Welcome to our Snapshots week, where we’ll be featuring some really quite good galleries of gaming photography. Since many readers of The Runner only go there for the images, we thought we’d start the week with his Flickr account. It’s got full-size photos of a lot of his blog shots, as well as some not posted, and the game looks stunning. Wallpaper-worthy stuff there.

The Runner @ Flickr

We continue our Story So Far week with an update on The Runner, our newest blog that tells the story of the gamer playing as well as the game itself. Don’t forget, the end of this week sees the launch of a brand new Blue Casket blog. Stay tuned folks!

“I’ve had, by anyone’s standards, a long year. I’m stressed, tired, I have a job I despise; I need a break. So tonight I’m going to do what a lot of people do when their mind needs clearing. I’m going for a run.”

Different people play different games for different reasons. I play Left4Dead to dick around with my friends. I play System Shock 2 to be scared witless. I play Mirror’s Edge to relax. The Runner is a diary of why I run, what makes it worthwhile, and why Mirror’s Edge is one of the most significant videogames of 2009.

It’s a beautiful, haunting game which has had a lot of care and attention given to it, unfortunately overlooked in the huge flood of games that crashed into shops during the December/January season of last year. In The Runner, I try and give you an idea of what the game is like to play. It’s a review with hindsight. It’s a reminder of why you play games.

So far, I’ve talked about what Mirror’s Edge means, what its plot is about and why it doesn’t matter, and why it’s not just a game about white, red and blue. In the weeks to come I’ll discuss characters, frustration, solitude and the game itself. Join me and see what you were missing.

Catch up on The Runner here, and see his full gallery of beautiful photos on Flickr here.

Mirror’s Edge is a beautiful game. Which is why our latest blog, The Runner, celebrates it. It’s part gaming diary, part personal diary, as The Runner jogs through this stark first-person platformer, talking about why it influenced him so strongly. It’s great, the first episode’s already up and the rest are in the works. Go and get it.

The Runner