Deus Ex: Human Revolution Interview
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GB: The game is obviously quite linear during the game's opening act, but once the city hubs open up, how non-linear does the game become? Can we do whatever we want on a per-hub basis? And once we go to Shanghai or wherever, can we come back to Detroit if we choose? Mary: The best way for me to answer that is to say that in essence the story is linear in that there is a sequence of events that carry the plot. But there's a lot of branching that happens within it. Overall, it is a linear story, but within each segment of the linear story things can happen that will affect it and change it. For example, in this demo, how you end up dealing with Zeke at the very end. There will be repercussions to that that will come in a later environment, depending on what you did. If you killed him, he's out of the story for good. If you don't, then there are other options that come up.
But within in a city hub itself, the way it opens up in a non-linear way is how you start achieving objectives. For example, the first time you go to Detroit, David Sarif gives you two objectives; you can do these in any order that you want. The way you do it will be reflected in that sense.
Also, when you get into more of those open-ended objectives, you can diverge from the critical path. You can do side quests, but eventually the story will keep you going forward to your next hub, and your next hub, and your next hub.
GB: Once we move on to the second hub, will we ever return to Detroit?
Mary: I can't comment. [laughter]
GB: Alright. It's clear that hacking is a very important aspect of the game, and that a lot of time went into it. But it also seems like there's always a random element to it, too, because I had something like a 60 percent detection per node without adding any hacking augmentations.
Was that something you were striving for, to ensure that some sort of luck was always involved?
Mary: Yeah, I think so. I'm not too familiar about the design behind the hacking. I do know that Francois LaPica, the game designer who designed it, he worked really hard on that, and went through many, many revisions to get it to where it is. It was initially super complex, and then he brought it down a bit and worked with it over time. I think, in the end, he's created something that's really, really fun and will always keep you interested regardless.
GB: The tutorial mentions that you can even earn item bonuses while you're hacking.
Mary: Yes.
GB: I didn't really notice that during my time with the game. Do you mainly just earn credits?
Mary: You can get credits, you can get XP points. There are a number of different kinds of computer software programs that help you in the hacking, like the nuke and the stop viruses. You can find these as pick-ups in the game. Or, while you're playing a hack and you open one of those data key ports or data cubes, it will say "One Nuke Virus Found."
GB: And do you retain the Nuke Virus and Stop! Worm programs even after the hacking is finished?
Mary: You would retain them, but only if you are successful at the hack. If you fail your hack, you lose all those rewards.
GB: Health regeneration is something that's been a bit of a sticking point, and I know that it's even been addressed in some of the "Ask JJB" videos. Have you ever considered giving players the option to turn it off, or to pick a difficulty that features no health regeneration?
Mary: I don't think they ever had decided to make that an optional thing, because I think it was part of the game design philosophy to give you that chance. But as you've probably noticed, it's very slow.
GB: It is, but that might not be enough for some players.
Mary: I think it works quite well, and I think it actually makes sense in a story way because it's all about mechanical augmentations, and it's a part of the mechanical augmentations that Adam has: it just naturally happens. But it's very slow, and it's not something that's supposed to be the quick fix solution kind of thing.
GB: You've teamed up with DC Comics for a new Deus Ex comic book series, and the first issue is already available. Are there any plans to do further spin-offs?
Mary: Well, there is a novel that is going to be released soon. I don't have the date, but one of the writers who worked on the game, he's based in London James Swallow he's written a novel that is not the novel of the game, it's a prequel to the prequel. It doesn't deal with Adam Jensen, but it deals with some of the characters that are in the game, and a new hero character that's in it. So he's created a story in the Deus Ex Universe, and that novel should be coming out soon, I think. So there's a novel and there's a comic.
GB: Thanks for your time, Mary!
