While movies and games can both be innovative, it is important that the means with which you interact with them work well. For example, if you go to a movie theater that’s too noisy, or if the chairs are uncomfortable, you’re not going to have the same experience you’d have if those things weren’t an issue, and would alter your opinion of the film no matter how good or innovative it is. There may also have been problems with the camera angles, or crappy editing, or terrible actors. It doesn’t matter how good the story is, or how innovative it is, because the fundamentals of movie-making were done poorly, and that will affect your opinion of it.
Yes, the ideas in Mirror’s Edge were innovative and generally enjoyable, but some argue that there were a few “niggling decisions” that kept it from being truly stellar. When playing a game, not only do you have to worry about the degree of comfort in your sofa, you have to worry about the fundamental aspects of a game that make it a game. These can include (and are not limited to) button layouts, camera position and sensitivity, voice-acting, narravite, combat mechanics, etc. , which can greatly or not-so-greatly, impact your decision of the game as a whole – no matter how good or innovative it is. These are the basic components that absolutely cannot be overlooked for the sake of innovation. While I’m not saying that innovation isn’t important, especially these days where every other blockbuster title features another gravely-voiced space-marine or unlikely RPG hero, it needs to be said that innovation cannot be a free pass as an excuse for sub-standard basic game design.
As for the whole, “I can’t wait for the sequel” stuff Stuart comments on, this is an area where a comparison to film doesn’t work. It has nothing to do with longevity, it has to do with having a better experience with something you believe could be done better. For example, lets say I go out to a really nice restaurant, and I order an innovative new pasta dish.
Got pasta in it? Check. Got some new and interesting sauce? Check. Got some veggies or meats in there, finely and innovatively prepared? Check. Well, lets sit down and have a bite then. This is the point that I discover that the chicken was overcooked, and that the pasta was too al dente for my liking. Maybe the sauce was too thin or too thick, and maybe the wine the waiter suggested didn’t pair as well as he said it would.
Yes, this meal fulfils my lust for something new and different, and it should be commended for doing so. Unforunately, it falls short in the areas that a pasta dish should have done right from the beginning. However, I see potential in this dish, and I hope the next time I visit this restaurant and order it again that it might come out better.
In conclusion, creativity and innovation should be, and certainly is, awarded. However, this does not give game designers (or directors for that matter), free reign to do whatever they want for the sake of innovation and not expect any kind of negative feedback. There’s always a risk to trying new things, and I’m not saying that Mirror’s Edge fell flat on it’s face for doing so, but it may have stumbled in what could have been an otherwise more enjoyable parkour experience.
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