Deus Ex: Human Revolution Previews

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Written by Brother None on June 17th, 2010

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Adam makes his way down a stairway and past a cafe. The urban environment has that neon-lit, grimy sci-fi look that the Deus Ex series has always done so well. The area is teeming with pedestrians involved in conversations and going about their daily business. They aren't oblivious to your presence, though: An innocent pedestrian reacts with horror when the player points a gun at him. According to DeMarle, you can go up to any non-player characters to talk to them and can even obtain side quests that way. One thing is for sure: Human Revolution has a gritty look, exemplified by the seedy nightclub Adam approaches, which is called The Hive. The bouncer there isn't too excited to see Adam and isn't prepared to let him in without a little cash to massage the situation. The player chose to pay the bouncer off, but according to DeMarle, there were other options available. You might find a sewer or roof entrance, locate another way in by talking to nearby passersby, or simply kill the bouncer.

My take: There was quite a bit to see in our demo, and from what I saw, it was fairly impressive. The variety to the gameplay was really a huge selling point, and considering all the different approaches to tackling goals, all the upgrade options, and the fun gunfights made it seem like quite a bit of fun. Along with that, the game has a really interesting visual style where everything had an orange tint (similar to the green tint found in The Matrix movies), matching up with its cyber-punk themes perfectly. While there were a few glitches here and there, it's still in pre-alpha, so there's a while yet to polish everything up, but it's absolutely something I'll be keeping an eye on in the future.

The problem with all of it is in the execution. In the conversations with both the bouncer and bartender, Adam goes into autopilot, responding to the other character. As the player, you sit passively and watch the exchange, and it's only halfway through the conversation where you're given the option of three generic conversation styles, such as bribery or confrontation, for Adam to use in order to get the answers he wants. With so little direct influence on the conversation, the whole experience is less engaging than games like Mass Effect in which players have complete control of the conversation at several points.

After this portion of the demo focusing on the game's more adventure-y aspects, I got to watch a second level that showed off the combat skills. Jensen begins by using the strength augmentation to lift a heavy box out of the way of a secret path toward a warehouse he's looking to enter. Past that, he moves another box over to directly below the window to a small guard outpost. Jumping onto the box, he's able to silently open the window, sneak inside, and perform a stealth takedown kill on the unsuspecting guard. This opens up his path, though I'm promised there are (at least five different ways to get into the warehouse.)

The main feature here, aside from the stunning looks, is the choices your character, Adam Jenson, can make on his journey. It begins with what kind of character you want to be. Combat, stealth and hacking are all areas that you can explore and train in should you wish, and your adventure will be greatly influenced by where your expertise lay. Outside of this, the game offers multiple routes and solutions to nearly all situations, which makes each play through a different experience.

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