How was the article?

News
2016/05

Icarus From Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst Is Faith’s Little Helper

In a recent interview, Jeff Berg and Fay Kingslee talked up their respective 3D thespians whose roles their assume in Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, the first-person platformer from the masters at DICE. We learn about the motion capture process, a little bit about composer Magnus Birgersson and his approach to the soundtrack (which I can’t wait to hear in full) and there was even some discussion from the original Faith who was voiced by Jules De Jongh.

The 22 minute interview was conducted by the good folks over at Audioboom on their Double Tap program. If you have even the slightest interest in Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst it might be worth checking out. You can grab a listen to the full thing below.

Icarus is mentioned as being “Faith’s little helper” in the interview, which is pretty funny.

Both the voice actresses mention that they were really drawn to Faith as a character, and Fay Kingslee liked that in the sequel Faith is no longer using guns, something that I actually really, really don’t like.

Even still, Jules De Jongh spoke highly of the first game’s director and his “method” approach for getting the most out of her using unorthodox directing techniques.

As for the sequel, Kingslee and her co-star Jeff Berg talk a lot about how there’s a lot more backstory and characterization this time around.

I have to be completely honest: Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst worries me greatly.

The one thing that I absolutely adored so, so much about the first Mirror’s Edge was how minimalist it was on story and characterization. It allowed players to immerse themselves more into the world as opposed to being distracted with the characters. I know some critics have complained about the first game’s lack of story, but I thought the sort of realistic Super Mario approach to having Faith save her sister and beat the baddie at the end was simplistic enough to warrant multiple playthroughs and – once again – minimalist enough that the writing and story weren’t overbearing on the gameplay and parkour.

Mirror's Edge: Catalyst - Image29

It’s weird but Rhianna Pratchett took the complete opposite approach with the Tomb Raider reboots, putting more emphasis on the characterizations. Then again Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider both sold well enough so I guess it works.

We’ll see how well that kind of deeper characterization comes to life in Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst. The first game became iconic for its parkour and art direction, coupled with that drop dead amazing soundtrack from Solar Fields. I really, really hope DICE doesn’t drop the ball by turning the pre-sequel into standard fare AAA trash that EA is known for producing.

The interview itself was interesting, and anyone who wants to check it out should definitely do so by either listening to it above or checking it out over on Audioboom. You can look for Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst to launch on June 7th for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Other News