Design Team Name

[JustinPinter]

Well, as all of you can see there is a design team. We are looking for a name though. I thought that i would put it up as a poll and let our clients pick. So...I posted the top 5 names and you guys can decide which one we should go with.

[Perfect Sin]

Personally "Design Squad" sounds the most professional. That's my vote.

[adamba4e]

I agree with Perfect Sin, I think Design Squad is best name.

[JustinPinter]

Yeah...I am for Design Squad but I had to talk to the team about it before making a final decision...Skirbble liked Graphic Elites and Vioce of a Riot was for Design Guild

[Voice Of A Riot]

Yeah design guild all the way!!

[StrikeMaster Ice]

G units for me, since I came up with the name.

[adamba4e]

G units for me, since I came up with the name.

In my opinion G-Unit is too unoriginal.

[Vision.Pro]

and gay, it's bad enough having one fake ass, poser group with that name, do we need another?

[JustinPinter]

lol...NoUse4aName wanted it...I will take it off....lolG Unit...lol

[Skribble]

G-unit is just stupid, I will agree with Graphics Squad, but I like Elites...

[nouse4aname68]

I didn't want G-Unit, I just thought it was funny, I was saying something like G-FX Squad or something.

[StrikeMaster Ice]

How about:

Special Design Unit/SDU

OR
Spcial Design Team/SDT

OR
Spcial Design Squad/SDS

[james3579]

lol, i was gonna make fun of g-unit, but many people got to it before me :lol:

graphic elites get my vote

[Coolio]

I voted for design squad. I just believe it is the most professional out of them all

[Firefox]

How about PixelCorps or PixelCorp

[Vision.Pro]

Why not something that relates to the ps3, like Digital Cell Block. I don't know, just something that uses multiple metaphors

[JustinPinter]

I think if this turns out to be something big, where we end up making not just sigs and avatars but web banners and web graphics for other sites as well we could start making real money. If that is the case we might change our name to something a little more professional and original.

[Skribble]

It will take alot to make money out of it, but it could happen, we could form a company, haha.

[The House]

you guys should make an icon and whoever is in the team should get one. maybe a photoshop icon 8)

[JustinPinter]

I need whoever is in charge of letting us design an Icon or banner to contact me so I can figure out what we are going to do.

[Fedos]

I voted for Design Squad. It was the first name that was mentioned by Rebon and the others and it has stuck with me since.

[JustinPinter]

It looks like we are going to be known as " The Design Squad".....at least for now.

[Perfect Sin]

Lol yeah, It's your guys group you can call yourselves whatever you want.


You could name it "Sin's Slaves" :twisted:


That's got a nice ring...;)

[JustinPinter]

lol....yeah that does have a ring to it...but I think we'll stay with the Design Squad

[SnwBorder52]

I think The Design Team is cool enough. why change it?

I like the last one though if its one of those 5

[PeanutButterMunky]

Anything but G-Unit. That's just lame. No need to copy a rap group.

[proof]

I think that you should have your own icon, so that we can alls ee you are a member, just like the SMC :)

[Firefox]

i still like "Pixel Corps" :wink:

it's like a army of design forces

[andres]

I noticed there isn't a review of this, I'll jump on it.

I've just ordered it from swapgame.com. Should be here soon.

[curryking1]

Yep, it never came from developers.

[andres]

Will be ready today.

[andres]

This might roll over into tomorrow. Got to bring baby up hospital now!

[curryking1]

That's cool Steven, don't worry about it, it's pretty dated as it is. A couple more days won't hurt it. Hope everything is ok with your kid.

[andres]

STILL EDITING AND ADDING, DO NOT PUBLISH

By using the increasingly popular free-running activity of Parkour as its theme and mixing it with a story of murder and intrigue, EA’s DICE Studio certainly deserves credit for thinking outside of the conventional box. Despite some thrills along the way though it’s an experiment that ultimately fails to provide the exhilarating and free-flowing first person action experience that we’d hoped. Mirror’s Edge is a great concept that starts off well, but doesn’t quite live up to its full potential and dazzling good looks.

By giving you control over a range of intuitive and fun-to-execute acrobatic free-running moves, Mirror’s Edge shows great promise in the initial stages as you vault impressively over fences, scale buildings, shimmy up drainpipes and make huge leaps of faith across rooftops in an attempt to smoothly traverse the sparkling and stylishly designed metropolis. However, during the first half-an-hour or so of springing, sliding and jumping across the environment you’ll have experienced practically everything, certainly all the good things anyway, that the game has to offer. The fast pace, the feeling of speed and the flowing movement of free-running that is so accurately captured in the preliminary levels also fails to filter into the latter parts of the game where the action slows down considerably before grinding to an abrupt halt at its unsatisfactory conclusion, a measly 5 to 6 hours later.

Set within the confines of a totalitarian regime, where all forms of communication are strictly monitored by the powers that be, the story of Mirror’s Edge follows Faith, a free-running courier who spends her days working above the law sprinting across the city, dodging government officials along the way in order to deliver sensitive data to a group of revolutionaries. It’s a story-line that had great potential, but even with the nicely drawn anime cut-scenes that accompany each chapter, yet never quite live up to the quality of the gorgeous in-game graphics, it soon dies its death and becomes nothing more than an irrelevant distraction and an excuse to just run around the city dodging gun-wielding officials.

When you first find yourself standing upon a roof-top high above the busy city streets, where you get a first glimpse at the massive concrete jungle of mirrored-glass-encrusted skyscrapers and brilliant white roof-tops far away in the distance, it’s an impressive sight. The city looks encouragingly huge, an adventure playground for free-runners, so you’d think. However, despite a few branching paths, Mirror’s Edge is a disappointingly linear game where pathways to your goal are indicated via “Runner Vision,” red objects that highlight where you can safely jump to reach a balcony or rooftop, where you can climb up a set of ladders, grab onto a drain-pipe or scurry through a ventilation shaft. The inside locations in particular are very restricted with set paths to follow restricting you to grabbing only onto certain ledges or smashing through particular doors. The outside locations, however, do offer a certain degree of freedom and at least allow you to make the most of the set of acrobatic moves on offer. Once you string a few actions together, which requires inch perfect timing, the feeling of speed and movement as you dive under ducts, spring into the air from ledge to ledge or zip-line from one roof-top to the next, makes for an exciting experience.

Part of the excitement is because the developer has created a sense of urgency throughout the game. You constantly have to keep on the move wherever you go at all times otherwise you get caught in a storm of bullets from government officials who burst onto rooftops and surround you at any given opportunity. Initially, this keeps the game moving and flowing and encourages you to take risks that see you taking on big jumps which occasionally won’t pay off. However, it also works to the detriment of the gameplay and at times you’re pushed a bit too hard; you're just not given enough time to think. If you stop for a moment to look around in order to work out where you need to go you’ll more often than not get shot. Especially later on in the game, when pathway hints become fewer, this means that you’re often forced to use trial and error to work out exactly how to reach your goal. In some sections this becomes intensely frustrating. We died half-a-dozen times trying to work out a path through a building to the exit and then when we re-spawned we simply made slow progress each time by having to remember the route we had traveled and then taking it up from the point where we'd left it.

Although the main bulk of the action is free-running you can tackle the enemies head on, but combat is extremely dull. The simplistic mechanics allow you to slide, jump kick or melee an opponent, but it’s a waste of time because you can simply press 'Y' during a small window of opportunity and disarm opponents immediately allowing you to go on your way with no threat. It feels like the enemies in Mirror's Edge were added purely to encourage movement and speed as you try to avoid their gun-fire. The elementary fight mechanics feel as though they were added hastily added as an afterthought.

As far as the free-running goes though, Mirror's Edge get it right with a smooth control system that allows you to slide, duck, jump, grab and wall-run as you navigate the concrete jungle.Although you can string a few moves together, for example, a wall-run and then a ledge grab, there's no complication combo moves to master, it's simple button presses that rely totally on your timing in order to make that jump or hook onto that ledge. The initial mapping of the jump mechanic to the L2 button, rather than one of the face buttons, takes some getting use to but it's a clever control system that uses the L2 button for all upwards actions, such as jumping and vaulting and LB for all downwards actions, such as sliding and ducking. It works well and whilst you're leaping around the larger outside environments and stringing moves together you really do get the feeling of momentum and speed, which is exactly what DICE studios wanted to create.

Whilst Mirror's Edge is technically superb though, it just isn't consistent. When you're forced to hot-foot it into inside locations they feel empty and you're movement is restricted. The feeling of freedom and speed just disappears and it becomes more about puzzle-solving and trying to work out which direction to go. We don't mind puzzle-solving, but when there's a bunch of goons on your back constantly shooting at you it can be so frustrating. When DICE does gets it right though, most notably in the levels where there's a much larger area to explore and you get to experiment with your free-running moves on the objects scattered around, Mirror's Edge is an exhilarating experience that manages to stimulate your senses with it's eye-catching visual style.

The art style is unique, with brilliant whites contrasting with primary colors such as bold reds and deep blues. The use of mirrored-glass gives the illusion that spaces are bigger than the actually are and gives the outside locations depth and scale. Even the color schemes of the minimalist interiors work their magic on your senses as you move from dark corridors to bright open rooms and then get blasted by bright oranges, pastel greens and royal blues. Mirror's Edge is an instantly visually appealing game that is let down somewhat by the actual level design and restricted freedom that comes as part of that. Combining free-running with limp combat and puzzle-solving just hasn't quite worked.

There is hope though. Mirror's Edge is an ambitious game and this, so we're told, is just the first in a trilogy. Although we didn't always enjoy this free-running action adventure it does have massive potential and we're looking forward to seeing whether DICE can recreate the excitement of the earlier levels throughout the whole game. As it stands, Mirror's Edge is still worth a look, but prepared to be frustrated as you're freedom is taken away from you the further you progress.

The Bottom Line: Mirror's Edge is both unique and stimulating, but it rapidly loses momentum after a great start.
Pros:
Visually stimulating
Simple, but fun to execute free-running moves

Cons:
Combat is useless
Enemies constantly on your tail gets annoying
Interior locations - bland level design.

SCORE : 6.5/10

[andres]

Ready to roll!

[The_Only]

I'll start reading over this now.

[The_Only]

Edited & Live.

Great stuff, Steve!

[curryking1]

Steven, I've loved all of your work up until this point. I wasn't going to say anything, but I'm kind of disappointed with this entire review overall. I'll list out the reasons as to why I feel this way.

1. You obviously reviewed the 360-format of the title, which in my opinion, is something we should NEVER be doing, ever.

2. On top of reviewing the wrong platform of this title, you also chose to utilize face buttons and shoulder buttons of the rival console within your review. EX: "Press 'Y' to disarm them automatically."

There is no "Y" button on a PlayStation controller. This goes deeper with the inclusion of "LB," which is also not a part of DualShock 3.

3. The cons you've listed go against pretty much EVERYTHING this game was INTENDED to include.

(A) The entire point of being a free runner in Mirror's Edge is to RUN places while avoiding combat when possible. That's why the 360 version has achievements for this type of gameplay. Calling the combat "pointless" is completely unnecessary because Faith isn't supposed to be some martial arts champion of combat. She's a Parkour runner who is mainly supposed to avoid confrontation and get her job done. Her combat talents are exactly what would be expected from someone in this line of work within the world's frame that Mirror's Edge is set in.

(B) Government Officials tailing Faith far too often is not a con. What else would you expect to happen when an entire police force is after one individual and knows exactly who that individual is and has eyes everywhere? They're going to know almost your every move and know your every step. That is exactly what Mirror's Edge provides for the gamer. Of course you're always going to have guys tailing you almost non-stop. You're a wanted fugitive who lifted evidence from the scene of the crime and are a potential accomplice to the Politicians murder. It's exactly what the real situation would be like. Also -- Regarding the whole negativity around the idea of not having enough time to think and react. That's kind of the point. One mistake, one second too long, one inch too short and it's all over... not only in Mirror's Edge but in the real world as well. The game wouldn't be nearly as challenging if it left you sitting there getting to plan your route of escape. It's really stretching it.

(C) Interior locations and limited exit points. When you're 50 stories into a building, you're not going to have many options. There are doors, vents, stairs and elevators. Obviously just stepping into an open elevator right away wouldn't provide any challenge. But how many escape routes do you see in a real life office building? Very few. Faith is put into that same position. It's not like a jungle-platformer where you have 1,000 different vines to swing from. You have limited ledges, limited vent systems and limited doors to go through. Out of those limitations only 1 or 2 ways can ever realistically work and Mirror's Edge plays into that well.

You can't knock the lack of time to do something and knock the limited amount of ways you can go. Those two things HAVE to go hand-in-hand in order to be brought into that "world of running." There are only so many ways you can run across rooftops, the fact Mirror's Edge doesn't add some unbelievable possible routes is something that is a positive in the game. It gives you a sense of arcade, but it also throws at you a very nice dose of realism to an extent.

4. I believe the score is incredibly unjustified (I can't really talk considering I gave FaceBreaker an 8, lol).

Also, if any of this sounds like an attack or too "direct." Don't take it that way. This is just how I talk/type. Eric and a couple of others can verify that, lol. This is also just 100% my opinion.

[andres]

Steven, I've loved all of your work up until this point. I wasn't going to say anything, but I'm kind of disappointed with this entire review overall. I'll list out the reasons as to why I feel this way.

1. You obviously reviewed the 360-format of the title, which in my opinion, is something we should NEVER be doing, ever.

2. On top of reviewing the wrong platform of this title, you also chose to utilize face buttons and shoulder buttons of the rival console within your review. EX: "Press 'Y' to disarm them automatically."

There is no "Y" button on a PlayStation controller. This goes deeper with the inclusion of "LB," which is also not a part of DualShock 3.

3. The cons you've listed go against pretty much EVERYTHING this game was INTENDED to include.

(A) The entire point of being a free runner in Mirror's Edge is to RUN places while avoiding combat when possible. That's why the 360 version has achievements for this type of gameplay. Calling the combat "pointless" is completely unnecessary because Faith isn't supposed to be some martial arts champion of combat. She's a Parkour runner who is mainly supposed to avoid confrontation and get her job done. Her combat talents are exactly what would be expected from someone in this line of work within the world's frame that Mirror's Edge is set in.

(B) Government Officials tailing Faith far too often is not a con. What else would you expect to happen when an entire police force is after one individual and knows exactly who that individual is and has eyes everywhere? They're going to know almost your every move and know your every step. That is exactly what Mirror's Edge provides for the gamer. Of course you're always going to have guys tailing you almost non-stop. You're a wanted fugitive who lifted evidence from the scene of the crime and are a potential accomplice to the Politicians murder. It's exactly what the real situation would be like. Also -- Regarding the whole negativity around the idea of not having enough time to think and react. That's kind of the point. One mistake, one second too long, one inch too short and it's all over... not only in Mirror's Edge but in the real world as well. The game wouldn't be nearly as challenging if it left you sitting there getting to plan your route of escape. It's really stretching it.

(C) Interior locations and limited exit points. When you're 50 stories into a building, you're not going to have many options. There are doors, vents, stairs and elevators. Obviously just stepping into an open elevator right away wouldn't provide any challenge. But how many escape routes do you see in a real life office building? Very few. Faith is put into that same position. It's not like a jungle-platformer where you have 1,000 different vines to swing from. You have limited ledges, limited vent systems and limited doors to go through. Out of those limitations only 1 or 2 ways can ever realistically work and Mirror's Edge plays into that well.

You can't knock the lack of time to do something and knock the limited amount of ways you can go. Those two things HAVE to go hand-in-hand in order to be brought into that "world of running." There are only so many ways you can run across rooftops, the fact Mirror's Edge doesn't add some unbelievable possible routes is something that is a positive in the game. It gives you a sense of arcade, but it also throws at you a very nice dose of realism to an extent.

4. I believe the score is incredibly unjustified (I can't really talk considering I gave FaceBreaker an 8, lol).

Also, if any of this sounds like an attack or too "direct." Don't take it that way. This is just how I talk/type. Eric and a couple of others can verify that, lol. This is also just 100% my opinion.

Hey Dave,

First off, I've played both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. I've been reviewing games for 5 years and I have never not played the game on the console I should be reviewing it for - that would be unforgivable. However, that's a really bad error on my part to get the 360 controls mixed with the PS3 controls . I write for an Xbox 360 magazine as well, and have generally written many more 360 reviews than PS3, which is why I was probably in the 360 mindset when writing it. That's duly noted, bad mistake there, I apologise and that certainly won't happen again.

So the entire point of being a free-runner is to run? But yet you're thrown into cramped places where freedom of movement is restricted. This goes against what I thought the game was about and in my opinion ruins the flow of the game.

"Not having time to think" - I understand this is part of the game, but it's an unforgiving game mechanic. Trial and error is needed far too often because you have to rush and I became frustrated having to re-start again and then retrace my steps. In the outside levels this isn't too bad because there's plenty of things to climb on and leap over to get out the way.

It looks nice has good ideas, but ultimately doesn't deliver . EA said it was all about momentum and I expected to be a flowing game, I ended up bumping into things, scratching my head and falling to my death more often than not. Perhaps that's because I'm no good at playing it, or perhaps it's because it's an unforgiving game with some poor level design.

If you put combat into a game it should at least be fun. Yes you have the choice most of the time whether to run or fight, but sometimes you don't, you have to fight. It's a waste of time included those other moves at all when you can just disarm them with one button press.

I know where you're coming from, I know plenty of people who love this game, but I also know plenty who don't. I take on board what you're saying, but I still don't agree.

It's disheartening to say that you're disappointed with a review because you disagree with its contents and expected a higher score. I didn't like it as much as you so I give it a lower score, that's my opinion. If I wanted to write what other people thought, I'd ask them to write it for me.

As for the Xbox 360, PS3 thing, I'm an idiot for doing that!

[The_Only]

Dave, i'm quite surprised you felt compelled to go into so much detail on this -- all it boils down to is the fact you disagree with this opinion on the game, really. Pointing out the whole 'Y' thing was perfectly justified, however (although I must admit I simply mistook it for Y as in 'Yes', it didn't even register that it was in relation to the Xbox 360 button layout)

At the end of the day, this thing happens all the time. We've had plenty of controversial scores on PSU in the past -- Usman's Lair review comes to mind, as does your FaceBreaker review, as you even admitted yourself. I doubt many people would have agreed with you on that one.

With respect to Steve, I didn't necessarily agree with some of his complaints for Tomb Raider: Undeworld, as to me they're just part and parcel of the whole TR experience. Despite this, I didn't even mention it, let alone dissect his review, as its his opinion on the game.

Don't misunderstand, i'm not attacking you at all -- i'm just amused you all of a sudden felt the need to go into so much detail as I can't remember the last time you showed such a outspoken view on someone elses work on PSU.

[curryking1]

It's disheartening to say that you're disappointed with a review because you disagree with its contents and expected a higher score. I didn't like it as much as you so I give it a lower score, that's my opinion. If I wanted to write what other people thought, I'd ask them to write it for me.

As for the Xbox 360, PS3 thing, I'm an idiot for doing that!

The entire "disappointment" was really more because I assumed you only played the 360 format. The whole con part, was more opinion-based than anything (as stated). TBH, I can't even believe I typed that much over this, lol. I think it was a combination of lack of sleep and it being like 2 AM.

----

Mike, for the longest time we've only had you, me and Eric writing. With Eric and I always talking on MSN, I never had to really post an opinion on the forum since I usually wasn't on this early with you, lol. As I stated, it was all 100% opinion in relation to the cons and score part. Eric gave me a similar spiel on my FaceBreaker review except through MSN.

I have a lot of respect for Steven (as I've told Seb like 2-3 times already). He does awesome work. I'm just like a "fanboy" though when my opinion of a game is crushed by another :cry:

[The_Only]

Yeah, that's fair enough Dave. I didn't mean to sound rude or anything, I was just abit surprised that's all. And you make a good point, I had completely forgotten about the fact you chat with Eric alot on MSN.

I'd know this if I spoke to you on MSN more, but our time zones aren't exactly compatible, although I do talk to Justin alot as he's pretty much our resident insomniac. :mrgreen:

Respect, mate.

[andres]

No worries guys, we've kissed and made up. Everyone has an opinion. I do tend to be more critical than a lot of reviewers sometimes.

Mind you, I'm toying on whether to give COD WaW 8.5 or 9. Now I love that game!

[BustenRhymes7790]

Critical is good, but even I think this may have been a bit harsh. I snagged this from GameFly and I've been playing through it, and while I don't think it's a masterpiece, I don't think it's a 6.5 either. I really enjoy the running gameplay, but I feel like they just stopped after that and didn't attempt to improve a few other important mechanics. IMO, this is a 7.5. To each his own.

P.S. I wasn't upset with your review score, that's just my take on things.

[highazz_vegeta]

well, I think that I'd agree with Eric, even though I only played demo.

[andres]

This is why I wanted clarification on what PSU review scoring system was when I started, but didn't get it. To me 6.5 is a decent score, worth a look, which as far as I'm concerned is what Mirror's Edge is, a good game, nothing more.

The scoring system that the likes of IGN and Gamespot use are far too generous. 7/10 isn't average, which is what they suggest and what the industry assumes.

5/10 is average. 6.5/10 is above average.

There should either be standards set or it should be left up to reviewers to decide. As I see no standards, I'll make my own mind up on marks out of 10, until someone tells me to take a hike. I'm still adamant that Mirror's Edge deserves no more than 6.5/10.

[curryking1]

This is why I wanted clarification on what PSU review scoring system was when I started, but didn't get it. To me 6.5 is a decent score, worth a look, which as far as I'm concerned is what Mirror's Edge is, a good game, nothing more.

The scoring system that the likes of IGN and Gamespot use are far too generous. 7/10 isn't average, which is what they suggest and what the industry assumes.

5/10 is average. 6.5/10 is above average.

There should either be standards set or it should be left up to reviewers to decide. As I see no standards, I'll make my own mind up on marks out of 10, until someone tells me to take a hike. I'm still adamant that Mirror's Edge deserves no more than 6.5/10.
As the game industry evolved, the scoring system evolved. 7.0 is the new 5.0 like 30 is the new 20, lol.

[highazz_vegeta]

hm..
well, seems like

5 = Meh
6 = Not too bad
7 = good
8 = really good
9 = great!
10 = phenomenal!!

[BustenRhymes7790]

To me, 6.0 is an average game. A bad game might fall in the 4.0-5.0 range, while a good (but not great) game falls in the 7.0-8.0 range. You do see a lot of sites using 7.0/7.5 as average. That's definitely too high.

[curryking1]

To me, 6.0 is an average game. A bad game might fall in the 4.0-5.0 range, while a good (but not great) game falls in the 7.0-8.0 range. You do see a lot of sites using 7.0/7.5 as average. That's definitely too high.

I can't count how many times we've had that conversation, lol. Things definitely need to change with it.

[The_Only]

The scoring system that the likes of IGN and Gamespot use are far too generous. 7/10 isn't average, which is what they suggest and what the industry assumes.

5/10 is average. 6.5/10 is above average.

100% agreed, all this 7/10 stuff is codswollop, 5/10 was and always should equal an average score. Seriously, who makes all this shit up?