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Phew, I just started playing Mirror's Edge. I finished the prologue with the helicopter only minutes ago. It's hard to take an analytic attitude towards such a thrilling gameplay sequence, but well, that's what I'm here to do. As a result of my studies in psychology of (game) goals, and gameplay sequences as emotional sequences, I have come up with the slogan 'the road to goals is beset by emotions'. The Mirror's Edge sequence, and probably many more in the game, illustrates this thesis well: While playing the game and trying to complete a level by getting from point A to B, each sighting of a red surface triggers an emotion in itself, and the surfaces become to embody the subgoals on the route to the higher goal of the level, i.e. getting to the end. It's an interesting example of how particular embodiments of emotional potential are deisgned into a game environment, with a particular theme and also, style.

Furthermore, certain emotion theorists talk about particular variables that affect the intensities of emotions. In Mirror's Edge, it is the environment as a whole that heightens - quite literally - the experience. On top of that, it is eye candy, such as the helicopter moment, that intensifies the experience even more, towards the sense of awe and spectacle. It is also noteworthy that the 'wow effect' of the helicopter sequence, when one completes it successfully, is also a visceral reward for the player: 'I did that.'

Even if 'Leap of Faith' might seem as a naive, simplistic metaphor in the game (as it is also the main character's name), there is more to it, as it can be seen as a metaphor for the gameplay of the game in general.

For more on my thoughts on 'Video games as Emotional Experiences', including Shadow of the Colossus, Animal Crossing, Guitar Hero, and many more, please check my article in the recently released Video Game Theory Reader 2, edited by Bernard Perron and Mark J.P. Wolf.