8 Times Listening To Fans Made Video Games WORSE

Mirror's Edge was generally lauded for its fluid parkour-infused traversal gameplay and spritely visuals, though many also felt that it fell short of its full potential by being far too linear.

Given that the free-running gameplay implied a degree of freedom, there was considerable disappointment that players were largely on-rails for most of the experience, and there was little opportunity to experiment or run off the beaten track.

But for 2016's belated sequel Mirror's Edge Catalyst, developer DICE seemed to answer fans' prayers by revealing it would transpire within an open world sandbox which players were free to explore.

However, Catalyst's open world was a big, fat disappointment - a bafflingly sterile, empty environment which never really seemed "alive" in any sense, from the somnambulant NPCs to the general environmental repetition.

It didn't help that despite the apparent "freedom" on offer, many of the core missions still forced you down a linear path regardless. 

Ultimately it feels like a middle-ground between the original's linearity and Catalyst's listless open-ness would've probably been the right way to go.