10

Deus Ex Human Revolution

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a prequel to 2000's Deus Ex. While the original Deus Ex used nanotechnology and took place in 2052, Human Revolution uses mechanical augmentation and takes place in the year 2027. Human Revolution puts the player in the shoes of ex-SWAT Adam Jensen who is hired by Sarif Industries, a company that makes and sells augmentations to make people more than human.  

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Giving any Deus Ex game a genre is difficult due to its unique nature. While other games have been a blend of role-playing games and first-person-shooters, the original Deus Ex was renowned for mixing these genres along with stealth and free-roam. One of the selling points of the game was the choices the player had. Every objective has multiple routes to it and you could even make it through the entire game without killing a single person. People who liked shooters could run and gun, others that liked stealth could sneak around, and others could hack computers, mess with security cameras, and even turn security robots to their side. So how does Human Revolution stand up to the original? Quite well, actually. Like the original, Human Revolution also features multiple routes and further adds to the ability to use non-lethal force with the addition of more non-lethal weapons and the ability to do non-lethal take downs (though lethal versions also exist). The multiple routes are further increase with the addition of augmentations to give you extra abilities. Some examples of augmentations that boost your ability to get to your objective include boosted jump that allows you to jump over fences, high floors, and other obstacles, a cloaking device to turn invisible, boosted strength to pick up and move things like vending machines, giant crates, and other heavy objects, the ability to punch through walls, and also the ability to see through walls. 

Human Revolution wouldn't be a Deus Ex game without conspiracy, secret organizations, and other plots hidden in the shadows. Human Revolution seems a clear cut story at first, but the more you investigate, look around, continue in the story, and do side quest, the more you realize that all is not as it seems. Various groups are working behind the scenes to get what they want and build the future how they envision it and it is up to Adam Jensen to get to the bottom of the conspiracy and stop them. Like the previous Deus Ex, Human Revolution also offers multiple endings based on choices you make at the end. While I won't spoil them, the endings are extremely moving and very well done.  

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Despite some changes that hard-core fans of the original were unhappy about, Eidos Montreal did something very rare nowadays and listened to feedback as they worked on the game. While they didn't change everything and do whatever anyone wanted, after all that would have ruined the game, they did listen to a few things and gave players choices in a few situations where it wouldn't hurt the game. Due to the new developer and all new team, people were worried Human Revolution would flop and not be true to the original Deus Ex, but Eidos Montreal knew its roots and hidden throughout the game are tiny little Easter eggs and shout outs to the original.  

Human Revolution lacks a multiplayer, but that isn't a bad thing due to the nature of the game. While I like playing with friends, multiplayer in Human Revolution wouldn't work. Countless games nowadays toss on a lackluster multiplayer that doesn't fit or doesn't work and instead detracts from the single player, but Human Revolution stuck to what it did best as a single player game and did wonderfully for it.  

The game features three difficulties that are meant to allow all types of gamers to enjoy the game. Those that aren't good at shooters or stealth, but love story will be glad to know there is a specific mode solely for enjoying the storyline. The game also features a regular mode for the players who like a mix of a challenge, but don't want to have too hard a time, and finally a hard mode that challenges players in an already challenging game. While Deus Ex might feature a new health regeneration system that the original lacked (without the right nanotechnology), it is still a challenge due to the lethality of your opponents. Bullets kill quickly in Human Revolution and getting caught in a straight up gun fight with no cover will end in your death very quickly. Human Revolution encourages strategic game play that forces the player to move from cover to cover, watch out for flanking, and to set up traps rather than just run in and spray bullets. Spraying bullets, in fact, is a very poor choice due to the very limited ammo supply carried by enemies or hidden in crates. Overall, the game gives a challenge without being impossible and encourages players to think as opposed to just rush in. 

Human Revolution is rated M for mature for quite a few reasons. Due to the open world nature of the game and the ability to do almost anything it contains quite a bit of adult content. Human Revolution has intense violence and blood, sexual themes (there is a whore house in China that you can find if you look), strong language (the f-word is dropped quite a bit), drug reference (pain killers and legal drugs mostly, though there are illegal drug dealers on the streets of Detroit), and use of alcohol (Adam can drink if you chose, though it blurs the screen for a bit and makes you dizzy). Human Revolution doesn't sugarcoat the world. Bad people do bad things, drugs exist, alcohol exist, and prostitutes exist. While the game doesn't glorify these things, they do exist and the game is rated M for a reason. 

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Human Revolution supports an average of 20-40 hours of game play depending on how fast a player rushes, how many side quest he does, and how long they take to go through a level. The large cities and countless buildings and people give plenty to explore and lots to find. And while the side quest are optional, they reveal quite a bit of content about the world, including a few quest which will actually reveal various character's back story and family (including Adamn Jensen's). However, being side quest, they are optional, so if players choose not to do them, they are not forced. Multiple endings, multiple routes, and different outcomes based on your actions in various missions and side quest all add to the reply value of the game. In order to get the various endings, see all the routes, and get all the back story, you will want to play the game over and over.  

One feature Human Revolution has that I really enjoyed was the ability to save anywhere outside of cinema scenes. Even in cut scenes you could pause and hit save to quit. This means that while there might be better places to save and quit you can quit at almost anytime you want and pick right back up again exactly where you left off. The game also features an autosave system unlike the original, though it only saves at certain points so your own save file is recommended. 

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The world itself of Human Revolution is simply beautiful. The design and detail placed into these futuristic cities is simply amazing. As you travel through the cities you will see people graffiti the walls, talking amongst themselves, or chatting on the cell phone. You will see paper blow in the wind, ads for products, and even news stations discuss events in the game. The cities themselves feel alive and the design into the cities really makes you think you are in a futuristic society. When you look around offices you can get a taste of personality as some offices are neat and organized, while others have paper all over the floor, sticky notes, graphs and pie charts, and more. Every building and every room all add to the general feel of the location and make the world seem as if you are really in the future. Even the emails seem real as you will occasionally come across the classic Norwegian scam email about depositing money into your bank account.  

The sound of Human Revolution is another feature that is beautiful. I'm not the type to normally notice background music, but the music further enhances the feel of the world and as you walk through the streets you can hear people talking, hear radios talking about things ranging from politics to the news, or even the sounds of windows breaking. The guns themselves are also very distinct in their shots and each sounds unique and realistic. Each weapon also gives off a unique range of sound that detail how likely you are to be heard. Crossbows and tranquilizer guns are almost completely silent, heavy rifles and grenade launchers are ridiculously loud, and silenced guns are quieter, but still audible if you are too close to someone.  

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The game allows you to wander and explore and normally doesn't rush you to do the next storyline once you finish the one you are on. However, this isn't always the case as some storylines are understandably important to hurry and complete. An example is the first mission Adam Jensen is sent on after recovering from the operation that augmented him. A man is holding a group of hostages and for various reasons the SWAT is told to wait until Adam goes in and to let him do the mission. If the player takes his time and chooses to ignore the mission he could arrive to find the hostages already dead and people enraged that he took his time while they had to listen to the hostages get murdered.  

Overall, Deus Ex: Human Revolution lives up to the high expectations that the original Deus Ex set. The deep storyline, the countless secret plots behind the scenes, the conspiracies, the moral and ethical questioning of what makes you human, and more make Human Revolution an addictive and fun game with lots of replay value. While it has changes due to the nature of today's gaming society, it still feels like a Deus Ex game and is an amazing game and one of the best games I have ever played. Not only does it live up to the original, but it could probably be considered even better. That, however, is up to the individual player to decide.  

Game On

Michael Riling

#: About the Score by Michael Riling - Giving a score is difficult...I personally hate giving 10s because I feel every game can improve and ten being a perfect score, well, is similar to saying it can't.  However, I can't find a category to remove a point.  The game does exactly what it tries to do.  The only way to remove a point would be to take points from like one or two bad sections and try and remove scores based on that.  (Example:  Gameplay:  Out of 40 hours of it, like 5 minutes for one of the boss fights was bad gameplay.  Removing a point because of one room doesn't seem right.  It's like removing a point from Sound because one line in the entire game had bad acting).  So while I dislike giving all 10s with a deep passion, I can't remove a point...  Gameplay is amazing and just like the original, graphics the world is fricken beautiful and feels alive even if people aren't 100% realistic looking and their faces aren't 100% motion capture.  Sound it has an amazing soundtrack, the people's voices and even street musicians blend in and don't interfere, and the weapons sound unique and realistic.