I never shy away from an opportunity to express my love for this game. Mirror's Edge is in my top five single player games of all time. I usually only play through an SP campaign a few times if I really like it, but I've played through ME almost a dozen times and spent a huge amount of time doing time trials and trying to beat my own record. I simply love the game. 

*Do the controls and first person parkour work?

I've never had a problem with the controls or the parkour system. Like many people, I wasn't a big fan of fighting or anything interrupting my flow but those things weren't a deal breaker for me nor did they ruin the entire experience. The parkour itself worked just fine, overall. 

*Is the art style well designed?

I wasn't a fan of the animated sequences, then again I don't think anyone was. I usually skipped them as soon as the loading was complete. 

The style of the game itself though has always been a huge draw for me--coupled with the ambient music and sound that punctuated it. There is just something so zen about the world, for lack of a better word. The sterile and clean visuals said a lot about the world the game took place in too. I feel like that alone told more of a story than the contrived murder mystery plot did and I wish dystopia-under-the-ultra-clean-surface theme was explored more deeply in the game's story.

The design of the world also plays well to the strengths of the medium, in contrast to the hyper realistic visuals of spunkgargleweewee games (modern military first person shooters) that seem to exist independently of the gameplay. The visuals in ME aren't only interesting but they enhance the free running aspect of the game as well. After some time you only start to see objects and geometry that will help you maintain your momentum.

*Are the levels structured well?

It's hard to think of them being better, to be honest. I can't think of a single one that didn't work, aside from forced confrontations that forced you to stop moving for a time (like that level where you had to fight SWAT-like officers on stairwells all the way to the bottom). I think those interruptions in flow are more EA's doing than DICE's, though.

To summarize, ME was flawed but it was still a fantastic, underrated game and it is one of my all time favourites. For all the love Half-Life 2 gets, I have to say I enjoyed Mirror's Edge a lot more while I was playing it for the first time (ducks). 

Most importantly ME tried something new and laid the groundwork for later games like Dying Light among others. Actually playing Dying Light just made me miss playing Mirror's Edge and more excited for the prequel coming out either this year or next.