Community Review – Deus Ex: Human Revolution

13 years ago

August 29, 2011 at 11:00 am

As some of you may know, I have family over visiting in Scotland, meaning that I’ve been too busy touristing to play any games for ages. Now that hasn’t bothered me at all, it’s been great taking a little break from games — but it also means I haven’t had the chance to check out Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

I’m very keen. Everything I’ve heard thus far has been mostly positive, and I’m seriously thinking about making it a game that I play on PC instead of console. I do most of my gaming on console, but I have a pretty decent gaming PC and it’s not getting enough use these days.

Anyways — I’m sure plenty of you guys have spent the entire weekend playing this game, and I’m keen to hear your thoughts!

Comments

109 responses to “Community Review – Deus Ex: Human Revolution”

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Chazz

August 29, 2011 at 11:01 am

I’m loving the story and played pretty much non-stop yesterday and saturday but you can really tell it’s a console port.

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1. Aliasalpha
  
  August 29, 2011 at 11:40 am
  
  How so? Aside from the loading I never really noticed any overtly consoley parts
  
  Reply
  1. NegativeZero
    
    August 29, 2011 at 11:51 am
    
    Play the game on a good PC with a high-res monitor. The pre-rendered cutscenes look vastly inferior to the actual in-game graphics. They’re also very muddy, probably done at 720p for a console.
    
    I’m running at 2560×1440 and the difference between them is striking.
    
    Reply
    1. Aliasalpha
      
      August 29, 2011 at 2:34 pm
      
      I do agree that the cutscenes were lower quality than they should have been, I’d forgotten about that
      
      Reply
  2. Chazz
    
    August 29, 2011 at 12:01 pm
    
    Low-res textures galore, the sloppy character model movements in the in-engine cutscenes. Lots of corners were cut all over the place. On one of my load screens it even gave a tip about “pressing A” to do something.
    
    Reply
    1. Jphillips
      
      August 29, 2011 at 12:19 pm
      
      Because PC doesn’t have an A button? Joking, but seriously did anyone truly ever think it would be anything other than a port?
      
      I found it to be beautiful anyway, my only real gripes with the game being the woeful cover play (why the hell do shotgun shells travel wider from the centre of the shot when you are blind firing).
      
      This iteration of Deus Ex clearly got more inspiration from titles like Vampire: Masquerade Bloodlines and HOMM: Dark Messiah than from its predecessors, which isn’t really that much of a shame as much of an unexpected direction.
      
      Reply
      1. Chazz
        
        August 29, 2011 at 12:36 pm
        
        I definitely got the VtMB vibe from this as well. Right down to the lifeless cities and same 6 civilian skins. Then again Troika were on a massive decline and couldn’t afford to finish the game so they have an excuse. 😛 But I am still enjoying the game, the story is bloody addictive.
Patrick Stafford

August 29, 2011 at 11:03 am

I never play side quests, and yet I’m doing so in this game because I’m just fascinated with the worlds. The level creation here is astounding and worthy of the Deus Ex name – you don’t realise you’ve actually made choices until you compare your play style with other people afterwards.

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1. Gorzilla
  
  August 29, 2011 at 11:47 am
  
  Yeah, the world is amazing.
  
  I’m having trouble progressing because I’m having so much fun walking around the streets listening in on the conversations of random people.
  
  Reply
  1. Chazz
    
    August 29, 2011 at 12:39 pm
    
    I seriously must have a completely different copy of the game. There is hardly any diversity in the civ NPC skins in my game and the conversations are only about 2 sentences and get repeated everytime I walk by. Not to mention every NPC civ seems glued to their location and never leave it.
    
    Reply
    1. coolguy
      
      August 29, 2011 at 2:38 pm
      
      Please don’t become a game reviewer.
      
      Reply
      1. Chazz
        
        August 29, 2011 at 3:25 pm
        
        Why? Because I’m not impressed by lifeless city hubs?
2. davegibbon
  
  August 29, 2011 at 11:57 am
  
  I agree. The cutscenes seem out of place. Dark an lo res looking. I don’t think it’s a console thing though, just a strange stylistic decision.
  
  Reply
3. Matt
  
  August 29, 2011 at 12:36 pm
  
  I agree with the way choices sneak up on you. I had a quick discussion with a friend after we were both about 3 hours in; already our games were vastly different.
  
  I really enjoy the fact that many of the “choices” you make don’t feel like choices at the time, but still change the games in interesting ways rather than just being “fluff”.
  
  It really makes me realise just how disappointed I was/am with Mass Effect 2 and it’s “kill kittens/help old ladies across the road” approach to what makes someone “good” or “bad” and how choices – and your characters moral standing – should be made with the push of a button during certain conversations. And then I start to think about ME3, and then I get sad.
  
  Reply
  1. Chazz
    
    August 29, 2011 at 1:26 pm
    
    http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/03/27
    
    Reply
    1. Matt
      
      August 29, 2011 at 2:07 pm
      
      Now that’s a game I could see myself getting into.
      
      Reply
Commander Shepard

August 29, 2011 at 11:05 am

Good game.
getting use to clicking the right stick for ironsight (prefer left trigger) absoluely great game tho, getting me through the wait till me3

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1. Flex Plexico
  
  August 29, 2011 at 11:09 am
  
  You mean you can shoot in this game that is crazy, I might try that on my next play through.
  
  Reply
  1. Commander Shepard
    
    August 29, 2011 at 12:07 pm
    
    Hey, do you troll here often?
    
    Reply
    1. shoitaan
      
      August 29, 2011 at 4:22 pm
      
      Or he’s playing a sneaky close combat takedown person…
      
      Reply
      1. Mannotron
        
        August 29, 2011 at 5:40 pm
        
        My first playthrough was close combat/shotgun exclusive.
2. mccawsome
  
  August 29, 2011 at 11:27 am
  
  Same. I wish they had included some options for control set ups.
  
  Reply
  1. Destructor
    
    August 29, 2011 at 1:32 pm
    
    I totally agree- it boggles my mind that this configuration option wasn’t included. The amount of times I’ve hit left trigger to aim only to inconveniently go into cover!
    
    Reply
    1. N0NEoftheAB0VE
      
      August 29, 2011 at 9:06 pm
      
      Sounds like Splinter Cell controls – to be fair the LT works relly well for cover in that game and cuz you can take your time to shoot clicking the stick works, but if you need to shoot something fast LT always works better.
      
      Reply
PsyKoMunKy

August 29, 2011 at 11:11 am

Great game – very similar to Alpha Protocol in some ways but moreso it is reminding me of the original Deus Ex which I wasn’t really expecting. Augmentations aren’t as crazy as I was expecting though and I’m glad they didn’t try any sort of morality meter – I just live with my decisions.

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1. Flame
  
  August 29, 2011 at 12:20 pm
  
  I agree that the lack of morality meter is a real plus. So much in the game feels like I am treading moral grey area and in the end it’s usually just left to me to ponder on the consequences. I do like overhearing the chatter sometimes like “Did you hear that one guy rampaged through an entire gang region? Brutal!”
  
  Reply
Rod

August 29, 2011 at 11:15 am

There’s a wonderful subtle familiarity to the game for anyone who played the original. It doesn’t feel like a clone, but there’s little references here and there, little similarities in the mission structure that will make you feel right at home.

Played for 24 hours so far and loving it.

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jamesmag

August 29, 2011 at 11:15 am

It’s absolutely amazing, at first I wasn’t convinced, because I sort of neglected watching the tutorials and then went straight barging into a firefight, not realising that I could die from just a few bullets.

I gave it another go though, and played properly (ended up using my xbox controller because I just couldn’t get the hang of reacting quick enough with the keyboard and mouse, when I say reacting, I mean keyboard controls, mouse is fine :P) and I’m absolutely loving it. I love how much you can affect the game with the conversations and the game, although I think it could look better, has an awesome art style.

So far, apart from The Witcher 2, it’s my favourite game of the year. I’m itching to go home and play it as we speak.

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Dr Boon

August 29, 2011 at 11:16 am

It’s what we should have gotten instead of invisible war.
It just FEELS like Deus Ex.
They went to great lengths to make it feel that way though I’ve noticed. There is a radio show in the background on ocassion playing music from the original, not to mention that the ambient music draws subtley from the original to give you pangs of nostalgia.
Detroit feels like Hells Kitchen, Heng Sha feels like Hong Kong. That is not a criticism though, they just remind me ofHells Kitchen and Hong Kong, they certainly hold enough personality of their own.
Finally, the sheer volume of background information is astounding. Admittedly I have been skimming a lot of it, but seeing names from the other games crop up here and there alluding to what is to come is a very nice touch.

I think it’s in the running for some game of the year awards.

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jason poley

August 29, 2011 at 11:17 am

Its exceded my expectations, the gun play is okay but the world is so rich and full of life. the art style is really interesting too. Playing through non-lethal first time is a refreshing change of pace and makes things “tricky”.

play this game, platform doesn’t matter really.

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Cmdr. Shepard

August 29, 2011 at 11:21 am

Only played 3 hours. But so far loving it. It’s reminding me of mass effect which is great. Though I have had 3 crashes which doesn’t impress me, and I still feel there really is no choice between stealth and action and stealth is about double the reward. Though yes you can still go guns blazing but the reward isn’t worth it.

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Daniel

August 29, 2011 at 11:24 am

Absolutely love it, so true to the original style. Doing every single side quest to get the most out of it. The only thing that is pissing me off is the janky AI, if you get spotted, just run into the next room and stand around, they wont see ya!

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milali

August 29, 2011 at 11:34 am

I enjoy how its put together, playing it on PS3 and the performance is great and the atmosphere of the universe is fantastic

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Aliasalpha

August 29, 2011 at 11:36 am

Well having played it pretty much non stop since release (aside from breaks for boring things like sleep), I have to say its a completely fantastic game. Playing on the hardest difficulty with no kills & no alarms was one of the most fun challenges I’ve had in years, especially when I made the decision that I wasn’t going to be forced into killing people EVEN in the boss fights which didn’t count towards the achievement. Whilst it seems like it doesn’t do damage, stungun spam is a brilliant tactic to take down bosses. You cloak, get a position on them and then stun them, the stun lasts JUST long enough to reload the stungun (sometimes a fraction less but if you’re behind them you’re okay) & stun them again. Repeat until they drop, easy, its quite remarkable how fast I went from “Barret is impossible! I’m going to have to turn the difficulty down” to “This is a doddle!”

Frankly I think this is the game that people have in their heads when proselytising about the first game only this time you don’t need massive rose titnted glasses to overlook the really crap parts.

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1. Aliasalpha
  
  August 29, 2011 at 11:40 am
  
  Oh as an important aside, the loading is awfully long, especially jarring in a PC game, particularly when you’re loading a save from a minute or 2 ago when you’re in the same room
  
  Reply
  1. Chazz
    
    August 29, 2011 at 11:44 am
    
    How long were loads on yours? Worst for me is about 10 seconds thus far.
    
    And I agree on Barret. I ignored the stun gun for a while with him because I thought it would do pretty much nothing to him then when I used it I was all “AHUH!! Victory shall be mine!!!”
    
    Reply
    1. Toolboy
      
      August 29, 2011 at 4:14 pm
      
      I agree with you on the load times. Mine are super fast, a couple of seconds on average.
      
      Reply
  2. jamesmag
    
    August 29, 2011 at 11:44 am
    
    Did you get the patch released on Friday or Saturday? It cut’s loading time in half, loading a previous save takes about 5-10secs for me, compared to the 20-30 it was doing before so I’m happy with that.
    
    Reply
    1. Aliasalpha
      
      August 29, 2011 at 2:33 pm
      
      Well I know I had the game on both those days so I assume I did, how big was the patch? I had to download another 1.8gb or so before the game unlocked, maybe I never experienced the REALLY long load times
      
      Reply
  3. Woodze
    
    August 29, 2011 at 11:45 am
    
    The load times were addressed in an update? Mine were a bit long, the Steam updated the game and they went down to 10 seconds or less..
    
    Reply
    1. Thom
      
      August 29, 2011 at 12:00 pm
      
      +1 , the load times not are actually pretty good.
      
      Reply
Dutch

August 29, 2011 at 11:38 am

Started playing on Saturday and I am hooked. Combat is a bit dodgy, but the stealth and story are top notch.

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1. Dutch
  
  August 29, 2011 at 11:39 am
  
  I am of course referring to Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Getting a little bit excited just thinking about getting back to it this afternoon.
  
  Reply
Woodze

August 29, 2011 at 11:44 am

Excellent Game. The Art in the graphics is amazing, the sound is superb (especially the theme music from the original playing on the radios), and the story pulls you in brilliantly. Also I really like the occasional nods to the first game you see around the place, subtle but present (like the music).

I’ve had one crash, and managed to find the side quest bug in Detroit. The Bug meant redoing a lot of work.. but made better choices for it so am no as upset as I should be haha

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Matt

August 29, 2011 at 11:51 am

Yeah i’m enjoying it. My only gripe is that for a game with so much polish elsewhere, the graphics dont hold up so well.

Not that graphics should matter… 😉

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Randomini

August 29, 2011 at 11:54 am

Started the game on Hard and tried to do a Pacifist run. 5 hours later after finishing 2 missions I said, “Screw it, let’s KILL EVERYBODY”

And there was much rejoicing.

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mailed

August 29, 2011 at 11:57 am

It’s the true successor to Deus Ex, to the point where it still has some of the problems of the original. The good far, FAR outweighs the bad, though. Easily a GOTY candidate.

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attila

August 29, 2011 at 12:03 pm

As a warning, anyone who doesn’t think this game is awesome better watch out for a little tap on the shoulder…

Bam!

The takedowns never get old 🙂

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1. Woodze
  
  August 29, 2011 at 12:15 pm
  
  +1 that punch has to be most satisfying game cut-screen ever.. I know we aren’t supposed to say video games encourage violence but on the train this morning, the douche with his bad music blaring while I was trying to read.. I was mentally tapping Q and smiling..
  
  Reply
  1. attila
    
    August 29, 2011 at 12:47 pm
    
    Its okay, as you were only mentally ‘tapping’ Q, not mentally holding it down…
    
    Reply
Thom

August 29, 2011 at 12:04 pm

I am absolutely loving it. My only criticism is that some of the boss fights force combat. I was under the impression you could get through the game without fighting anyone. I didn’t take a gun, because I felt like a change from the typical kill everything that moves – then found the stun them to death strategy because I literally had no other weapons.

This is a pretty small criticism though. I loved the Witcher 2, but I think this may be my game of the year.

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NegativeZero

August 29, 2011 at 12:04 pm

I was loving the game until I hit the first boss. I’m not properly equipped to beat him, haven’t gotten combat upgrades at all and have no spare Praxis to fix that. Don’t have anything I can stun or stagger him with so I can get to cover, and after about the 30th attempt I basically gave up on the game.

It feels like the bosses were made by a different team to the rest of the game, and made for a different game as well. They’re the design equivalent of a giant wart in the middle of an otherwise attractive face. Why couldn’t they have been set up so that they were avoidable entirely, or at least so that you could beat them using methods other than shoot-in-their-exposed-face-until-they-die? It’s very disappointing.

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1. Shonks
  
  August 29, 2011 at 12:11 pm
  
  You can get past him without firing a single shot, use some frag grenades if you have them or keep cloaking and hiding from him he eventually kills himself with his own grenades.
  
  Reply
  1. Shonks
    
    August 29, 2011 at 12:13 pm
    
    Also 2 or 3 typhoon blasts will take down any boss.
    
    Reply
  2. Bish
    
    August 29, 2011 at 12:18 pm
    
    Yeah, it’s still pretty arse though.
    I invested in the stealth part, and whilst it is most certainly doable, it took a few tries, and I couldn’t help but think I would have a way easier time if I had more combat-oriented gear/augs.
    I threw down 3 or so mines and got him caught in an environmental explosion, and that did the job though. There was a fair amount of running around trying to not get hit though.
    
    It’s not only the combat thing either, they just seem so out of place. Talk, shoot, stealth your way out of things, but when it’s boss time, it’s kill only. It just doesn’t gel very well with the rest of the game and freedom to go about things.
    
    Reply
    1. attila
      
      August 29, 2011 at 12:48 pm
      
      Do the two robots count as a boss? Because they can be hacked past without a single shot being fired.
      
      Reply
  3. NegativeZero
    
    August 29, 2011 at 1:18 pm
    
    Don’t have cloaking, don’t have grenades, don’t have a stun gun, don’t have any combat augs. Dropping the difficulty makes no differnece. I think the only way I can beat him is to start the game over.
    
    Reply
    1. Chazz
      
      August 29, 2011 at 1:53 pm
      
      Lol what do you have?
      
      Reply
      1. Slek
        
        August 29, 2011 at 4:50 pm
        
        Pick up the gas barrels and explosive barrels and throw them at him. He’ll go down in around 3-4 hits.
    2. Joel Finch
      
      August 29, 2011 at 1:59 pm
      
      I would lay money there’s enough stuff in the room where the Barrett fight takes place for you to beat him if even if you went in naked.
      
      Reply
    3. Aliasalpha
      
      August 29, 2011 at 2:42 pm
      
      The side rooms in the section where you fight barret have grenades, mines & guns, EMP works well against him to disable him and if you have a save OUTSIDE the room, you can go back through the level and find some weapons. A sniper rifle would be a good choice.
      
      The unavoidable boss fights do suck though
      
      Reply
      1. Bemused
        
        August 29, 2011 at 3:08 pm
        
        i was having a load of bother until Barret pulled me in for a punch to the head. IF that doesn’t kill you outright, he starts to pull out his minigun for a close range kill, with this giving me enough time to unload my shotty repeatedly direct to his face.
        
        Barret falls down, cue much whooping and running around the room. Great game so far 🙂
2. Matt
  
  August 29, 2011 at 12:49 pm
  
  Don’t play any of the Metal Gear Solid games then.
  
  Reply
  1. NegativeZero
    
    August 29, 2011 at 5:08 pm
    
    Funny you should mention those, since I loathe them too 😛
    
    Reply
3. Mannotron
  
  August 29, 2011 at 5:48 pm
  
  I stunlocked him with EMP grenades and unloaded a few shotgun clips in his face. That shut him up.
  
  Reply
Bish

August 29, 2011 at 12:12 pm

To anyone who is already a fair way into Detroit or knows that lady receptionist/whoever in your apartment block is a jerk:

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1. Woodze
  
  August 29, 2011 at 12:17 pm
  
  hahaha awesome!..
  
  Reply
2. coolguy
  
  August 29, 2011 at 2:45 pm
  
  Funniest thing I have seen for weeks
  
  Reply
3. Nicholas Prior
  
  August 29, 2011 at 3:39 pm
  
  Haha! I loled all over the place
  
  Reply
Bryce

August 29, 2011 at 12:14 pm

Managed to clock it in the wee hours of the morning on sunday. Loved the game right up until the very end, when it sort of lost me in its conspiracy theory jibba-jabba.

I don’t know, I was really expecting to get swept up in the games storyline, and for a while I was… but it sort of didn’t last the entire way through.

Best parts. The take downs. Because watching Adam Jensen sneak up behind some unassuming lab tech and snap his neck like balsa wood never gets old, Not to mention the mean right hook he packs. Also, the enviroment. Just the entire feel of the game. It captures the spirit and feel of the first game so perfectly.

Worst bits. Boss fights. Really broke the atmosphere for me. I have vague memories of fighting Gunter (Gunther?) and Female Gunther (Though I kill worded her) from the first one, but the fights with The Bull, Cyborg Rhiana and The Snake just felt flat.

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Marathon

August 29, 2011 at 12:14 pm

Australian Civil War! Got to laugh. 😛

Finished my first run yesterday and loved ever minute of my 24 hrs of game time. The developers really paid tribute to the original universe. Nostalgia kicks in plenty of times while hacking email accounts to see main characters from the original still having a presence in a minor way. (And stay post credits!)

Only minor nit picks is the cut scenes do drop to lower resolutions which is a shame and some minor graphics glitches which will probably be fixed with a driver update. Other than that, awesome, just overtook Witcher 2 as my GOTY so far.

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Luke

August 29, 2011 at 12:19 pm

Ok, not maybe its just me but im a little dissapointed. Its fun and all, but it FEELS like its a game from 10yrs ago. Maybe that was the point but personally I was hoping for a little more. About 5hrs in im really surprised by the lazy nature of the level design. Why is it I can pick up certain crates but not others? I mean..is one cardboard box filled with 1ton bricks and the other equally sized one just empty? And why the hell are offices strewn with them? The lighting is very flat…i much prefer the lighting in the cutscenes, and for a stealth based Tech noir styled game i feel everything is really…well…bright. Also, AI is really boring. Basic stealth gameplay is all about watching the endless loops of guards who do really strange things like having a smoke…then pissing on a wall…then having a smoke…then pissing on a wall….to infinite. Again, Its still fun…but I really would have liked it if things were a bit more fluid. Also, ive found that while stealthing is fun…its far easier to just sit in a vent opening and kill kill kill…then wait for a minute till everybody seems to forget that i just murdered half a police station…then…repeat.
The story is your basic homage to cyberpunk, but again, couldnt they have gone a bit deaper than just mish mashing a couple of well loved stories (see Bladerunner/Ghost in the Shell). This is not to say the story is BAD just a bit…well….lazy.
There has been a lot of talk bout the art direction, but I have to really disagree with this one. I feel that the environments are pretty dead. The city feels more like a couple of boxed in areas than a living breathing place and all of the art direction to me seems to be just a rehash rather than a rethink. And thats fine. just a bit ho hum.
Overall its a game that reminds me of good times spent 10yrs ago, but thats about it.

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1. Thom
  
  August 29, 2011 at 12:31 pm
  
  I’d seriously suggest starting again, and try and get the pacifist achievement. Your experience of the game is VERY different from mine, and the boxes will make a lot of sense.
  
  I also thought the city was amazing with its unique tags, posters, TV and radio shows all over the place.
  
  Reply
  1. Luke
    
    August 29, 2011 at 12:37 pm
    
    Yeah, I thought about that..but there is very little to get me to want to. I mean, stealth mode is a lot more fun (challenging) but it annoys me that its just far more easy to blaze your way through it. To me thats just bad level design and as much as I like reloading saves to get through a challenging section, why would I when I can easily game it and get to the next upgrade in a couple of minutes? The detail on street level is nice in terms of advertising ect. but ive seen more people going about there daily business out in parts of Canberra than I did in the “bustling” subways of this “metropolis”. Ill say it again, its FUN but I just think its a rehash. (which is fine…but groundbreaking? not in the least)
    
    Reply
    1. Thom
      
      August 29, 2011 at 12:57 pm
      
      I have to agree, I wouldn’t call it ground-breaking either. The problem is, the original introduced a level of complexity that hasn’t really been attempted since. I’m just happy this prequel approaches that complexity, and I hope the game is successful enough for more developers to consider Deus Ex style emergent gameplay.
      
      Reply
Bish

August 29, 2011 at 12:21 pm

Oh also, it is so bizarre having conversation options actually accurately reflect (word for word, even!) what you’re going to say.
Alpha Protocol and Bioware have weirded up my sense of conversations in games.

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Matt

August 29, 2011 at 12:57 pm

Things I have learnt from DX.

In the near future, everyone smokes and that’s ok, but augmentation and limb replacement – that’s bad. Then, further into the future, no-one else but you smokes.

Also, there are no fat people in the future.

An alarmingly large amount of stuff is still printed on paper, despite the abundance of cheap, readily available handheld “tablet-esque” devices. Cardboard boxes, cardboard boxes everywhere.

Robots are about the same size and shape as they are now, this technology will remain relatively unchanged.

2027, and we’ll still be getting spam mail for a slice of Nigerian millions.

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1. Chazz
  
  August 29, 2011 at 1:19 pm
  
  Don’t forget that in the near future a lot of augmented gang members will look a bit like this;
  
  http://tinyurl.com/3jp28ll
  
  Reply
  1. Nicholas Prior
    
    August 29, 2011 at 3:43 pm
    
    Dennis Rodman?
    
    Reply
    1. Chazz
      
      August 29, 2011 at 4:17 pm
      
      Indeed. From action film classic Double Team. Whenever I saw the Harvesters that’s all I could think of.
      
      http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110828204931/deusex/en/images/9/97/Harvester.jpg
      
      Reply
The Gamgee

August 29, 2011 at 12:58 pm

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

No really look away….

Ok you were warned, Illuminati? Really? That’s the best they had? I thought Jensen and Sarif were joking 🙁

*END SPOILER*

And, err, end of post I guess.

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1. Chazz
  
  August 29, 2011 at 1:05 pm
  
  The trick with spoiler posts is to leave larger gaps between the spoiler tag and the spoiler itself.
  
  Reply
  1. The Gamgee
    
    August 29, 2011 at 2:53 pm
    
    🙂 Next time, not too much of a spoiler any how, not like this http://edhoncho.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/spoiler.jpg
    
    Reply
2. Marathon
  
  August 29, 2011 at 6:53 pm
  
  You obviously haven’t played the original. Illuminati are a fundamental part of Deus Ex universe.
  
  Reply
  1. Chazz
    
    August 29, 2011 at 10:13 pm
    
    I actually ignored his spoiler and no I hadn’t played the original but thanks for a heads up that I didn’t want and I’m sure others will feel the same.
    
    Reply
Daetarek

August 29, 2011 at 1:39 pm

I have been playing through this on PC, its got some bugs and irritations that really break up how good a game it could be.

Starting at the top, the graphics in game and the cut sequences are of a different quality, this in and of itself is not bad, were it not for the fact that the atmosphere in the cut sequences is totally different, darker more brooding, as compared to the glowing world you see whilst playing the most noticeable for me was when you first see the three who attacked Sarif at the FEMA base, looking through that window from a dark and cool room, then it swaps back to a bright and warm corridor !!

The tutorials, are for lack of a better word crap, the method of teaching you the game is poorly implemented, and quite annoying, especially compared to the original, I personally do not like them, i would have loved to have seen maybe an optional section of the game that represents you getting hired into sarif that was like a test/interview, rather than hold a button and watch a horribly boring how to.

The conversations are great, it feels like your having as realistic a conversation with someone as you can for a game, if it wasnt for the disturbing way that the NPC’s move and jitter whilst you talk to them, like they have a mild case of parkinsons or something, which is distracting and annoying, especially noticeable in conversations with Malik, i would say the social aspect is nigh on as good as it gets.

I am not sure about the hacking side of the game, thankfully you can bypass a lot of it with passwords and codes found elsewhere, but when it says a 15% chance of getting detected, i take that as around 2 in 10 chance, funnily i get detected every time i hack, even if its 2 nodes to jump through, the detection rate feels more like 50%, and certainly as your aug gets better it doesnt seem to make lower levels easier or less tedious, which should be a reward/side effect for upgrading, as you get better at something lower level stuff should be easier, the saving grace to hacking are the viruses, they can be very handy.

A Stealth play through is way more fun than a direct combat play, maybe its me but the direct combat method just doesnt feel quite right, now maybe its early on and my augs were crap or something but i could barely take two shots before going down yet i could unload a full clip on a guy, in small bursts, and he would keep coming.

I didnt like the boss fights, they felt wrong.

Talking of Augs, i felt the battery drain on a lot of options was a little high, and i basically spend most of my time only having one charge, and limited recharge supplies make it a bit tedious to take a guy down, hide a while until you have a charge then get the next one, it breaks up the pace a little.

Mission design is very good, and the conversations and stories tend to hide the go here do x then go there then come back setup of the missions, and what was very good was a lot of missions had multiple and very cool solutions, an example where you can set someone up to have an “accident” or plant drugs.

The area designs, are very good, although the vent shortcuts in a fair few dont make a lot of sense, and feel like they were tacked in to give options rather than being an organic part of the level creation.

Now to the big one, the story, don’t get me wrong its a good story and well worth the play through to see how it pans out, but lets be honest it was pretty obvious whats going on pretty early on, maybe not the exact roles of each character, but the overall plot.

Technically on PC, it has a few graphic glitches, and really doesnt tax a system too much, sadly load times are a bit crap, with no difference being made by using a regular HDD to a SSD. The autosave points are dumb sometimes, i have had a few go back to a situation in combat which i wanted to avoid, thankfully you have the prior autosave to that available as well.

I certainly rate the game highly, and there is a lot of gameplay to be had, chasing the achieves is fun, and a second combat play throught may be nice, personally i would give it a solid 8 out of 10.

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Sesshomaru

August 29, 2011 at 1:40 pm

The endings suck. They’re cheap and a total let down to the rest of the game, the end of the credits made up for it a bit but not bloody much. The previous games were better, even that abomination Invisible War, endings wise.

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doubleDizz

August 29, 2011 at 1:48 pm

It’s really good and you should play it.

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Life

August 29, 2011 at 1:51 pm

Brilliant game, spent most of my free time over the weekend playing it.

It ‘feels’ like the original, in the sense that the story/ambience really brings home the dystopian setting.

Like many other, i started out with non lethal tactics, but started killing people when they started deserving to die 😛

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THXultra

August 29, 2011 at 2:04 pm

Great game, equally as great as Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War (yes I loved Invisible War, what of it!), some minor niggles but who really cares when the game is this good?!

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diehardmetallicafan

August 29, 2011 at 2:21 pm

Im in my second playthrough. Goty for me. Combat was an awesome surprise compared to the originals and the cover system rocks. Also the ragdoll effect is baddass! Every game should have ragdoll!! And a silenced pistol blast to some dudes head is so satisfying. I took out most of the cop station without being seen.

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Simon

August 29, 2011 at 2:26 pm

Some of the most fun I’ve had stealthing around. Not very far in, but loving every second going for the ‘no kill’ achievement. Everything is just awesome so far, obviously a few things that could be improved but I’m loving it personally.

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drew

August 29, 2011 at 3:17 pm

Needs melee weapons! And the icarus landing system annoys me.

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1. Chazz
  
  August 29, 2011 at 3:34 pm
  
  The first few times though are really damn cool 😛
  
  I’ve only found one NPC that actually reacts to you jumping and landing like that though which is a shame. But his reaction is still pretty cool he falls flat on his arse and drops his cigarette and looks so shocked.
  
  Reply
2. Thom
  
  August 29, 2011 at 3:35 pm
  
  I don’t care for the cutscene at all. Way too long.
  
  Reply
  1. drew
    
    August 29, 2011 at 4:19 pm
    
    Yeah same goes for the typhoon animation, if it doesn’t kill everything then you die as soon as you come out of it.
    
    Reply
    1. Chazz
      
      August 29, 2011 at 4:21 pm
      
      By the sounds of the typhoon I’m glad I haven’t spent my priaxis on it.
      
      Reply
StudiodeKadent

August 29, 2011 at 3:46 pm

The endings could’ve been better, the post-credits ‘stinger’ ending derailed one of the characters, at least two of the endings seem impossible to reconcile with continuity, one of the characters said something which slightly derailed their characterization in the final level (it seems they put the line in there to make the ‘final choice’ less easy), and the precise nature of the final boss was a total Villain Ex Machina.

They could’ve got rid of the boss fights generally, or at least provided multiple solutions (only one boss fight has more than one way to win it). Also, I think the experience system rewards you a bit too much for nonlethal solutions; I prefer a stealth/nonlethal/hacking approach but I don’t think people that play the game like Gears of War should be penalized by the game itself.

But.

Overall, the game is absolutely amazing. Think Deus Ex meets Metal Gear Solid. Fantastic art direction. Great plot with remarkably intelligent philosophical themes. Enjoyable gameplay with multiple solutions to problems. Well-integrated RPG elements. Kept me hooked for 4 days straight and I’m about to start another playthrough.

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MrBS

August 29, 2011 at 4:27 pm

Made it to the second hub of the game on PC thus far. Skyrim has been by default GOTY thus far but it is going to have to beat Deus Ex now as I’ve found the experience thus far to be incredible.

Fantastic PC treatment for a change is a nice change of pace.

Minor niggles would be the marionette animations and poor lip sync in cutscenes. Boss fights go against the grain of the game for me to.

Otherwise I’m loving the world and looking forward to the day winding down and playing some more tonight!

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Russell

August 29, 2011 at 4:54 pm

I was never one for stealth and non-lethals, but with this game, I had a go. I really love trying to solve the puzzle of getting to an objective, while still being able to make up your own solutions!
Although half the time I chuck a crate to distract the guards, and just ninja my way behind them for a takedown, it’s still strangely satisfying and hilarious at the same time

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Matt

August 29, 2011 at 4:55 pm

Was anyone else reminded of House when watching the opening credits, but some kind of cool futuristic medi-drama where the patients get turned into cyborgs and don’t have Lupus.

I really liked it.

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losturtle

August 29, 2011 at 4:58 pm

The biggest complaint here honestly seems like a bunch of superficial stuff and another trend seems to be the ignorance of the detail and design of the overall game. So there aren’t as many non-interactive NPC models as you’d like?

Really?

The art direction is ho-hum. The level design is bad.

Really?

The game’s been in development for 4-5 years. They COULD have gone back, re-synced the audio and all the animations but they didn’t. The could have added more to their “bustling” (i’m not sure where anyone mentioned the play areas were “bustling”) hubs but they didn’t. I don’t know what anyone considers decent art direction but the fact that everything has a modern aesthetic and an actual, visible FUNCTION is amazing to me. The weapons, clothes, gadgets and even the street sweepers have had genuine thought put into each detail. Saying it’s ho-hum does a massive disservice to the people who spent 100+ hours a week designing and rendering these things and have them turn out as realistic as they did. We see cultural influences in everything in the game. What other game goes that far?

And I can’t figure out why people are finding so easy to blaze through the levels with weapons. I’ve focused on stealth with no strength upgrades and literally die in one or two hits, yet sneaking leaves me unscathed and unseen.

It’s not without it’s faults, just like everything, but I can’t see a single reason why any of these are enough to deem it any less than a fantastic effort. You don’t like it, then you don’t like it. I HATE… let’s say… Modern Warfare but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a solid shooter. The NPCs could be voiced better, the animations are at times off-putting and some of the quests are a bit too fetch-y for my liking but like I said, it’s not enough to take away from a great achievement.

Reply
1. Chazz
  
  August 29, 2011 at 10:32 pm
  
  Ok, I’ma just be blunt here;
  
  The problem is that most games lose focus on one or two things by going overboard on others. This game has a pure focus on the storyline and EVERYTHING ELSE suffers from that. Clunky gameplay, emotionless voice-acting, poor lip-syncing, bad character model movements, repetitive NPC interaction, repetitive NPC skins, in fact NPC’s as a whole outside of main characters are an abysmal failure and main characters aren’t much better. Low res textures, 720p pre-rendered cutscenes (WoW pre-render was better ffs), in-game engine cutscenes that suffer from issues found in games from over a decade ago like background objects flickering/disappearing, textures changing from blurred to full-res, objects blinking in and out like the helivac. Even the sound design of “walk down an alley and not hear the same sound” was a failure. Most triggered sounds in each area are limited to about 3. Most games just have one or two that are triggered every 10th visit or so but instead in this you get one of the three triggered every time It doesn’t help that most of these areas are the areas you walk through the most. Detroit suffered the worst from this. Broken glass, silence, scream, silence, broken glass, scream, scream, broken glass silence…Bout time you DE fanboys turned off the nostalgia vision. They have achieved their goal in creating a fantastic story, they did not achieve their goal in bringing that story into a fantastic world. So it’s actually quite easy to deem it as less than fantastic effort.
  
  Reply
  1. Thom
    
    August 30, 2011 at 9:00 am
    
    I’ve never played the original, but I just can’t agree with most of the issues you raise here. The ones that do exist, like lip-syncing and muddy textures are a fairly mino issue. I didn’t notice the repeating sounds, but I think you may be right on that one.
    
    The NPC interactions aretierce in the sense the they only have one line of dialogue, but there are literally hundreds and I haven’t heard 2 npc’s say the same thing twice. I’ve been looking too.
    
    In an earlier post you saidthe hubs were life less. What standard are you setting. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of unique posters, signs, hidden pathways, all of which work to set the tone.
    
    As for game play, the stealth is perfect. I haven’t encountered any bugs. I get the impression that the combat is lousy, but if you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it. Try another approach. Hell, I made it all the way through the game with out throwing a barrel to distract a guard, people here have said that was their nation technique.
    
    Reply
    1. Chazz
      
      August 30, 2011 at 9:21 am
      
      I’m talking about life as in NPC’s actually acting like people not acting like robots in an amusement park ride where they don’t move from their spot and spout the same sentence each time. So either you’re jagging it with NPC civs or I’m really unlucky. The amount of times I’ve been asked if I’m enjoying my stay in hengsha, or that detroit is the place to be or how that guy says “hrmph I could do that” to his dancing mate. Or the same 3 sentence conversation between people each time I walk passed them.
      
      Minor spoiler
      
      Shanghai Justice, massive screens outside the Hive displaying that footage and the guys ID yet no one reacts at all.
      
      Spoiler End
      
      Stealth is far from perfect. Conviction nailed stealth gameplay, the movements in DXHR when it comes to moving from cover to cover do not feel fluid at all. As for enemy AI…well it’s pathetic to say the least.
      
      Reply
      1. Chazz
        
        August 30, 2011 at 9:21 am
        
        /sigh
        
        How do we get more than one break in between lines?
tsengan

August 29, 2011 at 11:22 pm

Great stuff. Really similar to Deus Ex – I keep on getting moments where I find the “exit” air vent, and try and track back to how I COULD have finished the section through stealth.

Sigh. I suck at being a ninja.

Reply
Roberto Larcos

August 30, 2011 at 2:19 pm

Future dudes only use their top desk draws (the other draws are just fakes) and they love keeping their credit chips in those top draws! I have never opened so many desk draws in a game.

Reply
42 GunSlinger

September 2, 2011 at 1:05 am

This game is so fricken boring.

Reply

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