It was the summer of 2000, and I was fourteen years old. One day that summer, I walked into my local electronics store with $40 in my pocket. I was planning on buying a new computer game. I no longer remember what game I was all set to drop my birthday money on, however, because I didn’t end up purchasing it. Before I could find it in the computer game section, another box on the shelf caught my gaze. My eyes were indeed transfixed on a glossy, black and blue box featuring one man, adorned in sunglasses, looking up to the sky. Just about a year after a film known as The Matrix had hit theaters, the “cool-looking†box brought me right back to that previous summer and the obsession with conspiracy theories and the future of man/machine relations that the film had spawned within me. I’d never wanted a game more just from looking at the box in my life.
That afternoon, I went up to the counter and paid $39.99 for the original PC version of Deus Ex and my gaming life has never been the same since. Deus Ex, which was eventually ported to the Playstation 2 and the original X-Box, combined elements of the first-person shooter and role-playing games in a way that I’d never seen before, and fused this new, hybrid genre with a terrific soundtrack and one of the most thought-provoking, tense, and compelling stories that I’d ever experienced in a game. Despite a lackluster and uninspired 2003 sequel, Deus Ex, named PC Gamer magazine’s top computer game of all-time, remains a critically-acclaimed and highly influential game to this day, as well as my favorite video game ever.
A few years ago, when news came out that publisher Eidos was working on a new Deus Ex game, I was, not surprisingly, extremely excited. I can hardly believe that the day has finally come when I am holding a new Deus Ex game in my hands. Was it Deus Ex: Human Revolution worth the wait? You bet.
The original Deus Ex was set in the year 2052, in a future where human beings were being augmented with machinery, granting them abilities the likes of which humans had never been capable of. Human Revolution, however, is a prequel set a quarter century earlier, when this phenomenon is still in its early stages. You play as Adam Jensen, the chief of security for the Sarif Corporation, one of the leaders in the augmentation industry. Early in the game, Adam suffers a near-death experience, and his life is saved through the use of new, experimental augmentation procedures. All is not as it seems, however, and as Adam, it is up to you to unravel the mystery behind the events that left you half-man, half-machine.
Human Revolution really feels like a Deus Ex game, from the theme of the story to the concept of choice. The game has one major story arc, but plenty of optional side quests, each with it’s own set of twists and turns, giving you the ability to choose which party you want to assist, how you want to help them, or whether you want to stick your nose in their business at all. When it comes to Deus Ex games, ‘how’ is always the key word. When you have an objective in Human Revolution, there are almost always various ways to approach them. The game, which is full of impressive firearms to augment (pun intended) your already impressive arsenal of augmentation powers, allows you to play the game as a guns-blazing, take no prisoners bad ass if you so choose. Maybe that isn’t your style. Perhaps you’ve played one too many Splinter Cell games and you see yourself as a spy. A ghost. Don’t worry, in Deus Ex, you can do that, too. Or you can be some sort of combination of the two, sliding around in the shadows at times, and riddling enemies with bullet holes at others. Whatever path you choose, doing it will always be fun. Human Revolution introduces a terrific cover system, reminiscent of another Tom Clancy series, Rainbow Six. The ability to use the environment to your advantage is a boon to both the brazen and the stealthy.
If the original Deus Ex had a weakness, it was probably the aesthetics, which were adequate, but hardly spectacular. Human Revolution has no such issue. The game is stunning, especially Adam Jensen himself. The game shifts to a third-person view when using the cover system, and you get to see a lot of yourself. Some NPCs could have been better, and you’ll see some repetition here and there, but the environments are largely outstanding.
The voice acting is well done, and the music, while not exactly the same, definitely feels inspired by the original game, with a subtle electronic-based theme that fits the game perfectly, creating a palpable tension that only serves to bring the gamer closer and closer to the story.
Like the original game, Human Revolution is filled with excerpts from books or reports that offer the player a chance to learn more about the science, both real and fantasy, at play in this fictional world. Little touches like this can help immerse you in this cyberpunk thriller.
Due to the variety of choices you can make as you play your way through the game, Human Revolution can remain different and entertaining through multiple play-throughs. It’s certainly a game worth playing more than once, because the choices you make will eliminate certain storylines.
Deus Ex opened our eyes to a new world of gaming where players had choice available to them. Over a decade later, Human Revolution continues to build on that idea, giving you another opportunity to build your character the way you want, while experiencing plenty of high-octane action and enjoying a film-worthy story that will keep you guessing and wanting more.
Now, if they could just use all this great modern technology to remake the original game. A man can dream…
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