The bit-tech Winter Games Preview 2008

Mirror’s Edge

Released: To be confirmed
Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Mirror’s Edge has been one of the lesser known titles of this year so far, with little more than a few trailers and comic books being distributed to show-off the game, it has still managed to become one of the most awaited and anticipated titles of this year.

Well, Nvidia has certainly been pumping it up as its triple-A saviour since Mirror’s Edge features PhysX – a physics engine that has recently been ported to allow hardware acceleration on, predictably, Nvidia graphics cards.

On the surface Mirror’s Edge is just another sci-fi FPS game about dystopian society and the underground network of rebels opposing it. What makes Mirror’s Edge different though is that it doesn’t cast you as a super footsoldier in the rebel army, but as a contracted courier hired to run messages all over the city.

With the focus heavily shifted from combat to platforming, but with the view still held in the first-person perspective, Mirror’s Edge allows players to make use of advanced parkour moves in order to navigate the complex and strikingly sterile environments.


Don’t be fooled though – just because the white walls and floors of Mirror’s Edge look plain doesn’t mean that they’ll stay that way and by using the Runner Vision feature you’ll be able to light up new paths and routes through the levels easily.

There are a few things that have Mirror’s Edge still shrouded in uncertainty and mystery, such as how well the combat will work in this truly first person mode, but if there’s one thing that Mirror’s Edge looks to have nailed then it’s capturing the sense of momentum, speed and agility that we all secretly long for.

Why we can’t wait: The level design alone looks worth playing for.
Want to know more? Check out this trailer of in-game footage.

Fallout 3

Released: Autumn 2008
Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Fallout is back with a bang and a mushroom-shaped cloud this year, though from a different developer and a wholly different viewpoint. In fact, a whole lot has changed in Bethesda’s interpretation of the classic Fallout games.

Set in a post apocalyptic wasteland, Fallout 3 casts players as a citizen of a great underground vault which has protected the inhabitants from the fallout of a nuclear war and kept them alive in safety and comfort. Yet, when your father suddenly goes missing one day then it is down to you to venture into the wastes and find him.


Being billed as the first-person RPG to beat Oblivion – even by the developers, Fallout 3 gives players a chance to roam the vast, ruined expanse of Washington DC and sift through the detritus of human civilisation.

It won’t be easy of course, there are mutants and worse hunting you and just because you can switch the game between real-time FPS combat and a powered-up turn-based mode on the fly doesn’t mean you’re invulnerable.

On top of that, Bethesda has removed the controversial world-levelling feature that was used in Oblivion – so expect the game to be much more challenging from the off.

Thankfully then the emphasis in Fallout 3 is on alternate paths and giving the player different routes through the same quests, whether that be diplomacy, stealth or all out violence – something that will guarantee replay ability and depth if the boasts are to be believed.

Why we can’t wait: Any game with Dogmeat in it is an instant win.
Want to know more? Check out our Hands-on Fallout 3 Preview.