Deus Ex: Human Revolution
I have a confession to make. As well known as it is I have never played Deus Ex. I have always been a console gamer and so big PC titles like Deus Ex often got ignored. After playing Human Revolution I have since downloaded the original Deus Ex from Steam and aim to play it sometime soon (Although my personal backlog is quite big).
With all the Game of the Year accolades and its surprising and sudden price drop I picked it up despite having no knowledge of the series. I’m glad I did as while it is not Game of the Year it is still an excellent game, deserving of a place in any gamers collection.
You take the role of Adam Jensen who is in charge of security for a major corporation called Sarif Industries. It’s set in the future and science has lead to people being able to use robotics to enhance themselves. These Robotics are called Augmentations and can range from enhancing speaking skills to boosting jumping ability and speed.
You start off in the middle of an attack on Sarif Industries and as you try to save the lives of Sarif’s employees Adam and his lady friend Megan are killed by the attackers. Adam is saved through a heavy amount of Augmentations and as soon as he is able he starts tracking down the people responsible to find the truth of what happened.
Gameplay is a mix of stealth and first person shooting with some RPG elements. DE:HR’s greatest strength comes in it’s ability to let you decide how to handle situations from being able to talk your way out of trouble to shooting everything that moves. The game tends to favour stealth and there are all sorts of multiple routes throughout the levels and hub worlds.
For example you may need to hack the keypad lock of a door or into a computer to continue. Jensen starts with basic hacking skills that you can improve as you progress. Or you could find who has the password/code, knock them out and steal their pocket size device that tells you the information.
You also choose whether to kill, knock out or completely avoid your enemies. Each way has its own advantages. Non lethal weapons allow only one shot at a time so aren’t very good and taking out multiple opponents. Lethal weapons are usually loud but hold more bullets per clip. You can obtain stealth camouflage to sneak past enemies undetected but it uses up energy which is used for taking down opponents in CQC.
The RPG-ness comes in your ability to upgrade Jensen’s abilities. You do this through “Praxis Kits” that are obtained in three ways. Some well hidden ones can be picked up, Some can be bought for a high price and you also get a kit every time to level up.
You gain experience for levelling up by completing challenges, hacking doors and computers, getting through areas undetected, winning arguments through persuasive speech and taking out enemies.
How you upgrade your abilities should relate to your play style. If you aim to sneak past everyone you’ll want to upgrade silent movement and stealth camouflage augmentations. Going all guns blazing works better if you focus on armour upgrades and aim assistance.
Unfortunately one of the most common criticisms is that the bosses, particularly the first one, are much harder if you have focused on stealth based upgrades rather than combat ones. You’ll always want at least one heavy weapon so you have a chance against the bosses, even if you won’t use it for anything else. Also without a boss gauge meter it isn’t easy to work out whether a strategy you’re using is working or not.
And this may just be me but I wasn’t a fan of the constant switching between first and third person. Holding LT while near cover will bring you into third person, aiming while in third person is tricky but it is the only way to shoot from cover. It may have been better as a third person over the shoulder shooter rather than one that switches between perspectives constantly.
Another thing that disappointed me were the visuals. There is a stylish golden glow throughout which is nice, but a lot of stuff fells very last gen. In particular the character models are very poor featuring many square heads. Compare to something like Mass Effect and you will definitely see a difference.
The plot remains mature and gripping without taking over too much of the game. The Sound and soundtrack are great and make up for the shoddy yet stylish visuals. The level of choice for most of the game is excellent even if it does bit you in the arse whenever you face a boss. An excellent game let down by some slight flaws.
8/10
With all the Game of the Year accolades and its surprising and sudden price drop I picked it up despite having no knowledge of the series. I’m glad I did as while it is not Game of the Year it is still an excellent game, deserving of a place in any gamers collection.
You take the role of Adam Jensen who is in charge of security for a major corporation called Sarif Industries. It’s set in the future and science has lead to people being able to use robotics to enhance themselves. These Robotics are called Augmentations and can range from enhancing speaking skills to boosting jumping ability and speed.
You start off in the middle of an attack on Sarif Industries and as you try to save the lives of Sarif’s employees Adam and his lady friend Megan are killed by the attackers. Adam is saved through a heavy amount of Augmentations and as soon as he is able he starts tracking down the people responsible to find the truth of what happened.
Gameplay is a mix of stealth and first person shooting with some RPG elements. DE:HR’s greatest strength comes in it’s ability to let you decide how to handle situations from being able to talk your way out of trouble to shooting everything that moves. The game tends to favour stealth and there are all sorts of multiple routes throughout the levels and hub worlds.
For example you may need to hack the keypad lock of a door or into a computer to continue. Jensen starts with basic hacking skills that you can improve as you progress. Or you could find who has the password/code, knock them out and steal their pocket size device that tells you the information.
You also choose whether to kill, knock out or completely avoid your enemies. Each way has its own advantages. Non lethal weapons allow only one shot at a time so aren’t very good and taking out multiple opponents. Lethal weapons are usually loud but hold more bullets per clip. You can obtain stealth camouflage to sneak past enemies undetected but it uses up energy which is used for taking down opponents in CQC.
The RPG-ness comes in your ability to upgrade Jensen’s abilities. You do this through “Praxis Kits” that are obtained in three ways. Some well hidden ones can be picked up, Some can be bought for a high price and you also get a kit every time to level up.
You gain experience for levelling up by completing challenges, hacking doors and computers, getting through areas undetected, winning arguments through persuasive speech and taking out enemies.
How you upgrade your abilities should relate to your play style. If you aim to sneak past everyone you’ll want to upgrade silent movement and stealth camouflage augmentations. Going all guns blazing works better if you focus on armour upgrades and aim assistance.
Unfortunately one of the most common criticisms is that the bosses, particularly the first one, are much harder if you have focused on stealth based upgrades rather than combat ones. You’ll always want at least one heavy weapon so you have a chance against the bosses, even if you won’t use it for anything else. Also without a boss gauge meter it isn’t easy to work out whether a strategy you’re using is working or not.
And this may just be me but I wasn’t a fan of the constant switching between first and third person. Holding LT while near cover will bring you into third person, aiming while in third person is tricky but it is the only way to shoot from cover. It may have been better as a third person over the shoulder shooter rather than one that switches between perspectives constantly.
Another thing that disappointed me were the visuals. There is a stylish golden glow throughout which is nice, but a lot of stuff fells very last gen. In particular the character models are very poor featuring many square heads. Compare to something like Mass Effect and you will definitely see a difference.
The plot remains mature and gripping without taking over too much of the game. The Sound and soundtrack are great and make up for the shoddy yet stylish visuals. The level of choice for most of the game is excellent even if it does bit you in the arse whenever you face a boss. An excellent game let down by some slight flaws.
8/10
posted by Master hunter at 5:30 pm
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