Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Like trying to repaint the Mona Lisa or do a 3D remake of Lawrence of Arabia, there is something frightening about trying to revive something special from the past. Warren Spector’s award winning Deus Ex was, without a doubt, something special, so understandably news of a franchise revival was met with a mixture of excitement and dread - would the esteemed Deus Ex name be tarnished by a dumbed down cash-in? Or would the advances in game development and hardware mean that this new version would take the Deus Ex concept to even greater heights? In the caring and capable hands of Eidos Montreal, our fears have been laid to rest, combining impeccable storytelling with compelling gameplay to deliver what must be the most accomplished action-RPG of the year.

Like the original Deus Ex and its sequel Invisible War, Deus Ex: Human Revolution transports players into a rich, intricate cyberpunk science fiction epic, set in the sepia-toned vision of 2027 Detroit, and later Shanghai, Montreal and Singapore. Its a world where mega-corporations have the power, a world riddled with overt tensions - the development of mechanical augmentations, human aftermarket modifications, has divided the people to the point where anti-aug extremists are resorting to violence to get their message across. It’s a beautiful world too, in it’s own way, with a startling sense of style and unique art direction across all elements.

Against this backdrop our protagonist, Adam Jensen, takes center stage as the head of security for Sarif Industries, the world’s leading developer of augmentation technology. A routine day at the office is torn to shreds when Sarif headquarters are hit by a squad of highly trained - and augmented - mercenaries, leaving Jensen broken and left for dead while those he was meant to protect are reduced to smoldering ashes in their destroyed tech labs. To keep Jensen alive, the Sarif Industries medics and scientists pretty much rebuild him from the ground up, installing a variety of augmentations without his consent. Once he comes to, many months later, Jensen is a finely tuned cyber-cop with an axe to grind - it’s time to find out who was behind this brutal assault, and what they were after.

Possibly not the most riveting start, but this rather generic sci-fi introduction soon gives way to a brilliantly crafted narrative filled with shady characters, underhanded corporate dealings, political intrigue, and a few perfectly placed plot twists to keep players guessing. There are genuine ethical dilemmas here, moral issues relating to humanity, to what it means to be human. The invention of these new augmentations is blurring the line between man and machine, and not everyone is as excited about this new development as the suits at Sarif Industries. This setting makes for some of the most enthralling storytelling we’ve seen in a game for quite some time, and it’s this story that proves one of Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s strongest elements.

A surprisingly linear introductory section - involving a hostage situation in a Sarif Industries facility - acts as a basic tutorial to the Deus Ex style of play. Here the basic concepts are laid out piece by piece, which is necessary because there really is quite a lot to take in. I will admit that this first section did very little to absorb me into the game, and my first impression was one of mild disappointment - purely because I was expecting far more freedom than I was granted. All of this changes once you get through this initial mission though, because soon you will have more freedom than you know what to do with. Before long the training wheels come off, and you are spat out onto the glowing streets of Detroit, and pretty much left to your own devices.

The idea of “play it your own way” gaming is something that we’ve seen achieved with varying levels of success over the years, but Deus Ex: Human Revolution really is a masterclass in gameplay freedom. Obviously, since this is a narrative-driven adventure and not a sandbox-style game, there are limitations, but when it comes to problem solving on-mission, the world is your augmented oyster. You have a number of tools at your disposal - an array of upgradeable weapons; a repertoire of computer hacking skills; a Splinter Cell-like ability to sneak around in the dark; and a slick tongue to bend people to see your way of thinking.

Each engagement could have any number of outcomes based on which of your abilities you choose to use, and that's what makes this all so dynamic and engaging. It’s entirely possible to play through vast sections of the game without firing a shot, slipping in and out of the shadows like a futuristic ninja; alternatively you could go gun crazy, turning the whole thing into a bloody blastfest; or put your techie hat on and hack into the security systems to disable the alarms and steal door passcodes from hacked PC terminals. This freedom to find your own solutions to problems extends beyond your basic enemy engagements - it permeates every aspect of the game and affects the way you approach every situation. As an example, at one point I encountered a beefy bouncer at a club who told me I require a VIP card to get in. The usual RPG instinct tells you to go find a VIP card. In Deus Ex you realise that you have far more options than that. Sure, you could track someone down who has a card and steal it from them, or perhaps you could scale the building opposite and find a way to climb across onto the nightclub’s roof - I opted to punch the bouncer in the face so hard that he crumpled into a little heap, and just stepped over his unconscious body and into the club. The best thing of all though, is that you are never prompted with options. You aren’t told how to approach things, and you aren’t punished for thinking outside of the box.

Your ability to play the game as it suits you is even more pronounced by the augmentations which are so central to the theme of the narrative. These augs, which make up the core of the character development element in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, quite literally change the way you play. There are a wide variety of augmentations to unlock and implement, each of which has a different effect on your character and your abilities. Since experience points, the currency used to unlock further augs, aren’t all that easy to come by, you will have to choose your upgrades wisely - don’t expect to craft Jensen into a master of all trades. Ideally you will focus your available experience points on the upgrades which compliment your style of play. If you’re an aggressive player who loves a firefight, you will want to increase your melee skills, increase your accuracy, and maybe give yourself the ability to punch straight through walls with your bare hands. Stealthy gamers may rather want to supplement the HUD with more technical options to monitor enemy movement, or to subdue footstep noise. There really are more augmentation options available than you will have time to experiment with, and they can change the way you tackle your missions in such distinct ways that it makes it even more appealing to play through the entire game again from the start, just to try something different.

The choices you make throughout the game affect far more than just the action sequences. As you play it feels like each conversation, each interaction is in some way affecting the overarching development of your story, like some kind of cyberpunk butterfly effect. Even the smallest things, like spending too long exploring when your boss has told you he needs to see you right away, can have an affect on the way things play out - and you won’t even necessarily know it at the time.

There are other times though that this illusion of an organically developing narrative is somewhat damaged - most significantly by the out-of-place boss battles which pop up now and then. Eidos Montreal has gone to such great lengths to immerse you in this world where you carve your own path, so to suddenly be thrust headlong into an unavoidable boss fight feels like a jerk back to reality. Suspension of belief is key to Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s success, and as such I wish there could have been another way to handle these confrontations. Similarly, there are other elements which remind you that you are really just playing a game - the biggest culprit being the often dodgy AI. These highly trained mercenaries can’t seem to figure out how to follow you into an open ventilation shaft, or how to crouch down to see you hiding under a table - they will chase you all the way to an office and then just stand in the doorway shouting at you instead of coming in after you. And then, once the allotted “hostile” time has passed, they go back to just being suspicious, and wander off down the passage. Also ruining the mood somewhat are the other non-hostile NPC’s who are always in the same place doing the same thing - no life cycle dynamic here, Hobo 1 will just spend eternity digging through that garbage can and Civilian 3 will be doomed to a life of tagging the same bit of wall with spraypaint. Forever.

These small issues may blemish the otherwise shimmering face of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but you have to take into consideration just how much Eidos Montreal got right before you get too hung up on the minor things they got wrong. This is a game made up of many parts, and just about every piece of the puzzle has been handled with remarkable attention to detail and love for the subject material. Deus Ex: Human Revolution would have made a very good shooter, or perhaps a fantastic stealth-action adventure, and it has the right ingredients for a thrilling futuristic RPG - but by taking all of these impressively executed gameplay elements and welding them into one game, the result is worth vastly more than the sum of its parts. Each element may not be the best of its kind - there are better shooters, better stealth titles, better RPGs - but they add up to far more than just a game - Deus Ex: Human Revolution is an experience.

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