Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the brand new action role play game from Eidos Montreal and Square Enix. Human Revolution is the third title in the Deus Ex series and is the prequel to the original game; which was released back in 2000. Many loved the original but felt disappointed by the sequel. Will Deus Ex: Human Revolution manage to supersede the original and be the game the fans always wanted, or will this be another unsuccessful attempt?
Let’s find out and kick off the HOTs and NOTs
Hots
Compelling Storyline
Following Adam Jensen a private security personal the action starts right from the beginning. Trying not to give too much away, extremely early on in the game Jensen is injured to the point of death: only a quick augmentation operation saves Jensen’s life. This allows Jensen to track down those who attacked Sarif Industries and discover the reason behind it. Full with twists and turns, Human Revolution offers one of the best narrative stories in a video game for a long time. The storyline is only one of the many reasons that means players will be unable to put the controller down.
Gameplay
No matter what sort of first person shooter gameplay you’re looking for, Deus Ex has something to offer. Be it sneaking through an area undetected, silently taking down opponents or shooting everything that moves and causing a few explosions, the game allows you to play as you want. Neither game style feels like it has a disadvantage but a mix of both is not only more effective but a more entertaining experience.
Personalized Upgrades
After Jensen’s augmentation operation not only does he gain some ‘human improvements’ but has the opportunity to upgrade not only his guns but himself! Both weapons and Jensen’s augmentations can be upgraded to help the player and their play style. An example of upgrades for addition stealth included silencers for guns and a cloak for Jensen allowing him to move through an area even more covertly. Players have complete control over choosing the upgrades Jensen receives, allowing them to personalize their experience throughout the game.
Presentation
Presentation is another area where Human Revolution excels. From start to finish players will be in awe of the stunning and striking yet dark landscape. Looking around the city, players will see the towering heights of the giant city skyscrapers, all the way down to dimly lit back alleys. All have clearly had a lot of time spent on them to make them as detailed and as impressive as they are.
The same can be said about the music and background noises in Human Revolution. The murmurs from surrounding non player characters and conversations between the AI all add to the games atmosphere, adding to the overall experience. In parts, some of these conversations even provide extra tidbits to the storyline. The graphics and the sounds come together perfectly to build an amazing atmosphere, that truly absorbs players into the game.
Replay Value
The gameplay will have you hooked as soon as the game begins, even before Jensen’s augmentation operation. After the operation, the gameplay only gets better and gives the player plenty of options to tailor the experience to either stealth or shooting. These options mean the game offers a lot of replay value. The storyline is also so captivating that it honestly deserves at least a second play through.
Tutorials
The tutorials are made to be extremely informative, due mostly to their simple design. With a video and voice over interface, the tutorials are merged into the early areas of the game; giving the player the option to either watch them or skip past them. The tutorials will teach the player the basics such as moving, combat and even a spot of hacking, so all the skills will be at the player’s disposal.
Difficulty
Lots of video games seem to be getting easier and not properly challenging gamers, thankfully Human Revolution has not followed down this path. Deus Ex: Human Revolution offers the typical three levels of difficulty. Although for a change the hardest named ‘Deus Ex’ mode does present a decent and worthwhile challenge. Most players will find that they will have to attempt a lot of the areas multiple times to make it through alive, on Deus Ex mode. This is a nice change from the norm, being able to play a testing game.
Nots
Small Glitches
Unfortunately Deus Ex: Human Revolution does have the occasional glitch which can interrupt the flow of the game. While it is infrequent, one glitch occurs when dragging a body around a corner; the body can clip into the wall. Another glitch which also doesn’t often happen is the player will get stuck in one place: luckily a few seconds later movement is once again controllable. Neither get close to ruining the experience yet both do draw the player away from being thoroughly engrossed in the game.
Controls
The controls can be relatively confusing to pick up at the start of the game and even after the tutorials they do feel strange. As mentioned, the tutorials are helpful and do offer a simple explanation and an informative video to teach the different controls to the player. The problem comes with the unusual placements of buttons, such as zoom, which causes some uncertainty early on. Of course this is only a minor problem and is overcome after only a few levels; when players get used to the control scheme.
Verdict
Overall, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is one of the best games to be released so far this year and will please newcomers and fans of the series alike. With an extraordinary mix of a fantastic storyline, absorbing atmosphere and outstanding gameplay; players will be captivated from beginning to end. Some minor glitches do occasionally creep in but they do little to affect how well the game plays. With plenty of replay value with the way players have the opportunity to play the game so differently, be it constantly shooting or sneaking stealthily through the game, Human Revolution will be a great addition to anyone’s game collection.
[Editor’s Note: Deus Ex: Human Revolution was reviewed on the PlayStation 3. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.)