Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the first good new game that I've played All year. It came out at a moment when I was searching for a good singleplayer game to play.


Until this game was announced back in 2009, I had never heard of the series. Mostly because I was too young when the original came out. But after seeing the announcement trailer, I became intrigued by it. It looked like something different, something that had the potential to be very good.

Let me give you a little history on this series. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a prequel to the very first game which was developed by series creators Ion Storm Inc and published by Eidos Interactive back in 2000. The first game, simply called Deus Ex, was critically acclaimed and won a number of Game of the Year awards due to pioneering designs in player choice. The sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War, was not as acclaimed as the original but still received well by many critics.

With that little history lesson over, lets get back to the present, I mean the past, eh, you know, because Human Revolution is a prequel ? You no what, I'll try and keep the comedy to a minimum.


Anyway, Human Revolution is set in the year 2027, 25 years before the first game. You play as Adam Jensen who is head of security for Sarif Industries, the leading corporation in Augmentation research. Jensen became the Chief of security for Sarif after he left the Detriot SWAT team after refusing to follow a questionable order. During an attack on Sarif Industries, Jensen is critically injured and has no choice but to undergo radical surgery that fuses his body with these Augmentations
                                                  

                                                        A now famous line of Dialogue

                                               
After being out of action for six months recovering, upon his return to Sarif Industries, Jensen is adament that he will find out who was responsible for the attack that left him mortally wounded and is hellbent on revenge.

                                                  The end result of Jensens Augmentations


The gameplay flows really well. The developers have what they like to call the "pillars of gameplay," which are Combat, Stealth, Hacking and Social". You can choose what way you want to play based on the way you upgrade your augmentations. Augmentations are unlocked and upgraded using Praxis points, which you can get in three ways. You gain Praxis points after you earn a certain amount of experience, by purchasing them from LIMB clinics (hospitals set up for those with augmentations) or you can find upgrade packs that are scattered throughout the game for you to find.

This is almost like an old school kind of game. It doesn't spoonfeed you all the information you need to get the job done, sometimes you have to find new ways to complete your objective which led me to trying things I normally wouldn't think of. The inventory system also leads you to having to think about what you want to bring with you. You can't just pick up everything and keep moving, so this presents new challenges. Also, certain items can be combined which will give you some space for more stuff. One example is combining a flashbang grenade with a land mine.


Overall: I enjoyed this game very much. It presented challenges that made me think about what I really wanted to do and how I would have to do it. The story telling is very good, combining cutscenes with  informative devices such as emails that you come accross after hacking computers. I loved all the different ways I could solve problems, one good example is when I ran out of ammo, I was able to hack a turret and set it to target my enemies, and then proceed to pick it up and bring it with me to take out whatever laid ahead. Pretty Awesome.


                                 8/10

"Fun, challenging and a good story. Well worth the buy if you want a good singleplayer game to fill your time if you are wiating for the upcoming autumn/fall releases."