I really wanted Mirror's Edge to be my next favorite game. It started out so well. The only issue was that it was a little too challenging for my taste. But no game is perfect, right?

I found out at the end of chapter four that Mirror's Edge was just too difficult for me. The end no longer justified the means - I was attempting jumps over twenty times and turning off the game out of frustration. And I wasn't even to the fifth chapter. I read through the rest of the chapter on a walkthrough and found that I would not only have to jump onto a moving train - I'd have to dodge cement columns and jump onto other moving trains. The thrill of a challenge was gone. I lost hope.

I talked with my friends, wondering if I was just an inferior gamer and if I was really missing something. One of my friends finished the game, carefully explaining that there was little reward in the story or the gameplay. Enemies became nearly impossible to avoid, and the unpolished combat system became crippling. The game was tedious and expected the near impossible, requiring more luck than skill.

I was hesitant to give up on Mirror's Edge, but, after hearing my friend's bleak report regarding the rest of the game, I lost all motivation to continue. Mirror's Edge had so much potential with the sleek aesthetic, fantastic parkour mechanics, and solid opening level design. It's unfortunate that the attempt to make it more difficult seems unbalanced, perhaps by developers and testers too familiar with their game to see the unrealistic expectations on the player. If the entire game had been scaled to match the levels from the beginning chapters, it may have been a fun experience. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to give up on Mirror's Edge, as it is simply too difficult.