It is an oft-discussed topic in the gaming industry about games that redefine the interactive entertainment landscape as we know it. Every few years we get a game that makes us take a step back and shudder in awe. For gamers, it is the realization of a new way to play or perhaps the next step in modern storytelling. For developers, it’s the culmination of years of ambition and the willingness to push the boundaries of the play experience. It doesn’t happen very often but when the stars align and the right minds sit down to keyboard and mouse with an idea that hasn’t been tried before we get truly amazing titles like Red Dead Redemption, Halo, and Bioshock.
Warren Spector was one of those great minds and, with his team at Ion Storm here in Austin, he succeeded in creating several wonderful, innovative franchises, the most famous of which was Deus Ex. It was a sad thing to hear when Eidos announced they were closing Ion Storm in 2005 (Spector had left the company the previous year) and it was all but a certainty that this once great franchise was gone. When Eidos announced that they were going to bring the franchise back two years later it was a very worrying prospect. Spector had formed Junction Point Studios after leaving Ion Storm and at this point was already hard at work on what eventually would become 2010’s Epic Mickey so without him and his dedicated team behind the new project it was questionable whether Eidos could capture even a tenth of the wonder Ion Storm had put into the franchise. Eidos Montreal, a brand new studio was tasked with making the next iteration in the Deus Ex franchise. As their freshman effort this is no small task.
Now that Deus Ex’s prequel has finally arrived in stores one has to ask: is it really a Human Revolution or just a sputtering, stagnated glimpse at a once great series?
Laputan Machine and the Flatlander Woman
A quarter of a century before the events of Deus Ex and the rise of biomechanical augmentation, humanity is experiencing an event almost unparalleled in written history: the Cyber Renaissance. Like the rise of education and creativity Italy experienced in the 16th century so too are we seeing the beginning of the physical transcendence of man through mechanical augmentation. Casting off the bonds of flesh, both those who need it as well as those who don’t accept these unnatural enhancements in order to live better lives albeit at a great cost.
This is the great topic of debate in the year 2027 where we meet Adam Jensen, our protagonist. Adam is more than just involved in the debate: he’s smack dab in the middle of it. Jensen is the head of security at Sarif Industries, one of the leading companies in the field of human augmentation. One night, just prior to a trip to Washington D.C. to reveal a major breakthrough that would making augmentation safer and easier, Sarif Industries is attacked and most of the research team, including Megan Reed who is both the team lead and Jensen’s former lover, are killed in a raid by a group of unknown mercenaries. Jensen himself is mortally wounded in the attack and he is forced to undergo significant augmentations in order to save his life.
Six months later Jensen is called in despite still recovering by his boss David Sarif who needs his help once again. There’s been another attack, this one at a manufacturing plant where anti-augmentation radicals have seized the building and taken hostages. As Sarif’s right-hand man, Jensen infiltrates the facility only to discover there’s more here than meets the eye. From here Adam goes on a globetrotting adventure to find out the truth behind the conspiracy that may just shape humanity’s future.
The Deus Ex series was founded on the principle of telling a vast story whose events and outcome are shaped and almost completely determined by the player. While the developer had all the necessary source material to make a story set in that universe there are many things to worry about, none the least of which is that this prequel is supposed to lead up to the original game which is set a couple decades after this one. I can safely report however that, despite all the signs pointing the other way, Eidos Montreal has successfully created not just a great story, but a great Deus Ex game.
The intricate story necessary to make a Deus Ex caliber story are present and accounted for and you’d be hard pressed to find any sort of story point worthy of a complaint. Adam Jensen’s adventure ties in quite nicely into the overall narrative that is the Deus Ex universe and doesn’t compromise the events of the previous games at all. In fact, it can be said that the story in and of itself is perfectly placed as it both explains the origin of the nano augmentations seen in later on in the series as well as very well placing well known characters within the game like Bob Page, Elizabeth DuClare and Joseph Manderley without compromising them.
The world itself though is only half of what makes a Deus Ex story so great: it’s also your main character. Like JC and Alex Denton before him, Adam Jensen is a grey protagonist of intelligence, understanding, and cunning. What they also share is the fact that their ultimate actions are controlled by the player and each attitude the player chooses for Adam help both define your experience as well as how Jensen is perceived in the world. A character like this helps bridge the gap between a defined character you play as and the silent protagonist and this is something we need to see a lot more of. Characters like Adam Jensen and Booker DeWitt are the great balance of player choice and directional storytelling and we’ll hopefully be seeing more of that in the future.
The First Battle of the Invisible War
Like the two games before it, Deus Ex Human Revolution is a first-person shooter that just so happens to be a directed, open-world experience. At its core Human Revolution is philosophically the same as it was eight years ago, which is wonderful to see given the length of time fans of the series, including myself, have had to endure. It is here though where the similarities begin to fray.
Previously in the Deus Ex series there was a finite amount of stealth you had to adhere to. You were going to get killed fast if you weren’t careful but at the same time combat wasn’t exactly a high priority. After all, there were plenty of different ways to approach an objective and simply using strong observation skills you could infiltrate a location, attain your goal, and extract with little to no fuss. Human Revolution not only embraces this; it also takes it to the next level.
Human Revolution utilizes a stealth and detection system that, deliciously, pays remarkable tribute to classic stealth gaming ala Metal Gear Sold and its counterparts. Thanks to the addition of a “hold-to-hide” cover system much like that of what Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas started, it is very easy to sneak through a restricted area undetected thanks to enemies whose senses are, again, much like that of a Metal Gear title. Enemies can see and hear you but, under the right conditions, you can easily avoid them. Moving from cover to cover is done with a simple press of a button though it can be a giveaway if done at the wrong time. Slip up and the enemy will certainly investigate and attack with extreme prejudice. The result is a gratifyingly enjoyable yet simple stealth system that is almost effortless to adapt to. Keep out of their line of sight and tread softly and you shouldn’t have any trouble. The game even encourages you to utilize stealth as much as possible thanks to an achievement that require no alarm activations as well as one that requires you not to kill anyone in the game. Play smart and these high value achievements can be yours.
Even if you find yourself suddenly in the middle of an unexpected firefight you are far from defenseless. Though the game isn’t built for shooting entirely like modern shooters Call of Duty or Battlefield, combat is achievable and plays much like most cover-based shooters seen today. You’ll pop into cover, peak out to fire, and pop back into cover as necessitated. While Deus Ex utilizes a regenerative health system it is made quite clear from the start that any prolonged exposure to incoming fire will result in death quite quickly. Thankfully ammo isn’t scare at all in Deus Ex if you are playing stealthily and even then you can scavenge the bodies of the unconscious or deceased in order to restock.
Enemy AI in Deus Ex, while not original, can be a formidable foe. Once detected, enemy guards are quick to take cover and trade shots with you and they are smart enough to flush you with grenades and charge you at the right time with the right weapon if you aren’t too careful. They all utilize the same weapons you do so, being careful and carrying the right tools for the job, one can easily turn the tide of a battle. Play smart and you’ll be smart but be too brash and you will be punished.
Overall, the game’s encouragement of stealth doesn’t dampen the already great combat. This is a thinking man’s shooter and if you are like me then you agree that this is an oasis in a desert of mindless shoot’em-ups.
Flesh Amongst Metal, Man Amongst Machine
Human Revolution greatest accomplishment, apart from the stellar story and delivery, is the world Adam Jensen resides in. Sticking to its guns, the latest title in the series retains the classic open-world exploration that separated the original titles from its corridor-based siblings. Between the mission stages you will arrive and return to two hubworlds: the American city of Detroit and the Chinese island of Heng Sha. Each is extraordinarily different with Heng Sha standing out in particular as it is literally two cities built on top of one another. As such there is a strong amount of verticality to be had in Heng Sha, something that games rarely deal with these days save for Bethesda’s upcoming sequel to Prey.
Customization is a large part of the Deus Ex experience as well and Eidos Montreal didn’t have to do much in order to get this right. In almost every way it is remarkably similar to what Ion Storm created over a decade ago in that your character can be customized to your liking. Favor a stealthier, less confrontational approach? Simply choose hacking, cloaking and enemy tracking augments and you’ll be good to go. On the other hand, augments like additional ballistic durability, the Typhoon system and refined recoil control can dramatically help in the event of a firefight. Others like the Icarus Landing System (ironic name huh?) aid quite well in helping the player explore and, for me at least, was a must in places like Heng Sha.
Another great feature worth mentioning is the game’s refined version of the series’ debates. Periodically throughout the game you’ll encounter main characters that you have to question or influence in order to proceed on. During these sequences there are always only two outcomes, either in your favor or not, but the dynamic between Jensen and his opponent can really dive into philosophical territory. The responses and questions you ask, as well as their tone, can heavily alter the direction of the conversation and each one is well worth playing several times just to see exactly what each person has to say.
Even the requisite hacking part of the game, which as it turns out is a rather large component in both exploring the environment as well as making your life easier, is enjoyable. While the previous titles were a simple matter of letting it automatically hack a target Eidos Montreal opted to flesh it out and make it into a minigame similar in scope to one used in Bioshock 1. In each instance you have to establish connections from node to node in order to reach the access hub, all the time being wary of the security system that may detect you. This factor is based on probability and while you can buy augments to decrease the likelihood of detection you’re almost always going to end up tripping the system somewhere along the line. Despite this it is surprisingly enjoyable thanks to a good level of strategy to be had each time you do it.
The only point at which I could find a viable complaint to be made was in regard to Jensen’s character. While I previously stated that a blended character like Jensen is a great medium by which to tell a story that is both shaped on its own as well as by the player it seems that Jensen is unfortunately a mostly understated guy in everyday conversation. Only during cutscenes and debates do you really feel Jensen step out of his comfort zone and actually be vocal. This is disappointing considering some of the normal conversations can be a bit heartbreaking or shocking so a little more character exploration, in these instances, would have been nicer. Other than that Elias Toufexis does a terrific job of making us appreciate Adam as character, a protagonist and as a savior.
With that seemingly the only detraction from the overall Human Revolution experience, you’d be hard pressed to find a more enjoyable experience this year.
More Than Human, Less Than a God
Looking back at Deus Ex Human Revolution it is simply amazing how a new team like that at Eidos Montreal could create such a solid gaming experience. It had everything going against it what with SquareEnix’s lackluster reputation as of late, the absence of one of the greatest designers in gaming history, and a large and biased fanbase to impress. What we have today however is probably one of the most interesting and entertaining games not only of the year but of this generation. Ten years ago Deus Ex changed the way we play shooters, creating an experience that games like Bioshock owe their existence to. Human Revolution proudly continues this legacy, reinvigorating series fans while introducing new ones to one of the most beloved universes in the history of modern gaming.
Eidos Montreal, you have accomplished something that I didn’t think was possible. You guys put so much love into this game that, at times, I was simply speechless. If this isn’t game of the year material I simply don’t know what is.