You are not playing Mirror's Edge the correct way.

Look at the way Mirror's Edge starts. Faith wall runs along a billboard hundreds of feet in the air and leaps off on to a narrow crane protruding from another building entirely. It was one of the most amazing jumps in the game and the player has no control over it. I think this sets up a very important fact about Faith. She is extremely fucking good at what she does. Following this opening sequence is the player clumsily getting used to both Faith and her environment. Not a great way to start a game about an expert free runner.

Doesn't hold your hand. Expects you to know.

Not long. Can be half way through before you get this comfort.


Being comfortable with knowing what you can or can not do is important to maintaining flow in this game.

Combat being hard is fine. The Parkour shouldnt be. Remember, the cops fight back is new to her. Combat probably is as well.

The problem is that Mirror's Edge is designed for the player to use limited combat to incapacite an enemy or two before proceeding with their parkour knowledge to escape the situtation. The player could attempt dispose of all enemies in the area, but I don't think the game is designed for that.