Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Deus Ex: Human Revolution for PC, PS3 and X360 is the next installment in the famous action RPG series set in a cyberpunk vision of the future. The game is a prequel to its predecessors and was developed not by Ion Storm but by Eidos Montreal, although the story was written in cooperation with Sheldon Pacotti, the scriptwriter of the previous entries in the Deus Ex series. The production was also supported by Harvey Smith and Warren Spector, the developers of the original Deus Ex.

Story

The action of Human Revolution begins in 2027, in Detroit. We assume the role of Adam Jensen, chief security officer working at Sarif Industries, a company researching biomechanical augmentations. In the future, these enhancements will lead to the creation of nano-augmentations known from the previous installments of the Deus Ex series.

One day, the protagonist’s life is changed forever when a mercenary spec ops unit breaks into the Sarif Industries headquarters and raises hell. Jensen is badly wounded in the attack and falls into coma. When he wakes up, he discovers that he had been saved thanks to numerous operations and biomechanical modification of his body. The introduction is fully interactive, and we take an active part in it. After Jensen’s recovery, there is a complex intrigue waiting for us to solve.

Gameplay

The developers have tried to eliminate most aspects of Deus Ex: Invisible War which were complained about by the fans of the original Deus Ex, for example, a single type of ammunition for all weapons. At the same time, the four hallmarks of the series, i.e., sneaking, hacking, interacting with people, and combat, were preserved. This means that pretty much every situation can be approached in a number of ways, for instance, to enter an elite nightclub, we can bribe, kill or knock out the bouncer, sneak inside, or hack the backdoor. Of course, our abilities depend on the augmentations we possess, so one character cannot be specialized in all fields, and the player has to make a choice.

Implementing the aforementioned ideas required the developers to implement several systems. While sneaking, we can hide behind covers (which switches the perspective into the third-person), use optic camouflage, knock opponents out, and even drag their bodies around. Hacking panels and computers is presented in the form of simple arcade logic mini-games. Conversations with non-player characters resemble the solutions from Mass Effect – we are given a number of dialogue options that determine the protagonist’s expression. In combat, we make use of various weapons that can be easily enhanced. One of the significant additions is the fact that the strength-boosting augmentations now allow Jensen to break through walls and knock out opponents standing behind them.

Technology

Deus Ex: Human Revolution for PC, PS3 and X360 boasts great graphics that operate with two colors in particular: gold and black. The colors symbolize the rebirth of human civilization (which is a reference to the Renaissance) and the dark and disturbing technology, respectively. What is interesting, the developers have included more of such clever symbolism in their game; one of those is the city layout which resembles a honeycomb. In this metaphor, people are nothing more than anonymous elements of a swarm that submissively follow orders.

Last updated on 10 March 2011