Review: Deus Ex Human Revolution

For the first time in over five years Eidos Montreal have fused their minds with the highly talented people at Square Enix and have created the third instalment in the globally popular Deus Ex franchise to further revolutionise the way we look and play modern computer games.

Story

The highly industrialised world in which the game revolves around is set within the year 2027, where global corporations have taken control over the ever expanding technological advancements of mankind and have infected every corner of the world with their presence. Bio-technological augmentations have become a global fascination and are in high demand giving anyone and everyone limitless power to be used for good or bad.

You play as Ex SWAT member Adam Jensen, a private security officer working with Sarif Industries, the world’s leading developer in Bio augmented enhancements. After a large scale terrorist attack on the company’s headquarters, Adam is left critically injured with no chance of survival leaving his superiors with the decision to put him through extensive augmentation surgery changing his life forever.

Throughout the course of the game Adam journeys to various industrial cyber cities across the world in search of the people behind his horrific ordeal and to find the true answers about the origins of these terrorist attacks.

Gameplay

The various elements of gameplay Square have implemented into the game are what really make the game stand out among its competitors as you are freely able to play through the game in completely different ways giving you the freedom to chose your own style that tailors to your preferences whilst providing you with hours of replay value. The main focus on gameplay is through a few simple but highly effective factors which are Combat, Stealth, Hacking and Exploration. While playing through the game you’ll naturally pick up each of these styles because of the games’ high flexibility allowing you to mix and match you playability in any way, proving especially helpful if you want to squeeze every last drop out of the campaign.

Sarif Industries have kitted Adam out with a heap load of helpful augmentations giving you a great deal of control over the actions you take within the game. Some augments strive to make you as stealthy as possible such as cloaking or tracking your enemies through walls whilst others focus on the more ruthless aspects such as punching through solid walls or impaling multiple enemies with your hidden blades. You can also upgrade each and every weapon you find with items such as ammo/reload speed/damage upgrades and specialized kits like silencers, laser sights, target-seeking devices etc that will undoubtedly give you an edge over the playing field.

You are also able to upgrade Adam’s various augments through Praxis points which you can gain in a number of ways such as levelling up, completing quests or finding Praxis Kits hiding away in secluded locations. You are also free to buy your way to the top which as you may have guessed comes at a steep price as Praxis points are worth around 5000 credits each so I would recommend steering clear of this method and only buying them if you absolutely have to. It also kind of takes out the fun of getting them yourself as the story unfolds.

Design

The majority of Deus Ex looks absolutely brilliant; there is beauty to be seen everywhere from the towering skyward buildings glistening in the setting sun all the way to the darkest street alleyways populating nothing more than a few rodents and some empty whiskey bottles. The digital work Square have put into each dynamic cut scene, location and menu is where the essence of Dues Ex really shines… literally. Every inch of the game is beautifully lit up with thousands of variations of light bounding off every single object of matter making everything look bold and vibrant which does an amazing job of fully immersing you into the game.

Unfortunately the same can’t be entirely said for the inhabitants of the game. Whilst looking absolutely amazing in each cut-scene, Adam and every other character featured in the game don’t seem to have that visual flare that makes everything else feel so real. Instead they feel a little out of place, kind of like pasting a cartoon character onto a real photograph. Obviously the difference there is much greater but with my high perceptiveness for detail I don’t quite feel 100% comfortable with the characters as they are within the game no matter how great they look anyway, and don’t worry they do look great, just not amazing.

Sound

The music played throughout the game is exactly what you would expect from a cyber futuristic style game which in my opinion is truly awe inspiring. Every second within the game no matter what you are doing in that moment you are always accompanied by a score perfectly fitting the situation immersing you ever further into the game. Not only does the music help with the fluidity of the game but each and every sound effect be it from the smallest computer bleep to the explosive barrage of a heavy machine gun helps to create an even more realistic setting.

The voice acting is another feature that furthers the great attention to sound quality found throughout the game which in its own aspect contributes a great deal to the game’s rationality. However, no matter how great the voice acting is, the slight lack of syncing quality cannot simply be overlooked as there is a substantial amount of dialog within the game requiring you to sit back and relax whilst you consciously stare at the characters lips as they speak. Be that as it may, The sound in all its entirety is still something truly inspiring, constantly making you feel like a part of the game.

Overall

Square and Eidos have put their heads together to create yet another amazing title in the massively popular franchise and continuing the phenomenal legacy of its predecessors from way back at the start of the millennium. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is something of a masterpiece, combining stunning digital artistry with dynamic and ingenious gameplay mechanics stretching the countless elements of gameplay like no other. It’s fluid style and vibrant visuals truly engross you into the overwhelming cyber-punk world and legitimately make you feel as if you are accompanying Adam Jensen on his righteous crusade for the truth.