Alright, I’ve been meaning to review this one for some time and it deserves a well-detailed effort on my part. I usually have trouble trying to convey what I feel about games; I love them, but I’m terrible at taking the time and effort to review them appropriately. To be completely honest, I am pretty damn lazy.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution [Director’s Cut]
[Platforms] OS X, Playstation 3, Wii U, Windows, XBOX 360
[Graphics Engine] Crystal
Story
The world of Deus Ex takes you into what is a spin-off of our own world, but it’s focused heavily on the technological exploration of Augmentation; sort of how we’re too obsessed with Virtual Reality at the moment. You find yourself in the shoes of Adam Jensen, a security specialist employed by Sarif Industries. His responsibility, of course is security, but mainly keeping the Augment technology, patents, and valuable research contained to just the confines of Sarif Industries; away from the grubby hands of other corporations.
Jensen is an interesting choice for a protagonist because he is of above-average intellect; not clueless about the systems around him, but also not intricately knowledgeable on subjects like network security, as Pritchard constantly reminds him. The combination of Adam Jensen [the muscle] and Francis Pritchard [the cyber-security specialist] works well because what they specialize in furthers their efforts in the plot of the game. Jensen is a very observant character and he plays his role quite effectively. The main problem is the antagonists he finds himself confronted with are quite stronger than him.
These antagonists have advanced Augments and the support of other corporations that are after the discovery that has been recently made by Megan Reed, an employee in Sarif Industries. Part of the discovery she made does not require the use of a drug called Neuropozyne, which many of the corporations would not like, because why have the cure when you can force the populous to depend upon you for the constant supply of a drug they need to survive? Megan Reed is an intriguing character because of her determination for the advancement of what it means to be Human; there is more to the discovery she made than just a cure and it resides closer than most would’ve expected.
This series constantly touches on the subject of what Humanity is; how far can technology advance before it either destroys us or creates an evolution of the entire Human species. Is it ethically acceptable to take advantage of these Augmentations? Will it ultimately help us in the end or be the cause of our extinction?
Gameplay
[Appearance / Environment] Deus Ex is visually impressive; I would say it revolutionized what a stealth-based first-person shooter should look and feel like. The combat choices are appropriately flexible, as the player can choose to either go in guns blazing; or take the stealth route, incapacitate adversaries one-by-one and Ghost the game all the way through.
Many objects are able to be interacted with; it’s a bit time-consuming if you want to find hidden content and inspect every detail of each location. Finding certain information can be extremely beneficial later in the game for certain codes and/or conversation topics; it can be the difference between finding sweet loot or saving valuable items for another day. Taking full advantage of the environment and objects in each chapter can be fulfilling for a smoother run-through as you progress your way through each city.
There’s a wide variety of weapons, mostly late-game, but from the beginning, you get a choice of multiple non-lethal weapons and a variety of lethal tools to pick from. It is to be noted how you approach situations can change some events later in-game and the ending of the story; your actions reflect upon the state of the world in a not-so-distant future. Your choices with certain characters also affect the game slightly; completing a mission appropriately can also be the difference between life and death of important characters. It’s also appropriate to observe that not everything is at it appears, as some adversaries could be allies and possibly help along the way.
[Location / Setting] An important aspect of a game is that the setting changes slightly and you aren’t constantly looking at the same people or places all the time. This installment of Deus Ex does an awesome job of moving you around as you further your way into the story, but don’t worry, you’ll be able to revisit a couple of places and it won’t constantly be throwing you around the world. It just is extremely comforting to be able to explore more of a game’s world than just one or two cities and feels a hell of a lot more enjoyable to see what cities could look like in a somewhat distant future.
[Music / Sounds] The only complaint I have with this game is the lack of sounds in certain occasions, such as the details of footsteps, the environment, and other aspects that could’ve been further improved. It doesn’t impact the game much, so I ignored it and just kept going because this game was so intriguing that I had to focus to sense the irregularities. It is also to be noted that this game was meant specifically for the stealth aspect and a decently made story; certain inclusions of sounds probably weren’t important details to enhance upon.
Author’s Notes
I personally enjoyed this game from beginning to end, so much that I played it three times. It was a thrilling experience as far as story; a fun challenge to Ghost and successfully complete a Non-Lethal play-through of.
