Mirror's Edge: Complete Guide

A practical guide to the 2009 PC version of Mirror's Edge: how the movement system actually works, how to handle combat without losing flow, a chapter-by-chapter overview, hidden bags, Time Trials, and fixes for modern PCs.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final PC release (Steam app 17410; no gameplay patches in years, Steam Trading Cards added June 2020). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

1. Momentum is everything. Faith gets faster the longer she keeps moving without hitting walls or stopping. Nearly every hard jump just needs a clean, fast run-up.
2. Follow the red. Runner Vision turns useful objects (pipes, ramps, doors, ledges) red as you get close. If you're lost, look for red. You can turn it off in the options for a tougher run.
3. Think in "Up" and "Down". One button does every upward move (jump, wall-run, climb, vault). Another does every downward move (slide, crouch, coil in the air, roll on landing). Once that clicks, the controls feel natural.
4. Roll your landings. Tap Down just before landing from a big drop. Faith rolls, keeps her speed, and survives drops that would otherwise hurt or stagger her. Really extreme falls are still fatal.
5. Running is usually better than fighting. Cops outgun you. Most encounters can be run past, and it's often the intended solution.
6. Disarm when the gun flashes red. If you get close to an armed enemy, their weapon briefly glows red. Press attack at that moment to take the gun in one move.
7. Guns slow you down. Picking up a weapon cuts your speed, and heavy weapons stop you from climbing or jumping properly. Drop it when you need to run.
8. Health regenerates. Get out of the line of fire for a few seconds and the screen color comes back.
9. Reaction Time is your panic button. Once the focus meter is full (it fills as you move fluidly), trigger Reaction Time to slow everything down for a precise disarm or jump.

Movement Fundamentals

Mirror's Edge uses context-sensitive actions rather than lots of separate buttons. Keys are rebindable in the options menu. Learn the moves by action name:

Things the game never explains well:

• Speed matters for wall-runs. Hit a wall-run at low speed and Faith drops quickly. At top speed you cover much more distance.
• Swing bars and poles: Faith grabs horizontal bars automatically. Press Up at the top of the swing to let go with the most height.
• Zip lines: jump at them. Press Down to let go early.
• Balance beams: walk slowly and steer against the wobble as soon as Faith starts to tip. Small corrections work better than big ones; over-correcting sends her off the other side.
• Kicks: sprinting into a door and pressing attack kicks it open without slowing you. Slide-kicks and jump-kicks knock enemies down.

Combat and Disarms

Faith is fragile and the police (the "Blues") carry pistols, shotguns, and rifles. SWAT teams arrive later, and still later so do specialized pursuit cops trained to chase Runners.

• Close the distance fast. Enemies struggle to hit a sprinting, sliding, wall-running target. Slide or jump-kick into them to knock them down.
• Disarm timing: get close, watch for the red flash on their weapon, then press attack. Missing the timing means a counter-hit, so use Reaction Time on your first tries.
• Using guns: Faith can fire what she takes, but ammo is limited and you can't reload. The gun is dropped when it's empty. Rifles are fine for clearing a room you can't get around, but you'll be slow while carrying them.
• Pursuit cops can keep up with you and hit hard. Keep moving, take the long routes, and use the environment instead of trading hits.
• Snipers and helicopters: these are nearly always a "run" problem. Break line of sight and keep going.

Pacifist play: Completing the story without shooting anyone is a well-known challenge. On consoles it's the Test of Faith achievement/trophy. The Steam version doesn't list Steam achievements, but the challenge works the same way. You can still disarm and fight hand to hand, but never fire a weapon at an enemy.

Chapter Overview

The story has a prologue and nine chapters. Faith Connors, a Runner who carries messages across a surveillance-state city, sets out to clear her sister Kate, a police officer framed for the murder of mayoral candidate Robert Pope. Her handler Merc, fellow Runner Celeste, Pope's security chief Travis "Ropeburn" Burfield, and Kate's superior Lieutenant Miller are the key figures.

General chapter tips:

• Indoor puzzle rooms (vents, lifts, stacked crates) are about looking up. The exit is usually high, and a red pipe or ledge marks the way.
• Scripted chases (Jacknife, the pursuit cops) feel unfair on the first try. The route is fixed, so once you've memorized it, they're easy.
• Arenas you can't run past always have a disarm opportunity near the entrance. Take the first gun and clear the room if you're not doing the pacifist run.

Hidden Bags

Each level has three hidden yellow Runner bags, which makes 30 across the prologue and nine chapters. They're usually slightly off the main route, in side rooms, on rooftops above the path, or behind vents. Chapter Select (after completing a chapter) lets you replay a level just to hunt bags, so don't slow down your first run for them.

Bag-hunting tips:

• Check high places. Many bags sit on ledges you only reach with a wall-run or turn-off-wall.
• Look behind you at chapter transitions and big drops. Bags are often placed just off the path you'd naturally take forward.
• Use a bag checklist or video for the last few. Some are well hidden in vents and side rooms.

Time Trials and Speedrun Mode

Time Trial cuts parts of the story levels into short courses with checkpoints and qualifying times. Online leaderboards and downloadable ghosts let you race other players' lines. Speedrun mode times full chapters.

Time Trial tips:

• Download the ghosts of top players. They show shortcuts you'd never find alone.
• Learn to wall-run into a jump (wall-run, turn, Up) to cut corners.
• Rolling on every drop is mandatory. A missed roll costs a lot of time.
• The Pure Time Trial map pack was released as DLC with abstract courses built purely for movement. The current Steam store page doesn't list it, so don't count on getting it for the Steam version.

How to Approach Your First Run

Mirror's Edge punishes hesitation more than it punishes mistakes. A few habits make the first playthrough much smoother:

• Scout, then commit. When you arrive in a new area with no pursuers, stop and look around for red objects and high ledges. Once you have a line, run it without stopping. Stopping halfway through a sequence is where most falls happen.
• Treat deaths as route information. Checkpoints are frequent. If a jump fails twice, the answer is usually a different approach (a wall-run first, a turn-off-wall, or a slide to keep speed), not a better-timed version of the same jump.
• Use the hint key freely. It points the camera at your next objective and costs nothing. Purists skip it on replays, but on a first run it saves a lot of wandering in interiors.
• Pick your fights. In rooms full of enemies, look for the exit first. If the exit is a lift or a door that has to open, you'll have to deal with the guards; otherwise, running is usually the intended answer.
• Don't hunt bags yet. Collectibles are easier once you know each level and can replay it from Chapter Select.

Difficulty and replays

• Lower difficulty mainly makes enemies less deadly; the platforming itself stays the same, so a hard jump is just as hard on any setting.
• On a replay, try turning off Runner Vision. The level design still guides you through lighting, color and sightlines, and learning to read it without the red highlights is the best preparation for Time Trials.
• A no-shooting replay (see Combat and Disarms) is much easier once you know each level's layout, because you'll know which rooms you can run through.

Reading the environment without Runner Vision

• Pipes and ladders almost always lead somewhere useful. If you see a vertical pipe near a ledge, it's a climbing route.
• Springboards and ramps (angled boards, low walls next to high ones) are there to give you extra height with a jump.
• Open doors and lit windows are usually the path; locked or dark ones are usually scenery.
• Cranes, beams and zip lines point in the direction you're meant to travel.

Making It Run on a Modern PC

• PhysX slowdown: The PC version supports NVIDIA PhysX effects (extra glass, cloth, debris, smoke). On many modern systems, turning PhysX on causes huge frame drops when glass shatters. The quick fix is to turn PhysX off in the options. Players who want the effects commonly install NVIDIA's legacy PhysX System Software, or remove the game's bundled PhysX DLL so the system version is used instead. Back up the file first.
• Frame rate cap: the game ships with a frame-smoothing cap (around 62 fps), set in the engine configuration file. Players raise it by editing the smoothed-frame-rate value in the Unreal Engine 3 config files under the game's Documents folder. If anything behaves oddly afterward, put the original value back.
• Field of view: The default FOV is narrow for widescreen. It can be widened with a config tweak or a community FOV fix.
• Controllers: Xbox-style controllers work natively.
• EA account: The Steam page says online authentication and an EA account are required. If the game won't launch, sign in through the EA app first.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Stopping to think mid-run. Standing still kills your momentum, and cops catch up. Scout from a safe spot, then commit.
• Jumping too early. Faith jumps farther if you press Up at the very edge. Early jumps are the #1 cause of falling short.
• Forgetting to roll. Lots of "unsurvivable" drops are fine with a roll.
• Hauling a rifle across rooftops. You can't do the moves you need while carrying it. Drop it as soon as the room is clear.
• Brawling with groups. Faith can take one or two enemies hand to hand. Against a full squad, run.
• Ignoring the hint key. In confusing interiors, pressing the hint key (which swings the camera toward your goal) is faster than wandering.

Advanced Tips

• Side-boost / wall-boost: Kick off an angled wall surface during a jump to gain a little extra height and speed. Speedrunners use it everywhere.
• Wall-run into turn-off-wall combos get you to many "unreachable" routes and shortcuts.
• Slide-to-jump: Jumping out of a slide keeps its speed. That's useful for low-to-high transitions.
• Coil over railings instead of vaulting to keep more speed.
• Reaction Time disarms: On Hard, save the focus meter for disarms. It turns risky fights into guaranteed takedowns.
• Turn off Runner Vision on a second playthrough. You'll learn the level geometry better and do better in Time Trials.

FAQ

How long is Mirror's Edge? The story is short. Most players finish it in a handful of hours. Time Trials, Speedrun mode, and bags add a lot of replay value.

Do I have to fight? Rarely. Most fights can be run past, and a no-shooting playthrough is possible (it's the "Test of Faith" challenge).

Does it need an EA account? Yes. The Steam page says online authentication and an EA account are required to play, along with EA's third-party EULA.

Why does my game lag when glass breaks? That's PhysX. Turn PhysX off in the graphics options, or use the legacy PhysX workaround described above.

Is Mirror's Edge Catalyst a sequel? Catalyst (2016) is a reboot with an open-world city and a new origin story for Faith. It isn't a direct continuation of this story.

How many hidden bags are there? Three per level, 30 in total.

Can I play with a controller? Yes. Xbox-style controllers are supported.

Sources

• Mirror's Edge — Wikipedia
• Mirror's Edge — Steam store page
• Steam announcement: Trading Cards added (June 2020)