Digital Illusions' upcoming first person action game Mirror's Edge is generated a lot of buzz and much of that was created when journalists got to see a level of the near-future themed game at E3. The demo was filmed and shown on the Internet to show off the title's use of running and jumping to scale the game's buildings.That trailer was used as the basis for a homebrew created level by the designer known only as "EvilWeevil" as a level for Valve's classic 2007 action-puzzle game Portal. While the level (shown on the 1Up.com site as a video) is not exactly complete it does show that even trailers of games can inspire third party level designers to re-create what they have seen in other games....

Remember late last month when we reported that Digital Illusions was planning to give out more beta keys for their upcoming free-to-play shooter Battlefield Heroes and that they were going to do it by given them out to the first 20 people who commented on a news item? Well that plan apparently caused a ton of folks to start checking out the web site constantly looking for a news post.The end result? The site got swamped and blew out the server. A new note on the site (which doesn't count as one of those that people can get a beta key from) states, "We'll be doing some maintenance over the next day or two; we want to make sure that the site can handle all you Battlfield (sic) Heroes enthusiasts." Stay tuned . . ....

Were you dissapointed in learning that the release of the upcoming free-to-play FPS Battlefield Heroes was being pushed pack from summer to late 2008? Apparently so were the development team at Digital Illusions. So on the game's official web site they have announced that . . . well, they actually express it best themselves:Starting next week and ongoing for 4 weeks, we'll be posting a news item twice a week, at a random time.Why is this so special, you might ask.Well, here's the thing:the first 20 people to comment will get a Beta key sent to them within a couple of days.A cool side effect of this is that those people will then be able to enter our weekend Beta key contest and win even MORE keys to give out to friends.Kind of cool, huh?...

The Digital Illusions-developed multiplayer shooter Battlefield Heroes represents a new direction for the franchise; a free-to-play download only game that's supported through in-game ads and microtransactions. The game was originally set for a full launch later this summer but now it appears we will have to wait a little longer.During the Electronic Arts quarterly conference call with financial analysts, execs revealed that the game's launch date has now been pushed back to late 2008. EA CEO John Riccitiello stated that the development team wanted to work more on the social networking features of the game as well as put in new features and add in more input from beta testers....

If you're looking for something a little different, you'll find it in Mirror's Edge -- an action-adventure platformer played, unusually, in the first-person perspective. Its Joss Whedon-inspired story follows a woman named Faith who combines parkour and light martial arts to carry secret communiques across a towering urban landscape.So far, two Mirror's Edge-related videos have emerged out of the E3 conference this week. One, featured above, is a trailer. It picks up exactly where the last trailer left off (now that's class!), and shows a wider array of locales. It also has some of the best music we've heard in a gameplay trailer.The other video, which you'll find on the other side of the jump, is a developer walkthrough of part of an early level in the game. Yep -- actual live gameplay footage! That's a first for this title. Check it out! ...

DICE's first-person action-adventure game Mirror's Edge is one of the wild cards of the 2008 lineup for all platforms (assuming it actually does come out in 2008). So far, we've had to rely on clues from a lone gameplay video and a recent story trailer. Now we have a bit more to work with; an interview and a few new screenshots. It's not much, but it's something, right?In an interview at the EA3 (no, not E3!) press event, Mirror's Edge Senior Producer Owen O'Brien described the game design philosophy behind DICE's new game. The idea is that everything -- including combat -- is grounded in a free movement mechanic that is easy to learn but difficult to master. In fact, the combat controls consist of two buttons -- attack, and disarm. Exactly how those work depends on how you set up the action with movement beforehand.Watch the interview for more, and be sure to check out the screenshots as well.Download the Mirror's Edge Gameplay Video from Big Download!Download the Mirror's Edge Story Trailer from Big Download!...

Whether you like military shooters, innovative first-person platforming, or racing, Big Download had something for this past week. In fact, we had surprisingly a lot, considering that most game publishers are holding their cards until next week's huge E3 conference. Next week is sure to be a big week (and rest assured we'll be on top of every new file that pops up amidst the frenzy), but hopefully this will be enough to tide everyone over until then! Here are just a few highlights from the latest new downloads HAWX Developer's Diary #1HAWX is an air combat game in the same near-future world as Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. In this video, a developer talks about the game, and of course there's footage as well. Frontlines: Fuel of War Beta DemoTry out this shooter that tries something a little bit different with territory control. LEGO Batman Bruce Wayne & Poison Ivy TrailerA humorous sneak peak at a couple of the characters from the fourth entry into the LEGO pop culture franchise series. GRID 1.2 PatchThe acclaimed racing game gets some important bug fixes. Mirror's Edge Story TrailerA beautifully animated sneak peak at the storyline and setting behind Mirror's Edge, an innovative first person parkour game. ...

Mirror's Edge is a sci-fi action game from Digital Illusions and Electronic Arts that has the character running around a futuristic city in that cool free running style that all the kids are talking about. The character, Faith, has a backpack she wears in the the game to hold info and other items. Now gaming retailer Gamestop is offering a rather nice pre-order bonus if you buy the game from them.Basically you can get a backpack that's designed like the one Faith wears in the game when you pre-order Mirror's Edge. You get the backpack when the game ships later this fall. There's no extra money needed for the backpack; it simply comes with the game when you order it from the retailers. Overall its a better offer than most.[Via Joystiq]...

As EA DICE tweaks their first foray into the free to play realm with Battlefield: Heroes and prepares to release the once controversial console exclusive Battlefield: Bad Company, the future of the franchise has already been revealed. At GDC Paris today, executive producer Ben Cousins confirmed that the team at EA DICE is currently developing three additional titles in the Battlefield series bringing the current grand total to five.One of the newly revealed titles is aimed squarely at traditional hardcore console gamers while another marks a collaborative effort with developer Neowiz to bring the franchise to the Korean market. The three new Battlefield titles were hinted at during a GDC Paris keynote presentation. "Since the start of this year I've been working as executive producer for the entire Battlefield franchise - we've got five titles in development at the moment, which is probably more than you expect," Cousins teased the crowd.No other information regarding the new titles have been revealed but considering they are currently in development we expect to hear more at E3 this July.[via Games Industry] ...

Electronic Arts and developer Digital Illusions may be releasing their console only shooter Battlefield: Bad Company to stores this week but the developer hasn't forgotten about Battlefield 2, their now three-year old modern day shooter for the PC. Internet radio show netGameRadio just posted up a new interview with a DICE producer who revealed that a new patch for the game is in the works.More details on the patch are expected to be announced on Monday but it looks like it will be more than just a bug-fixing file as the patch is also expected to add new maps to the game as well, Of course, DICE is also working on the free-to-play downloadable PC game Battlefield Heroes which is currently in beta testing.[Via Blue's News]...

A few weeks ago it was revealed that third party companies had begun signing up beta testers for the upcoming free multiplayer shooter Battlefield Heroes. Now it appears that one of those companies, QA Boss, has been involved in a security breach. According to a note on the Aeropause web site, QA Boss has informed all beta testers of the game that their breach "exposes QA Boss forum user names, email addresses and encrypted passwords."So how did this happen? QA Boss isn't saying but does recommend that people who use just one password for all of their various Internet account change them as a precaution (of course you shouldn't have such a set-up but most folks do).[Via Joystiq]...

In an interview with Gamasutra, EA/DICE senior producer Owen O'Brien revealed that the thematic inspiration for Mirror's Edge was Joss Whedon's Firefly/Serenity universe.O'Brien cited a quote originally used by Whedon to describe Firefly's themes: "you can't force other people to live by the rules of your society, even if your society is better." In Firefly, an almost utopian alliance of inner planets tries to impose its values on the ragged, poverty and crime-stricken frontier worlds. In Mirror's Edge, the mayor of a city "takes things a step too far" by forcing some people to give up some personal freedoms so they can "live a comfortable life."That was the extent of the revelation of story details. We'd like to know more about this story, given that it's inspired by such a great TV series! ...

Battlefield 2142 didn't quite get the critical acclaim nor the sales of some of the other games in the multiplayer shooter series but the sci-fi themed game from developer Digital Illusions and publisher Electronic Arts kept its support for the game for a long time. Now with the development team moving onto new projects, the final patch for the game has been released and can be grabbed right here at Big Download.Not only does the final 1.50 version patch deal with a number of issues in the game, it also adds two new and free multiplayer maps. One is a remake of the classic Battlefield 1942 map Wake Island while the other is an all new map titled Operation Shingle (previously released as a third party map called Anzio). The patch also adds support for widescreen monitors (16:9 and 16:10 resolutions) as well as a way to play the game without any vehicles on the maps for complete infantry game action. We have both the full patch as well as the incremental patch for 1.40 to 1.50 to download.Download the full 1.50 Battlefield 2142 patch at Big Download now.Download the 1.40 to 1.50 Battlefield 2142 patch at Big Download now....

There's been a lot of talk lately on how the PC game industry can grow and become more stable. One of the major solutions that has been mentioned is free-to-play game titles which can be downloaded and played for free but can be supported via micro-transactions or in-game ads.Our sister web site Game Daily has a new editorial from Entertainment Consumers Association president Hal Halpin who advocates this new business model for games. In particular he is looking at how the upcoming Digital Illusions-Electronic Arts game Battlefield Heroes will do when it officially launches later this summer. Halpin seems to think that EA should have made the game browser based (he believes that would have opened up the game to even more audiences) but he seems hopeful that this new business model could work for other games.In particular, Halpin believes that a move to a free-to-play model will solve an issue that hurts both PC and console games; games that retail for $50 and $60 or more tend to be rented or traded in more and more. Halpin doesn't believe that all games could turn into free to play (although he adds, "that is certainly a possibility in the distant future") he does believe more publishers should look to changing their ways in order for the games industry to survive....

Want to sign up to play in the beta for Battlefield Heroes? Well apparently a podcast oriented web site called Broken Eggs Media has secured such a deal for its readers. You can sign up via their site to get into the beta test for the free multiplayer shooter from developer Digital Illusions and publisher Electronic Arts.Earlier this month the game's official web site stated they would be using third parties to bring in players for the first part of the beta test so this may be an example of that. We hope to learn more about the game's beta test before the official launch of Battlefield Heroes later this summer.[Via Blue's News]...