoothly from one action to the next without any stutter or jitter in animation or frame rate.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst PS4 PlayStation 4 3

In Combat missions, the aim is to take down every enemy within the near vicinity. In the first game this would have been quite frustrating; having to bring your speed right down to a stop to equip a gun and then try to pick that speed back up to continue was just painful. However, now with this new combat system, no guns are needed and taking down an enemy just requires speed and a tap of the X button. This change in the combat system has been what the game needed from the very beginning; the game feels completely fresh with free running and combat going together like harmony, allowing you to keep your pace up for a faster and more exciting experience.

Overall, our first experience with the game has proved to be something special, with the much improved combat and absence of guns a step in the right direction, adding an extra sense of fluidity that the original lacked. The Mirror's Edge Catalyst demo we played couldn't have been more promising, and has reassured our Faith in DICE's ability to bring us an exciting, fast flowing, free running follow-up to the original.

Will you be going on the run with Mirror's Edge Catalyst next year, or are you yet to be convinced by this follow-up? Lace up your sneakers in the comments section below.