When Mirror’s Edge Catalyst launches next month, it will, hopefully, be a far better game than the original, which had a lot of potential and great promise, but which faltered in its execution. Certainly, DICE seem to be learning all the right lessons from the first game to make Catalyst a more compelling proposition.
However, one of the changes that they have introduced in Catalyst seems to be drawing the ire of the fans of the original game- the decision to lock abilities behind an RPG like progression based skill tree system. However, in an interview with Gamespot, DICE’s senior producer Jeremy Miller explained that the decision had been made to help players get more familiar with the abilities they do have access to more organically.
“The RPG element is really about allowing the player to engage in the tools, because it is a unique way of interacting with the world,” he said in an interview with GameSpot.
“We’ve got a different control scheme. It’s a little more intuitive and fluid. Part of having this progression in there is to allow you to be able to master your tools, and to give you a little bit of breathing room so you feel confident and excited about what you can do.”
A lot of these changes, Miller explained, were made in response to the feedback from the original game.
“The quick-turn is a slightly more abstract tool and people didn’t use it as much [in Mirror’s Edge],” he said.
“We’ve seen a distinct increase in people going, ‘Oh, I’ve got this, how do I use it?’ It’s worked into people’s movement language much more successfully as a result of doing that.”
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst will launch next month on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. A closed beta for the game will be held later this month.
