Imagine this – There you are, standing on the rooftop of a building 40 stories high. You walk up to the edge of the building, look down, and all you see in the ant-size figures of people just routinely strolling by. One mistake, one slipup, and you’re swallowed by the vast oceanic pavement below. The sky is bright blue, the wind in your hair and the sun glimmering in your eyes. Merely several feet away to your right stands the next building. The rooftop is maybe just one, maybe two feet below you. You ask yourself – “If I jump, would I make it?”
Taking imagination aside – would you jump? Probably not.
But who are we kidding. This is the 21st century – unless you’ve trained your whole life in the art of free-running or parkour, why risk your life when a simple mistake could possibly mean broken bones DEATH. (Who am I kidding – you’re jumping from 40 stories up!)
EA’s 2009 PC release of “Mirror’s Edge” lets you experience the above in a simulated virtual space, whilst sitting in the comfort of your lazyboy while you repeatedly commit suicide attempt your daredevilish leaps from building to building.
If you’re a critic rating junkie, you probably would’ve noticed this top-rated game back in its day. Top game review websites such as IGN and GameTrailers gave outstanding praises, rating the game a solid 8/10 and 8.3/10 respectively. Metacritics have given Mirror’s Edge a hefty 81% overall rating.
As for me, it wasn’t until a couple months ago when I was introduced to the counterpart Mirror’s Edge iPad app. You see, I had just watched the Tempest Freerunning Academy viral video, and the concept of freerunnning was appealing enough to bring up and talk about in numerous social activities. Whilst expressing my interest, I was shown the game and had a waft of its brilliance if only for a couple of minutes.
I was intrigued.
I installed the PC version of the game onto my computer, and within the first level of the game I found myself basking in glory at the sheer brilliance of Mirror’s Edge gameplay and its user-experience.
If you’re no stranger to first-person shooter games, Mirror’s Edge is not at all harder to learn than any other FPS game available. In fact, the fluidity and familiarity of the user control and gameplay makes it far more appealing than you’d expect.
Besides the building-to-building soaring capabilities, Mirror’s Edge extends itself with FPS basics of fire-arm equipment, which is only available when grabbing one off an enemy NPC. This is then normally followed up with a sequence of over-the-arm tuck, roll, SLAM manoeuvre performed by the main character. That shit never gets old.
Obstacles are not scarce. More often than not, you will find yourself jumping wall to wall whilst search for possible routes of escape. The only available directors are colored red or blue objects scattered around the terrain, signalling a possible jump ahead.
Words cannot describe the insatiable heart-thumping fear you experience through the virtual window of your PC as you leap over walls and across buildings.
The visuals, as well as the surrounding audio (not forgetting the awesome soundtrack!), takes you on a journey of excitement, anxiety and entertainment that thrill-seekers can enjoy in the comfort of their own home.
This is definitely a game worth playing at least once in your life.
Still not convinced? Watch the trailer video of Mirror’s Edge below.
Available in single player & multiplayer online. Rated ESRB [T] suitable for teenagers 13 and above.
Mirror’s Edge is also available on iOS devices, but contains a completely separate user experience from the review above.
It’s a fact that I’ve literally been there since you was born, and I’m sure, being my sister and all, you know that somewhere packed inside my head is a story we’ve both consciously tried to forget.
Which is why I’m surprised you chose me for this job.
Regret is not an option.
Throughout this process, I will try my best to share our most memorable moments and shower you with “happy thoughts”.
But I will have to admit that its going to be extremely hard considering I was there when we were still running around the house in less than our underwear, benevolently fighting for that ducky potty.
Don’t pretend you don’t remember.
Tish and I weren’t always the close brother and sister that we are now.
Growing up we were just like any ordinary brother and sister.
I remember the household consisting alot of endless Tom and Jerry fights, countless broken toys from being tossed at each other, and the endless cries of “MOOOOOOOOOOM!! TESHAH STOLE MY DIGIMON AGAIN!”
Cliché as it was, this did happen.
As a baby, she earned the nickname Lamb Chop from her fat chubby thighs.
Alot of my youth that I remember consists of a hatred of Tish’s guts. When we’d start an argument, she was always one who’d never admit defeat. No matter who was right, she’d always end up strutting into my room, messing up my cupboards, and walk outta there like a boss.
Yelling “MOM!” was like an endless cry of “Wolf!”. It stopped working after a while.
Tish was heartless! On top of that, she was moreso stubborn!
There were times when her stubbornness went a little too far.
As kids, one of the greatest battle for pride was calling shotgun on the frontseat. The competition started the moment we put our shoes on.
Like there was nothing more important than taking that front seat, we’d sprint to the car, place a hand on the handle, and booty-block the other from even remotely coming near – whoever was first to reach the car door had the joy of projecting a real-life :P smiley with no consequences!
:P
Mum made a simple rule to counteract our whinging– we would alternate between shotguns. I ride there, Tish rides back. And vice versa.
Well there was this one time we were heading out to the local bowling alley. My Aunt, who was visiting from overseas, told us that she wanted to get us our own bowling balls as a Christmas gift.
We were ecstatic.
Routinely, we raced and the both of us caught the door handle at the exact same time. Tish shoved me away from the door, getting into the front seat, and locking it shut.
Tish rode shotgun last. It was my turn to sit infront.
There we were, shouting like cats and dogs. My Aunt, knowing my mum’s simple rule, side with me and gave Tish an ultimatum.
“If you don’t let Adam sit infront, you won’t get your own Christmas bowling ball.”
Being stubborn has always been one of Tish’s many flawless traits. Maybe sitting infront was more important than the bowling ball; maybe she thought my aunt was bluffing; maybe she just couldn’t give into her pride.
Either way, she didn’t flinch.
I got that bowling ball for Christmas.
Tish didn’t.
She never made me forget that.
Well I didn’t really HATE Tish. Hate is too strong a word. I’d say it was more of an undying but bareable dislike against my younger sister.
With that said, I applaud my parents for creating this bond we now share.
Tish and I would attend after school tuition together. We did the same sporting activities together. We even shared the dream of one day joining the cast of Barney the Dinosaur.
In 1998 mum and dad made plans for us to stay with our Aunt for our school holidays (the same Aunt that denied Tish her bowling ball).
She lived in Saipan – a small island off the coast of Guam.
It was an 18 hour flight from Malaysia including transits.
I was 9; Tish was 8.
I think it was since then that we’ve been each others security blanket.
One memory stood out more than the rest.
It was our first visit to Walmart.
I kid you not, Walmart in Christmas was probably BETTER than Toys R Us! Everything was beautifully decorated, lights glimmering while the speakers sang festive tunes.
Best of all – there were toys scattered across the giant warehouse!
The first thing that caught our eyes whilst walking into Walmart was the massive Barney the Dinosaur doll centred in the hallway.
Without hesitation, we ran up to grab the biggest Barney doll we could find.
This Barney doll was a head taller than I was. Probably two heads taller than Tish!
Barney was double the size!
For two hours, we were living the dream.
We had our very own lifesize Barney doll – lugging it around Walmart as if puppeteered by Barney himself.
We were so determined to fly the doll back with us to Malaysia. Unfortunately, that would consist of an extra seat on the plane, which my Aunt strongly advised against.
Instead, we downgraded and bought the miniature versions.
Nonetheless, we were still gleefully excited!
Tish is a genuine foodie.
Tish always loved her food.
Her favourite was and always has been fried chicken.
Visiting KFC was pretty much a regular!
Om nom nom…
Speaking of food, there was this one time when Tish and I were playing in the garden. Vigorously chasing each other back and forth, Tish was no stranger to having something edible fisted between her palm and fingers.
In this one particular scenario, Tish tripped while chasing me, fell down and scraped her cheek on a pavement next to our resident drain well.
She started tearing, somber eyed, sobbing and muttering words I couldn’t decipher.
“Are you OK? What’s wrong?” I asked.
Glary eyed, she looked up at me, then back down into the well – her fingers pointed at a small object at the bottom.
“MY LAST FISHBALL!!!” she cried.
Some may say Tish is a tough cookie. Hit her in the head, and she’ll hit you back.
But I know the true Tish. Take her food away from her, and expect an epic display of waterworks.
Things didn’t change much throughout our teenage years. She’d always be there in my background annoying the shit outta me and my friends. (Naive as I was, years later Tish admitted that she was in fact flirting with most of them).
Not only that, but whatever cool new thing I got for myself, she had to get as well – nullifying its “cool” factor.
Like one time I bought this sweet backpack. One where you sling a strap over one shoulder and Velcro it across your chest. It was pretty sweet I must say – a black back bag with a neon orange lining.
I thought I was the shit. I knew I was the shit.
As I walked out of the store, head held high with my proud new purchase, Tish walks out 5 minutes later with the exact SAME bag, with the exact SAME velcro strap, slinging over the exact SAME shoulder as me.
Instead of the orange lining, it was a light blue.
“It’s not the same Ko, mine’s blue!” was her reason.
I don’t think I ever used my orange bag again.
Ever since we landed in Australia, the obligatory bonds that made us siblings have grown only stronger throughout the years.
Being away from our parents taught us to depend on one another for more than just security – at that point we only had each other for family.
I left a year before she did. I was 14 that time. The final moments back home was hard to let go. Tish would always have a smile on her face, saying stuff like “You’re going to have so much fun in Australia!” or “Make sure you don’t come back saying MATE!”
*cough* Look who’s talking now… *cough*
I didn’t know I could feel the type of sadness I felt til I was at the airport on my final few minutes before departure.
As I said bye to Mum and Dad, tears in mums eyes swelling as Mum said bye to her only son. I stayed strong. Only droplets emerging in my eyes.
It wasn’t until Tish came in for her embrace that I couldn’t help but bawl my eyes out.
Tish gave me one of the biggest hugs of my life.
Her eyes started watering. Her body was shivering. It was like she was physically saying “Don’t go, I’m going to miss you so much” – but the words were never said.
At that point I realised I was leaving more than my family behind.
I was leaving my baby sister behind.
Tish and I grew up side by side.
I’ve seen my sister grow from the bud in a bed of flowers, to the beautiful rose she that stands out above the rest, thorns inclusive!
I hope you know how much sense you’ve made in my life and how much it all means.
To show my gratitude for being there the past 21 years, I prepared a little surprise.
There I was, standing in a dimly lit room with neon-lights gleaming in the shadows. It took more than a few moments for my eyes to properly adjust. It was fairly dark, but just bright enough to navigate throughout the terrain without helplessly stumbling over the beamed structures that was scattered across the arena.
We purposefully positioned ourselves behind covered walls, firearms in hand, body quavering as the tiny lightbulbs on our body armour blinked profusely.
I looked down at my gun. ACTIVATING in 5, 4, 3, 2…
The sounds of sirens blared through the sound system. “Woop! Woop!” It was the signal!
My weapon told me all that I needed to know. The battle had begun. Specks of Red,Blue and Green could be seen jetting back and forth behind barriers. It was now or never, and I knew it was all going to end in an EPIC bloodbath!
A week prior, I received a facebook notification titled “Another October Birthday”.
I knew October was going to be busy. It is every year. Whether it was coincidence or a planned venture, a number of my closest friends seem to have parents who chose to get their groove on in the early weeks of the year.
Ephraim’s was no exception. Celebrating his second chinese zodiac this year, Ephraim – or Eph as we call him – wanted to do something a little more exciting than the routine celebratory drinks at the pub.
Nor did he want to ride the Eph.
Through facebook, he gave us a choice between Karaoke or Laser Tag. There was no contest.
Saturday came and we assembled. There were 10 of us – a perfect amount to evenly distribute us into separate teams.
As we sat there waiting for assignment, an attendant walked out from behind the doors ushering us into a small confined room decorated with only a single television set.
“The briefing is about to begin. Pay attention and you’ll be fine,” she said with such authority.
Several minutes later, we found ourselves strapping on harnesses, which ultimately dictated the differences between frags and death.
We were told that anything that lit up were our susceptible points. These included our torso, front and back, our shoulders and our firearm.
Lock and loaded, we were given barely a moment to familiarise ourselves with the unknown terrain. A base pod was scattered above eye-level in 3 separate corners of the arena.
It was ours to claim and ours to defend.
Never did I imagine that the years I spent playing Counter Strike as a young teenager would be included in my list of skillsets I could put to use as a young adult.
Duck, squat, point and shoot. Those were the key elements I needed to succeed.
As I jungled walked through the concrete arena, everything seemed second nature to me. My laser pointer adjusted itself so accurately, it seemed like I was using some sort of real-life aimbot!
“Well done!” as I took out five in a row. “Good job!” the voice said. My laser gun was speaking to me, shouting me praises for each frag.
Each time I was taken out, I respawned 10 seconds later – repositioning myself accordingly.
Time felt like it lasted only as long as a song on the radio. In fact, the 20-minute war was over in a couple flashes.
My t-shirt was soaked, my eyes were teary. Sweat accumulated on my forehead soaked through the beanie I had covering my head.
Everyone slowly walked out of the arena and into the foyer, whilst panting words of excitement to each other.
A large TV screen hung from the ceiling in the foyer. Colors that seperated the teams were categorising the list of candidates that had just participated in the grueling laser frenzy.
To the left of everyone’s name was their overall rank; to the right was their overall score.
I gave out a hefty laugh and a beaming smile as I saw mine.
The Mister Mode: Fashion Night Market team is back and returns once again this SUMMER with a promo video that will get the hairs on your arms screaming in excitement!
More stalls, more bargains, more booze, more FUN! If you missed out on the last event, you WON’T want to miss out on this one!
Despite the beautiful warm weather Melbourne has offered us lately, there’s been deadlines I had to meet and numerous responsibilities I had to attend to. The company I currently work with have just moved offices, and the unpacking of boxes is yet to end! Big sigh…
On a lighter note, t-shirts and shorts have been creeping back into my daily wardrobe. And to compliment that, I have been slowly gaining back my fitness with Badminton and Gymming included in my weekly routine. Yay!
Lots to show and tell, but only when busy weeks finally slow down.
So here’s something different – a review on a New York Times best-selling book “Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. It’s been a while since I last sat down and spent some time immersing myself in a graphic-less novel.
Hunger Games was recommended by my 16 year-old sister, Bella, as one of the best books she’s ever read. Intrigued and fascinated at the chance to dwelve into the insightful mind of this modern decade teenager, I seized the chance to see light and understand the motives of what could perhaps be the next wave in the book-to-movie genre that’ll be taking over the late Harry Potter series.
The Hunger Games trilogy is set in a post-apocalyptic era governed by the dictatorship of the Capitol – a brutal governance of oppresion that controls 12 main districts that surrounds the Capitol. An annual event called “The Hunger Games” is held once a year, where 2 representatives, male & female, in every district is randomly selected to participate in a battle royale – an endless bloodbath in which only one survivor is announced as the victor.
The catch? Each district will draw two representatives at random, but only those between the age of 12 to 20 are to be selected.
Those of you who also have a passion for great books can find info on literature classes via online universities.
The concept behind the story reminded me of an old japanese film I remember watching when I was younger called “Battle Royale”, which I must admit I was largely addicted to!
Having only read the first of this three-book series, I’ve already found that the story encompasses more depth in the story-telling than the Young Adult genre it was classified under.
On top of the book’s main theme of compassion, guilt and love, Hunger Games offer a thrilling excitement of blood and gore, lust and self-deprecation, and ultimately a sense of dissonance which enthralls the overall reading experience.
After having read through the book, I was not surprised when I came to realise why my sister Bella fancied the book so much. The protagonist was a 16-year old girl, with a younger sister which she loves very much, and a mother who she protects with all her heart despite their differences. I’m sure she was more able to relate to more than I was!
The book was definitely a good read, with an exciting though slightly predictable plot-line – one which may not be entirely for everyone.
The film adaptation of “Hunger Games” is set to be released on the 23rd of May 2012.
I’m not going to lie. One of the main reason I chose to read the book was so I could attempt to compare between the two.
But having watched the recent trailer, I have a strong feeling the film may dissapoint and won’t live up to the expectations that the book has delivered (as it happens with many film adaptations of novels). Moreso, the target demographic of the film seem to be leaning towards capturing certain audiences from the Twilight saga that coincidentally will be ending very soon.
Having said that, I live by the idiom “Never judge a book by its cover” – or in more modern lingo “Never judge a movie on its trailer”.
Watch the trailer above and let me know how you feel about it the comment section below.
Things didn’t change much throughout our teenage years. She’d always be there in my background annoying the shit outta me and my friends. (Naive as I was, years later Tish admitted that she was in fact flirting with most of them).
Nor did he want to ride the Eph.
