Deus Ex: Human Revolution was one of those games I was aware of well in advance of its release, that was being talked up as something special, and one I could barely summon any interest in. I just didn’t know where it was coming from, what the big fuss was – it felt like some kind of franchise that had passed me by.
Then it got released, and all the reviews were amazing and extolling about the freedom the game afforded and how it was a revelation. Friends and people at work got it and were talking and enthusing about it. I figured it’d be one of those games I’d end up getting. . . and then it turned up on Amazon for less than £20 (so soon after its release date, what’s that all about!?) and I thought that good a deal to turn down.
So then. Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a game I have played so far up to the point where I have just arrived in China. There’s stuff I like, and stuff I don’t like, but mostly I am fairly certain I’ll see it through but it’ll never be the great game that reviews and even my friends made me think it was going to be.
I should point out something, however; this first playthrough of the game I am trying to get through the whole thing without being seen by hostiles and without killing anyone. I believe achieving both of these things will net me two tricky trophies, for one, but the stealth element seems to be keeping in the spirit of things. The game wants me to sneak around rather than go in all guns blazing.
It’s just as well – the shooting parts, for what ought to ostensibly work as well as any first person shooter game – don’t feel good at all. That’s criticism number one. (I should note that I started the game first time shooting my way through but, not liking the feel of it and discovering that stealth was more highly prized, re-started a new game.)
As a consequence of my stealth and trying to never get seen, there’s a lot of quitting and restarting going on. I am saving often. I’ll successfully whip past some guards in a room after a few attempts and save my game just so I don’t have to do it again, and all it really comes down to is watching their movements to slip through unnoticed.
Don’t try and kid me this is sophisticated gaming. Metal Gear Solid was doing this stuff over ten years ago. Christ, Bonanza Bros on the Megadrive was based on a similar premise!
I do appreciate that the sophistication and freedom of Deus Ex is found in how you can tackle the various environments. Even taking the stealth root, there are surely stacks of ways you can go about getting through the place without being seen – moving boxes if you’re strong enough, or hacking computers to switch off certain things, or finding hidden vents. . . I get that this element of the game is exceedingly well executed and its admirable how it really comes across; the feel of being there and able to do anything.
There haven’t been many places where I’ve noticed the joins to the world in this respect. You can tell you’ve triggered certain conversations and actions sometimes, as you walk close enough to a particular point, and of course I know if I were to sit in one spot and watch the guards they would continue repeating the same moves endlessly, eternally, caught on a loop only I can interrupt. At the end of the day it’s just a game but I guess all the buzz about how revolutionary the game was made me expect something less rudimentary.
Griping over, because there is a lot about this game that is exceptional. It’s super-stylish for one. I really liked the opening, with my guy just walking through the facility, talking with his ex-girlfriend – there was a real sense of the place being alive and occurring. Likewise when I first got to exit the building and head out into the streets of Detroit – ultimately it’s a relatively small area to explore but it feels otherworldly and yet engrossing.
Playing the game is like those really exciting thriller movies when the hero is somewhere he shouldn’t be, perhaps rifling through secret files, and it occasionally cuts to a guard or a villain returning back to the place – that stomach-tingling excitement translates here when sneaking past locked doors and getting into drawers. For all my previous moaning, when this game sucks you in the immersion is fantastic.
It’s just a shame that sense of immersion gets shattered when you’ve quit and reloaded the same bit ten times over because some guard you hadn’t noticed spotted you scampering behind some crates!
Whilst the freedom aspect of things is in place for how to tackle situations it doesn’t quite extend to the narrative so much as I can tell. I have tried to get involved in whatever sidequests have come up and get them completed, though I have a nagging suspicion that I may have left Detroit having not done everything. I did get into the police station (talked my way in, unlike a work colleague who told me he’d had to get in through the back alley grating) and complete the mission there, and other little quests for some guy at the office who was in trouble peddling drugs – these were good diversions but the game would have played by regardless of my having seen them or not.
It’s that sense of being able to unnoticeably miss such things which convinces me I probably have done!
I did learn a truth about my character Jenson, however, and how his parents weren’t really his parents. That seemed like a big revelation too big for the wider narrative to just ignore so I am wondering if that may have changed the shape of how this game of mine turns out. (I noticed there is a trophy for seeing all possible endings so I figure there must be something I can and can’t do to effect that!)
The boss fight that closed off my visit to the FEMA facility (took me ages to get through there without being seen!) was initially one I thought was going to be a pain. Since I’ve been concentrating on upgrading my skills as a hacker and haven’t concerned myself with strength, health or weapons (I figure since I’m avoiding everyone and not killing anyone I don’t need to worry about my offensive capabilities) I thought I might have a problem.
Turned out I just needed to stun him in the face a couple of times to hinder him and then put him down. It was almost pathetically simple, to the extent I’m still in a state of disbelief that it worked. But oh well, he set me on my merry way to China and that’s where I am at now. See how it goes.
Then it got released, and all the reviews were amazing and extolling about the freedom the game afforded and how it was a revelation. Friends and people at work got it and were talking and enthusing about it. I figured it’d be one of those games I’d end up getting. . . and then it turned up on Amazon for less than £20 (so soon after its release date, what’s that all about!?) and I thought that good a deal to turn down.
So then. Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a game I have played so far up to the point where I have just arrived in China. There’s stuff I like, and stuff I don’t like, but mostly I am fairly certain I’ll see it through but it’ll never be the great game that reviews and even my friends made me think it was going to be.
I should point out something, however; this first playthrough of the game I am trying to get through the whole thing without being seen by hostiles and without killing anyone. I believe achieving both of these things will net me two tricky trophies, for one, but the stealth element seems to be keeping in the spirit of things. The game wants me to sneak around rather than go in all guns blazing.
It’s just as well – the shooting parts, for what ought to ostensibly work as well as any first person shooter game – don’t feel good at all. That’s criticism number one. (I should note that I started the game first time shooting my way through but, not liking the feel of it and discovering that stealth was more highly prized, re-started a new game.)
As a consequence of my stealth and trying to never get seen, there’s a lot of quitting and restarting going on. I am saving often. I’ll successfully whip past some guards in a room after a few attempts and save my game just so I don’t have to do it again, and all it really comes down to is watching their movements to slip through unnoticed.
Don’t try and kid me this is sophisticated gaming. Metal Gear Solid was doing this stuff over ten years ago. Christ, Bonanza Bros on the Megadrive was based on a similar premise!
I do appreciate that the sophistication and freedom of Deus Ex is found in how you can tackle the various environments. Even taking the stealth root, there are surely stacks of ways you can go about getting through the place without being seen – moving boxes if you’re strong enough, or hacking computers to switch off certain things, or finding hidden vents. . . I get that this element of the game is exceedingly well executed and its admirable how it really comes across; the feel of being there and able to do anything.
There haven’t been many places where I’ve noticed the joins to the world in this respect. You can tell you’ve triggered certain conversations and actions sometimes, as you walk close enough to a particular point, and of course I know if I were to sit in one spot and watch the guards they would continue repeating the same moves endlessly, eternally, caught on a loop only I can interrupt. At the end of the day it’s just a game but I guess all the buzz about how revolutionary the game was made me expect something less rudimentary.
Griping over, because there is a lot about this game that is exceptional. It’s super-stylish for one. I really liked the opening, with my guy just walking through the facility, talking with his ex-girlfriend – there was a real sense of the place being alive and occurring. Likewise when I first got to exit the building and head out into the streets of Detroit – ultimately it’s a relatively small area to explore but it feels otherworldly and yet engrossing.
Playing the game is like those really exciting thriller movies when the hero is somewhere he shouldn’t be, perhaps rifling through secret files, and it occasionally cuts to a guard or a villain returning back to the place – that stomach-tingling excitement translates here when sneaking past locked doors and getting into drawers. For all my previous moaning, when this game sucks you in the immersion is fantastic.
It’s just a shame that sense of immersion gets shattered when you’ve quit and reloaded the same bit ten times over because some guard you hadn’t noticed spotted you scampering behind some crates!
Whilst the freedom aspect of things is in place for how to tackle situations it doesn’t quite extend to the narrative so much as I can tell. I have tried to get involved in whatever sidequests have come up and get them completed, though I have a nagging suspicion that I may have left Detroit having not done everything. I did get into the police station (talked my way in, unlike a work colleague who told me he’d had to get in through the back alley grating) and complete the mission there, and other little quests for some guy at the office who was in trouble peddling drugs – these were good diversions but the game would have played by regardless of my having seen them or not.
It’s that sense of being able to unnoticeably miss such things which convinces me I probably have done!
I did learn a truth about my character Jenson, however, and how his parents weren’t really his parents. That seemed like a big revelation too big for the wider narrative to just ignore so I am wondering if that may have changed the shape of how this game of mine turns out. (I noticed there is a trophy for seeing all possible endings so I figure there must be something I can and can’t do to effect that!)
The boss fight that closed off my visit to the FEMA facility (took me ages to get through there without being seen!) was initially one I thought was going to be a pain. Since I’ve been concentrating on upgrading my skills as a hacker and haven’t concerned myself with strength, health or weapons (I figure since I’m avoiding everyone and not killing anyone I don’t need to worry about my offensive capabilities) I thought I might have a problem.
Turned out I just needed to stun him in the face a couple of times to hinder him and then put him down. It was almost pathetically simple, to the extent I’m still in a state of disbelief that it worked. But oh well, he set me on my merry way to China and that’s where I am at now. See how it goes.
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