Now Playing: Human Revolution

The original Deus Ex is one of the most highly regarded titles ever released, and with good reason. For those of us who had the pleasure of playing it upon its release in 2000, it was an incredible mix of first person stealth, combat and RPG elements set in a bleak, cyberpunk style future of nano enhancement, shadowy government agencies and international conspiracies.

A sequel (Invisible War) was released in 2004, but was not so well received. I honestly can’t recall much about it, so it’s one I’d like to replay in the future, but IW was definitely seen as a disappointment by many fans of the first game. Although to be fair, the first game was a hell of a tough act to follow.

Spin on several years to 2011, and a prequel to the series - Human Revolution arrives. Like many, I was somewhat wary of HR, but when a preview demo leaked, fan reaction was extremely positive, convincing me to take a chance and pick it up on release. (Note to publishers – this is why demos are a good thing).

I think I’ve mentioned before that of all the games I played in 2011, Human Revolution was my favourite, but that’s not to say the game is without fault. Oh no, there’s quite a few issues I have with it, but overall, HR is more than worthy of the Deus Ex name whilst also being a fantastic game in its own right.

Set about 25 years before the first game, we see a world not so far removed from our own where mechanical body augmentation is a rapidly growing and cut-throat competitive industry. Our protagonist is Adam Jensen, a security manager for Sarif Industries. Following an attack on the company labs, Jensen is heavily augmented and sets out to find those responsible, leading him into a tangled web of corrupt officials, secret societies and morally questionable research. Basically, all the good stuff that like the original, makes a Deus Ex game a compelling and at times thought-provoking adventure.

As in the original, HR is a mixture of stealth, combat and RPG elements. Taking down opponents, hacking computers, discovering hidden locations and completing objectives all award experience which unlock skill (praxis) points. These then unlock new augmented abilities or upgrade existing ones. These special abilities focus around combat (improved armour, aiming), stealth (invisibility cloak, see through walls) and technical skills (hacking).

Some are a little pointless no matter which play style you prefer, but they all mostly have their uses. Like any good RPG, HR also has an inventory system you can play Tetris with, as well as upgradable weapons, money (to buy and sell gear) and lots of logs/books to flesh out the world (as well as including useful information such as door codes).

So far, so good. All of the ingredients are right, but how about the execution? Well, for the most part, extremely good. I actually did two runs this time around. One was a complete ‘ghost’ all stealth, non-lethal run. It was a little easy with the right upgrades (as you can run past long sections without any trouble) but still quite satisfying.

The second run was an ‘anything goes’ combat run. This is probably the game’s biggest weakness, as it’s really not geared up for a combat heavy experience despite a decent variety of weaponry on offer. That said, if you’re trying to play Deus Ex like a straight up first person shooter you’re probably doing it wrong. Stealth, either lethal or not, is really what the game is tailored towards, although I’d argue that was true of the original game as well.

Levels are generally quite large and offer multiple paths to reach your objective. Overall, they are well designed and fun and rewarding to explore. In between the set levels there are also a couple of large ‘hub’ areas to explore with several side quests to complete. In terms of gameplay, HR is pretty spot on. I know some people didn’t like the cover based switch to third person, but I think it was well integrated into the game, as were the ‘cinematic’ take-downs, although I must admit they could get a little repetitive.

But what about the bad stuff? Well, boss battles aren’t exactly interesting. I wasn’t playing the ‘Directors Cut’ version so I can’t comment on how that altered things, but in the original, they’re a bit, well, crap. Especially the last one, which was just plain terrible. What else? Well, it’s clear as you begin to reach the end of the game that some areas were a little rushed, and a return to previous hub areas is a little tedious (although I understand a third hub was supposed to play a part here but was cut?) In fact, everything feels a little rushed together towards the end of the game, especially the final boss and the literal ‘press button to pick ending’ bollocks.

But hey, despite those issues and a few other minor things here and there, I really can’t be too hard on it. It’s a game with a lot of depth and replay value, with solid, satisfying gameplay and a compelling storyline with some memorable characters. It’s a worthy prequel, worthy of the Deus Ex name and it comes highly recommended.

8/10

The Missing Link (DLC)

I thought I’d include an extra review of the HR DLC here. It’s a short (around 3 hours) addition to the core story, but altogether a rather unnecessary one. You won’t really miss out on anything if you skip it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a playthrough if you enjoyed the core game. I completed it twice and if anything I enjoyed the second run more because I was seeing how fast I could do it. Nothing really new or stand out, but solid and entertaining enough for what it is.

6/10