Preview: Deus Ex Human Revolution

In 2000 a rather unique title arrived on the PC that became one of the first to blend two distinctly different genres into one: the first person shooter with the role playing game.  This hybrid, born under the title Deus Ex, became one of the most critically acclaimed titles of that year as well as this past decade with innovative character customization, large open environments to explore and a complex and exciting story where there is no necessarily good or bad path to follow.  The game saw a sequel three years later with the subtitle Invisible War though, due to simplification of the game’s design thanks to multiplatform development, the game didn’t earn the near the praise of its predecessor.  Soon after though Ion Storm shut down and we lost one of the best game development houses ever to come out of my home town of Austin, Texas.

It’s been a long time since then and Deus Ex is coming back this time under development at Eidos Montreal without the supervision of Warren Spector, the series’ creator.  Without his guise though can the game hope to achieve the same greatness at the beginning of the next decade that its forerunner earned at the beginning of this one?

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Of Icarus and Daedalus

The story of Deus Ex Human Revolution takes place in the year 2027 almost twenty five years before the events of the first game.  The world is in the midst of what is being called the Cyber Renaissance in which technology has advanced to the point where human augmentation with mechanical and cybernetic enhancements are readily available and changing the very way we go about our day-to-day lives.  Controversy over transhumanism is reaching its peak as protests between groups both for and against human augmentation are becoming more and more violent.

You play as protagonist Adam Jensen, a private security guard for Sarif Industries, one of the leading augmentation companies on the market.  When one of their private laboratories is attacked by a group of mercenaries, most of the staff is killed and Adam is mortally wounded.  To survive Adam is forced to undergo augmentation of several parts of his body including his arms and portions of his torso and head.  Adam is resentful of this necessary process and vows to hunt down those responsible for the attack initially with the aid of David Sarif, founder of the company.  Throughout his journey Adam will also uncover secrets of his past which will more than likely serve to be far more than a character affirmation.

One of the more interesting questions to be asked is, despite this being an affirmed prequel and reboot of the franchise, how strongly related is it to the game’s previous iterations?  The answer to that question may be that it is stronger than you think.  Trailers for the game as well as gameplay demonstrations for the press have previously revealed a man named Tong Se Hung, the owner of a large club in Shanghai’s Heng Sha district.  The two previous games, though set twenty five and fifty years after Human Revolution, had a key character named Tracer Tong who aided protagonists JC Denton and Alex D. during their quests.  Whether this is the same person or not (or perhaps a close relative) to Tracer Tong is questionable but the character design does match up with that of Tracer Tong.

Deus Ex games have always been known for having multiple themes and ideologies competing against one another and Human Revolution is no stranger to this as many intellectually stimulating ones seem to permeate throughout the title.  In addition to the controversy of transhumanism, the question of us enhancing the human condition through unnatural means and whether doing so removes our humanity in the process, is but one of the major themes.  The metaphorical phoenix plays a role as Jensen is reborn through his augmentation.  Jensen is also haunted by dreams of playing the role of Icarus, the greek myth of the boy whose father, Daedalus, fashioned a set of wings from bird feathers to escape their prison.  During the escape however Icarus flew too high against his father’s commands and, as a result, the wax binding his feathers melted and he fell to earth.  This seems to be strong metaphor for the gameplay itself as you can continuously enhance Jensen throughout the game leading to the question of whether he is more man or machine at the end of his journey.

If You Want to Make Enemies, Try To Change Something

Deus Ex was a radical departure from other shooters of the time, incorporating strong RPG elements such as character enhancements as well as weapon customization.  Human Revolution is going the same route if not further than its predecessors.  Since a large portion of Jensen is now cybernetic you can purchase (or earn through skill points) various different abilities and attributes to suit your play style.  It should also be noted that you can only equip a certain amount of these enhancements during a playthrough meaning that the game will have a strong amount of replay value.

The most recent demo of the game had Jensen infiltrating a heavily guarded penthouse to retrieve some vital intelligence.  From the main menu the player chose to enhance Adam’s arms to be able to lift and move heavy objects.  Doing so gave him access to a vent to crawl through by allowing him to move a large cabinet underneath it.  Later enhancement demonstrations during the demo included x-ray vision and near invisibility.

Character enhancements aren’t limited to just hack tools and the like: players can also augment Adam’s combat capabilities.  In addition to adding to the much demonstrated melee “blades” built into his arms Adam can also unleash a devastating 360 degree attack that sends and detonates small explosive charges in every direction, a handy tool for a scenario in which he becomes surrounded.  Weapons can also be customized with various attributes such as different types of ammo.

One of the most important aspects of the Deus Ex series is the power of choices and decisions that affect more than just the plot.  Though given a mission objective, unless it was mission critical, you could almost always choose how to go about it or even not do it at all.  Ten years ago this was a radical notion for gaming but nowadays it is present in many games the most recent and true-to-form title for this principle being Mass Effect 2.  During a recent gameplay demonstration at Eidos Montreal’s studio this was seen to be an almost intact carryover from the previous games.

The demo that was shown involved Adam being sent to retrieve an augmentation from a corpse at a Detroit police station.  Unfortunately the morgue Adam needed to access was off limits to anyone but key personnel.  With this set up Eidos showed off three different approaches to such a predicament: social, stealth, and combat.

Eidos first demonstrated a combative approach to retrieving the augmentation.  Marching right in the door the player had Jensen march right past the front desk and into the otherwise restricted areas of the station.  Despite being told to return to the lobby the player continued on, inciting a horde of attacking officers.

Combat in Human Revolution is most comparable to that of the Rainbow Six Vegas titles of 2006 and 2008.  While a first person shooter at its heart, the game utilizes a third person cover system for almost any cover you come across.  During the ensuing engagement the player entered the menu and combined a revolver with some explosive rounds, creating a sheer weapon of destruction, and thereafter went to town on anyone who stood in his way.  Finding the morgue door locked the player again opened the menu and combined a frag grenade with a mine which easily took the door down.

The second approach demonstrated was a social one in which the player would attempt to persuade his way in the morgue in plain sight.  The player had Jensen approach the front desk and began a conversation with Sergeant Haas, a man whom Jensen had served with on the force several years previous.  The conversation, which involved many passive and aggressive actions, had Jensen reminiscing with Haas, countering Haas’ questions and, eventually, having him give Adam access to the rest of the building.  This approach also allowed the player to learn new bits and pieces of information that wouldn’t have been able to learn had any other approach been taken.  The coroner in the morgue even offered up a full autopsy report to aid the player, something that was otherwise unavailable.

The third way of going about the objective involved stealth.  Instead of heading straight on back past the front desk the player had Jensen leave the station, go around the back of it, climb over a fence, and, while sneaking past a few armed guards, climbed a ladder to access the upper floors.  While on the upper level the player hacked into a couple computers gaining access to private memos and emails and utilized the cloaking ability to gain access to high traffic areas.  Confronted with a security door Jensen silently approached a guard and executed a non-lethal takedown.  Jensen then used the guard to bypass the door, hid the body, gained access to the corpse in the morgue, and exited the building through a sewer entrance.

All in all three different approaches to the experience promises stories to tell your friends about how you completed your missions and definitely shows signs of strong replay value to the game.  The non-lethal takedowns also raises into question whether the game can be completed without killing someone, something that isn’t easily accomplished in most games and is rarely implemented in shooters at all.  This doesn’t even come close to contemplating the possibilities of doing mix-and-match styles of play as you may choose to stealthily infiltrate the station and then, once the item has been retrieved, leaving the place Rambo style.

It’s Not the End of the World, But You Can See It from Here

Though I once had my doubts about the game what with Warren Spector not involved in the project at all and that this is Eidos Montreal’s freshman effort (oddly enough they are also working on Thief 4, another Ion Storm originating series) the game looks to be shaping up quite nicely in anticipation of its Spring 2011 release date.  It certainly has a lot to live up to though and one has to wonder whether the level design presented thus far reflects across the board given the current state of game design and the stronger focus on linearity than anything else.  With no mention either of a multiplayer mode, which this writer can only praise the high heavens for, the game has the potential to due credit to its namesake.  Will it though?  We’ll all find out next year.