At the dawn of the new millennium, six months after the nervous laughter had died down when the Y2K bug was found to be little more than a minor niggle and brave folk had to actually eat the tinned food they had stockpiled in their basements, and take responsibility for the massive loans they took out, a game was released that redefined our expectations of what makes a game truly great; of what constitutes a work of art.
The first Deus Ex was released.
Some were too young to truly appreciate its sophistication; the depth Ion Storm had endowed it with and the lengths to which they went to truly make a remarkable, believable cyberpunk fantasy. Nonetheless, appreciate it, replay it, love it and talk endlessly about it, we did.
The first Deus Ex was set in 2052, a dystopian future where nano-technology is the most sought after means of augmentation. JC Denton, our protagonist, began his first mission working for UNATCO (United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition) on Liberty Island to face the NSF (National Secessionist Forces) who are tied in with stealing shipments of the Ambrosia vaccine, the only protection against the Gray Death virus killing people the world over.
As typical conspiracy theories go, not everything is what it seems, the Gray Death is discovered to be a man-made virus, the NFS aren’t actually the bad guys and UNATCO and FEMA are somehow involved. There’s also the Helios AI which JC may or may not have merged with, depending on player choices. In the second game, Invisible War, this is the assumed outcome. We don’t talk about that game, however.
Human Revolution is set in 2027 – 25 years before the first game; none of the above has happened yet. This is the age before nano-technology; an age of mechanical augmentation, briefly seen in the original game through the creaky, antiquated forms of Agent Navarre and Gunther Hermann, who both felt to be oddly inspired by the works of William Gibson, the father of cyberpunk literature.
Adam Jensen, our protagonist and security specialist for Sarif Industries, enters Doctor Megan Reed’s office. The air is friendly but tense. You’re aware there is more to them than just being simply colleagues. Looking around her office you discover evidence that this is indeed the case and that they were once lovers. They owned a dog together. We’re off to a great start.
Adam is still completely human, an ex-SWAT commander who walked away from an order to kill an augmented teenager before being hired by David Sarif. Adam’s voice is low and husky, weathered by cold experience. It’s a perfect match to his demeanour and personality.
There’s an explosion; Sarif Industries comes under attack by a group of heavily armed soldiers headed by three heavily-augmented mercenaries. They target the scientists, including Megan. Jensen grabs a gun and rushes to deal with the attack. He ends up in a fight he cannot win; broken, beaten and left for dead. Sarif intervenes, saving Jensen’s life through augmentation, replacing and mechanising much of his body.
The question remains, who were the intruders? Why did they kill the scientists? What were they trying to prevent? What did they want? Jensen spends the game trying to answer these questions, trying to discern friend from foe and often doing a bit of good along the way.
The backdrop is of a world in which corporations have more power than the police and this is first evidenced six months after the incident when Jensen is called back to work to deal with a hostage situation in one of Sarif Industries’ manufacturing plants.
Jensen walks through the front doors of Sarif HQ. His HUD flickers and is difficult to make out. Frank Pritchard contacts Jensen via his commlink, advising him to head to the tech lab to correct the HUD. Sarif requests that you head to the helipad as quickly as possible, emphasising that the hostage situation can worsen at any time. It’s at this point players realise that inaction can be just as bad as making the wrong decision. Take too long and Sarif will tell you that matters have worsened; the hostages are dead.
How players deal with the hostage situation, the leader of the terrorists and other events also impacts the continuation of the story. Choice is a big part of Human Revolution and plays a significant role in all missions and quests in the game.
There is a sort of atmospheric appeal in listening to NPCs converse with each other. Occasionally eavesdropping will grant players a wonderful insight to this dystopian world, the way they perceive Jensen as well as the decisions Jensen has taken. It gives a special feeling of players’ choices impacting the world. The very essence of what constitutes an RPG.
However, while choices do affect Jensen’s world, it needs to be said that choices do not affect the conclusion of the game’s story. Much of the story is one-dimensional, giving you the perspective only of Jensen as an employee of David Sarif. It offers you a third-party insight into the other factions, their philosophies and quagmires, but it never offers you the opportunity to be a part of them or to ever truly side with them.
The closest to siding with any one faction will be in the last portion of the game, which fails miserably at convincing players that any of their choices and actions up to that point were of any value or that they had any impact on the culmination of events. There is no emotional bond to the decision Jensen is expected to make at the end of the game. You have only been a part of Sarif Industries; you have only been essential to one faction and yet you are expected to make a complete and informed decision on which faction, if any, should be permitted to flourish.
Augmented
There are two main cities that players will return to: Detroit and Heng Sha. Both are quite substantial. Both have LIMB clinics where Jensen can purchase Praxis kits, a kind of augmentation canister that grants new or enhanced upgrades to Jensen’s augmentations, and purchase energy bars and drinks to recharge energy consumed when using augmentations. An additional praxis point is granted every time players level. Praxis kits can also be found hidden in secret places during missions or in cities.
Many augmentations feel pointless and, for the most part, are. Whereas others, like the Typhoon, improved hacking, speech, stealth, Icarus, jump and strength enhancements feel somewhat forced on you to be able to access hidden Praxis kits and locations.
An example of a seemingly useful augmentation is upgrading Jensen’s energy recharge rate and capacity. Energy is visualised by batteries, every capacity upgrade equates to one additional battery. However, only one battery ever recharges. Additional batteries require energy bars or drinks to replenish. It’s a very lacklustre and impractical approach to energy maintenance or even believability, often feeling that at first it is more practical to either focus on energy recharging or additional batteries; not both. Focus on recharge and you will always have one battery at your disposal after a few seconds. Focus on capacity and you can always just have an energy bar when you’re in a rut.
Human Revolution also rewards players for playing in a certain style, specifically that of a stealth character, by awarding bonus XP for finding unique paths and doing silent (and non-lethal) take-downs. However, it also punishes players for doing so with its boss fights.
The boss fights take everything renowned about the Deus Ex series, such as the freedom to play in your unique style, to execute non-lethal attacks and for that to affect the storyline, and crushes it into a repugnant, lumpy, coagulated paste of disappointment.
Non-lethal stealth characters are forced into taking the offensive. Bosses must be killed. Often the quickest and most practical way to go about this is by using the Typhoon augmentation two or three times in succession. If that’s an augmentation a stealth-oriented Jensen hasn’t yet unlocked and this particular stealth-oriented Jensen never saw the need to carry a big can of butt-whoop in the form of essential firepower, then running around like a headless chicken taking pot-shots, making use of grenades and other weapons scattered about is the only recourse.
There is particular disappointment in the fact that bosses feel more like obstacles than characters who are even remotely significant to the story. It’s also difficult not to wonder whether or not it was originally intended by Eidos Montreal that lethality be the only means of dealing with them. At one point Jensen is asked whether or not he intends to save one of the bosses and Jensen replies, “I haven’t decided yet.”
Players begin to feel as though they are pigeonholed to play in a specific and entirely unbalanced way contradictory to the initial freedom and comfort experienced throughout the rest of the game.
Atmosphere
Human Revolution is an absolutely gorgeous game with beautiful textures and effects. The world is enshrouded in a sort of delicate, futuristic golden glow of a sickly city. Special effects, especially of augmentations like the Icarus Landing System, are a complete joy to watch unfold. Clothing is exquisitely detailed, models are rich and colourful and the world just feels visually alive. Nothing feels out of place or abnormal and the care and dedication to the art direction shows.
However, body animations during conversations are stiff, often feeling disjointed and uncomfortable. Facial expressions are also awkward, making it difficult to accurately read emotion in social mini-games. This isn’t always the case though and at times there is real feeling behind expressions that leaves you taken aback for a moment.
Speaking of mini-games; the hacking mini-game is actually remarkably enjoyable. Players have to navigate a web of data without setting off the alarm countdown, in which case they have to navigate a web of data really quickly.
Voice actors are well-suited for their roles, lending believability, strength and charisma to their characters. Elias Toufexis, the voice behind Adam Jensen, is of particular value. It’s difficult to imagine Jensen with any other voice, or to imagine it possibly done better. There is a wonderful quality to Elias’ voice that resonates with Jensen.
Human Revolution shows off a phenomenally eargasmic synthetic soundtrack composed by Michael McCann that is deep, moving, powerful and – dare I say – completely inspiring. It’s the type of soundtrack that belongs to its game. It is in no way generic or forgettable. It’s the type of soundtrack that will always bring back the nostalgia of those exciting moments of Human Revolution, evoking that euphoric heart-pumping desire to play it all over again.
Eidos Montreal have put a truly gargantuan effort into the depth, intricacy and believability of Human Revolution and it shows. While there are some unfortunate flaws such as the awkward boss fights, occasionally bizarre animation and superficial augmentations; not to mention the dreadful cohesion of events that fail to culminate in a decent ending, Human Revolution remains a brilliant, well-executed gem worthy of the Deus Ex name.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution review << Comments and views
