It's nice to see some original thinking in computer gaming, and the concept of an action-adventure based on free running is certainly a novel one. If you're not familiar with free running, it's basically legging it around urban areas, vaulting up walls, jumping down stairwells and leaping from rooftop to rooftop while rolling acrobatically. It's a nutter's game, really, but very impressive to watch.

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In the futuristic state-oppressed society of Mirror's Edge, the runners operate on the fringes of the law, delivering messages and cargo for the underground resistance. Naturally you play one such runner, and the police don't like you one bit, particularly after you've been framed in a murder plot. They shoot to kill and ask questions later, so some damn quick running is in order.

Leaping from rooftops, timing a key press to land and roll safely, then vaulting off over a fence before sprinting horizontally across a billboard is marvellous fun. The game really gives you a flavour of street running as you build up speed by chaining together such athletic moves, and the graphics reinforce this with some excellent touches, including speed blurs, palpable jolts and bone-wrenching shudders as you hit various surfaces hard.