What this review and many others completely miss (probably as they have never vaulted a railing) is the way in which Mirrors Edge unlike (the wonderful) Assasins Creed comes much closer to a virtual representation of Parkour than anything before; there is no in air adjustments, no auto aim, auto jump or auto anything else, it relies on your ability to notice oppurtunities, your skill in first person perspective most importantly timing. This is a platform game built on the long forgotten rules of the old guard of platformers, something the time trail mode makes beautifully clear. In the end the game is more arcade than immersion, stripped down for speed. The only place it falls short in is the level design, which sometimes misses the point, but i believe that the thrill of being chased, the feeling of weightlessness when you leave the ground and tuck in your legs, the momentum driven slide and the enjoyment of perfectly gliding through a level on your 10th playthrough gives this game an entirely unique place in my collection.

Has anyone else noticed the lack of the DS or other portable interfaces? the satisfyingly clicky and very tactile menus of the DS are one of my favourites, the wii is satisfying but not quite so physical. Thinking about it, even the Gamecube offered a very tactile menu system, due to its use of sound, and a wonderful drum intro if you could be bothered to press four seperate z buttons exactly as the catchy intro ditty began...