Deus Ex: Human Revolution
“…I would recommend this game to just about anyone.” “The art direction is amazing. The backdrops are immersive. The story is complex….everything I wanted from Deus Ex.” – by Trent Tomlinson
Supported Platforms:
PC, Xbox 360 and PS3
Facts/Features:
- Single Player/1st Person Shooter
- Rated for Blood, Drugs, Violence, Sexual Themes and Language
Mechanics
- Flow: 5
- Consistency: 5
- Communication: 0
Visuals
- Frame Rate: 4
- Textures: 4
- Effects: 5
Sound
- Effects: 5
- Interference: 5
Score: 4.5 out of 5
Review
Mechanics
- Augmentations are easily grouped between constant and user triggered abilities. This helps in streamlining the interface and game play for a more user friendly experience.
- Contextual actions are successfully integrated throughout the game for cover mechanics and take down attacks.
- Communication does not factor in since this is a single player game.
Visuals
- Frame rate is excellent throughout most of the game. There are a few small issues with frame rate drop for Xbox360 when running through certain city areas.
- Effects largely revolve around augmentions. Certain ability are acted out through cut scenes that are as much fun to watch as the game is to play. There are slight pauses in transitions during speech challenges. Will discuss more in the opinion section.
Sound
- Sounds design for Deus Ex is extraordinary. Everything blends together and present a rich atmosphere throughout the gaming experience. This is cyber-punk not over done and not under appreciated.
- Interference was never experienced. Dialog stands out from all background noise and very little distraction during gameplay.
Our Thoughts
By Trent Tomlinson:
The basic story – You are Adam Jensen – Head security of Sarif Industries (a leading developer in biomech augmentation). After suffering a brutal attack at Sarif Industries you are left trying to come to terms with your newly augmented self while tracking down the group responsible. That is about all you need to know coming into this game.
I knew somewhere -deep down inside- that this day was coming; the rebirth of Deus Ex. Ultimately this has been one of my all time favorite game series since 2000 and has been long overdue for a return. Because of my previous relationship with the series I was excited and nervous about the prequel that could possibly start the series back up again. Within 2 hours of playing I was 100% addicted to Deus Ex: HR. The art direction is amazing. The backdrops are immersive. The story is complex. It was everything I wanted from Deus Ex. Cyber-punk galore is spread from wall to wall throughout this title with nods to iconic titles and figures. Since most of these are enjoyable to discover on your own I will not mention them. Just start searching the game and you will find them.
The ability to modify your skills is one of the great qualities of Deus Ex. With HR the designers have taken the familiar abilities and expanded them, streamlined and retrofitted them to form smoothly into a bio-mechanical rather than nano prequel setting. You won’t find anything ridiculous like the poisonous dart retinal gun from DE2 but a more visceral and hands on approach. The augment tree carries a load of beneficial skills to serve the mercenary killer and the stealthy sneak. Having the chance to tailor your skills to fit your play style definitely means adding a few extra runs through the game just to experience everything there. Whichever way you go, lethal and non-lethal, take downs are bone breakingly vicious and even more satisfying than you can imagine. There is even the potentially time consuming option to play the game in total stealth with no kills and no alarms.
This game integrates something that most first person shooters are missing these days; the ability to choose. Dues Ex has always done a fantastic job at blurring the line between right and wrong. It asks the gamer if the end truly justifies the means and you are forced to make a decision and live with the world changing consequence. This choice is given to the player not just at the end of the game but throughout it. A staple for Deus Ex is allowing the player to decide how to engage enemies; stealth, combat or a mix of both. This game is full of these choices in every combat situation you find yourself in. And once you make the choice there is then the use of the environment which allows you even more options. You can lure enemies into secluded areas, knock someone out as a decoy or even stealth you’re way constantly using take down moves.
Something slightly new to the franchise are speech challenges that have been introduced to ultimately help the player or make things more difficult (depending on how you approach the person). These decisions can impact game play on a small to large scale. While I found this feature helpful in pulling the player into the role of Adam Jensen, I did notice some hangups when the game was selecting which reaction it should take to what you have said. Other than this there is great story points you uncover through these conversations. You can even augment yourself to be able to perceive people metabolic reactions to your statements. Pretty nifty.
Overall, I was more than satisfied with this title carrying the name and story of Deus Ex. The art directions was amazing. The story was solid. Game play was spot on. And best of all it has opened the door for a Deus Ex revival that is long overdue. I would recommend this game to just about anyone who enjoys story driven first person shooters with a twist to the aged genre.
