Mirror's Edge: Catalyst will have no gunplay

Mirror's Edge

There was concern among Mirror's Edge fans that Electronic Arts' promise to add "new, interesting gameplay and features" to Mirror's Edge: Catalyst was code for something simpler: More guns. Firearms were present in the original, but they were rare and not always particularly useful, and never the focus of gameplay. And I think it's safe to say that the prospect of "more shooting" wasn't at the top of too many "must have" lists. Fortunately, EA says there's nothing to worry about.

"In Mirror's Edge: Catalyst, you won't be using any guns at all," Senior Producer Sara Jansson told Polygon. "We've completely removed that aspect of the game. You can't even pick them up."

Of course, Faith will still have to get heavy now and then, but the fighting in Catalyst "is more of an extension of the movement," Jansson said. "It builds on the flow. It fits a lot better with the game mechanics. When Faith is in flow, when she stitches together move after move without failing and keeps her momentum going, she's actually invulnerable to bullets. That can keep her out of harm's way. It's only when she stops that she can get hurt."

That's an interesting twist, too; we haven't seen how it works yet, but EA is clearly putting the focus on speed and unbroken movement. And that's what we want, right? Mirror's Edge: Catalyst comes out on February 23. Don't miss the E3 announcement trailer, right here.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.