Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Reviews

(4.1)

394 reviews

Info

Reviewbucket.co.uk scanned the internet for Deus Ex: Human Revolution reviews.
You can find all Deus Ex: Human Revolution reviews and ratings on this page.

Read the reviews.

Analysis

For Deus Ex: Human Revolution, 394 customer reviews collected from 1 e-commerce sites, and the average score is 4.1.

Detailed seller stats;
Amazon has 394 customer reviews and the average score is 4.1. Go to this seller.

Detail

Click to list all products in this category.

4.9.2011

First of all: I haven't played the first Deux Ex, I started with part two, "Invisible War". Since I can't remember anything about Inivisible War, Human Revolution for me was pretty much the introduction into the world of Deus Ex.Not to beat around the bush: This is one of the best games I've played in years. From the beginning on I was hooked by the incredible art style and atmosphere of the game. From the first mission on I felt the tensions in the society Human Revolution shows the player. The Ebooks give you an insight into the minds of the people who want to make mankind better, but also show us how the struggle to make man superhuman is resented by parts of the society.Human Revolution is lot about atmosphere and the forlorn and derelict streets of Boston or the labyrinth of Lower Hengsha emphasize the conflict which slowly escalates as the game progresses. This is helped by mostly brilliant voice acting which makes characters believable even when the graphics falls short.Which, unfortunately, happens from time to time. As already mentioned, the graphics style is brilliant. The game mostly shows contrasts of cold and sterile grey or white and warm gold. While this seems quite simple, the effect is outstanding. Ocassionally I spent several minutes gaping at a special view out of the window of a skyscraper. Especially Jensen's apartment stands out to me in this aspect. This doesn't mean that the technical aspect of the graphics is perfect, though: Some skyboxes, while impressive on their own, contrast too clearly with the boundaries of the world you're moving in. In conversations, most of the characters don't look very detailed and the lips seem to move without any greater consideration for the words spoken. Some textures don't look too good either. The only thing I found really annoying, though, were occasional slowdowns on the PS3. Admittedly, there's a lot going on the screen when this happens, but it still made me want to put down the controller to avoid a headache. Fortunately, this never happens in combat missions, so at least it doesn't put you in trouble with enemies.While there is good and bad on the technical side, the gameplay is where Human Revoulution really shines.First of all, there is an incredible sense of freedom. In the cities you can wander around in the apartment complexes to see if you can't find a weapon dealer or simply break into some apartments and steal stuff. In a mission you can always choose your own way: Hackers can turn off security cameras or program gun turrets into attacking the guards on patrol, people who invested their experience in stealth can make their way through enemy lines without anyone suspecting that there's someone around. You can find hidden pathways in every mission and in most of the locations. These secret passages help you avoid enemies, serve as shortcuts or lead to hidden goodies such as ammunition or upgrades for your weapons.Of course, if you feel like it, you can always choose to enter guns blazing and kill everyone in sight. This actually does work, in spite of what you can read in some rewievs, it just doesn't work as you might expect. This is a game in which your enemies can take a lot more punishment than you do. Furthermore, their aiming is brutally good. This means that you cannot risk a firefight in the tradition of Quake or even Call of Duty. You have to use cover, find your way out of the enemy line of sight and then attack him from an angle he doesn't expect. I'm lucky enough never to have been in a situation like this, but it seems more realistic than the "stand somewhere and gun them down" approach of most shooters. Once you realize this, it's incredibly satisfying to launch s surprise attack from behind cover, quickly change your position to flank two enemies in cover and take them out. I heavily upgraded my 10mm Pistol from the beginning on and had a lot of fun using hidden ways and quickly rushing from cover to cover to outsmart the enemy time and again. Admittedly this approach is made easier by the enemy AI which guns you down in seconds when they catch you in the open but is horribly blind when you crouch in cover right under their nose. Running and gunning will probably not get you far, so if you expect this kind of game you might want to look for something else. If you prefer tactical shooters anyway and like the cover based mechanic which e.g. Uncharted uses then you can actually play the game whatever way you want to.The weapons arsenal might be a bit of a disappointment for the gun nuts. There are two pistols, three kinds of machine guns, two heavy weapons, a shotgun, a Sci-Fi Laser Gun, a Plasma Rifle, a Sniper Rifle, a Crossbow (which equals a silenced sniper rifle) and two non- lethal weapons. While there are various and incredibly cool ways to modify your weapons (you can make machine guns "remember" their target and find it even around corners), the limited inventory space means you will probably stick to two or three of them. Once you started upgrading a weapon, there is basically no reason at all to switch to another weapon of the same kind, so you might pick a gun you like and stick to it for the rest of the game. It's still fun to upgrade your weapon constantly and see your initially lousy 10mm take out a heavily armored guy with a single shot to the head.Something which is indeed annoying are the bossfights. First of all, they lack the choice you have in all other aspects of the game. You have to kill them, no way to talk them round or silently knock them out. You always have to use guns since in close combat they will toast in two seconds. I was really annoyed by the second bossfight in which I needed three attempts before I even knew WHAT had killed me. It tool two more tries to find out how to avoid it. In this second bossfight I felt I was expected to have upgraded to specific augments which would make the fight easiert. I had only one of them, so I died a lot. The third one is even cheaper since it makes you fight without a HUD, blurred vision and nonsensical data overlaying your vision.Since the comparison with Mass Effect has been made, I want to adress this, too:Personally I think that ME 2 is a decent shooter with incredible production values but a horrible RPG. So while the fighting works a bit like Mass Effect, the role playing aspect outshines ME easily. Most of the abilities you can pick for Jensen make sense and help you feel really superhuman about 5 to 6 hours into the game. You have to choose which upgrades you pick, since there's no way you can pick all of them. In my first playthrough (at least one more to come), I completely left out any stealth upgrades, some aspects of hacking and the Typhoon Weapon system. The only thing which I think is kind of mandatory is Hacking. Without the ability to access all the terminals in the games, you miss out on some of the background stories (like workers of medical company wondering if they're still doing the morally right things), a lot of goodies and will have a hard time evading attention at some points. The ability to turn off security cameras is priceless, for example.Summing up, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a great game for players who don't need the best and newest graphics and who instead enjoy a magnificent story. This story is told without lots of cutscenes and dialogues but has to be collected in the forms of Books, Newspapers. The blanks have to be filled with the data from hacked computers. It takes a bit of patience, but the dialogues and occasional cutscenes deliver enough information to follow the story if you are not inclined to read every book lying around. The great atmosphere is sometimes broken by technical drawbacks or the citizens in the streets who seem to be nailed to the ground and never move more than a few inches. The gameplay offers a challenge to almost every kind of play, every little action is rewarded with XP (found a hidden passage? - have some XP) which makes it incredibly motivating to explore the world you're moving in. The game sucked me in from the beginning on, and I really wanted to find unravel the conspiracy. Best game since Uncharted II and Dragon Age: Origins (to give you some idea about the games I like).

9.9.2011

I never played either of the first two Deus Ex games, but after finishing Human Revolution the first thing I did was to order a second hand copy of the original Deus Ex on PS2, so eager was I for more (I have been advised to give the second game a miss). Believe me there is no exaggeration when I say that Deus Ex Human Revolution is an excellent, excellent game and one that you absolutely MUST play if you have even the slightest interest in RPGs... and hell, even first person shooters for that matter.Set in a decidedly Blade Runner-esque future, you play as Adam Jensen, ex-cop turned chief of security for Sarif Industries, a major producer of cybernetic augmentations(Human enhancement being a big commercial thing in the future),who is left all but dead following a terrorist attack that kills the entire research team in Sarif HQ(The head researcher being Jensen's girlfriend). So Sarif has Jensen rebuilt with cybernetic augmentations installed throughout his entire body. Six months later and Jensen is back at work, dealing with continuing threats to Sarif facilities from various sources as well as the group that nearly killed him and also investigating the truth behind the goals of this group, and who is pulling their strings. From here, you freely control Jensen around huge hub city areas in between missions that offer much in the way of side quests, hidden secrets and various bonuses to discover. This isn't a sandbox game, being more in the vein of Mass Effect but in first person and far more polished. The layout of the hubs is mostly linear but they are significant in size and things to do and the game world is truly an incredibly rich, well designed one with great characters, a great story and some truly impressive use of player choices generating unforseen consequences for good or ill. The plot is a tense, tightly paced sci fi conspiracy thriller that takes it's influences from numerous sources which it happily acknowledges through various references and in-jokes throughout the game. It's engrossing and well written and had me glued to the game for a solid week. Gold star on the presentation front here.The gameplay is a polished, well put together beast that takes in elements of many different games before, with influences from Splinter Cell and Mass Effect standing out quite a bit to me at least. Playing much like a normal first person shooter, the RPG elements are very simply implemented, utilising 'Praxis points' to let you upgrade your augments and abilities. These points can be acquired either by finding 'Praxis kits' hidden around the game world or by acquiring experience points, which work a little differently here as rather than your character having 'levels' you get one Praxis point for every 5000 experience points you earn. The manner in which experience is doled out is nicely inventive in it's reward giving as it encourages more tactical gameplay... for example just shooting an enemy straight in the chest to kill them will get you something like 10 exp for taking them down, but disabling an enemy with a tranquilizer dart to the back of the head without being scene will net you exp bonuses for not being seen, taking the enemy out with a head shot and not killing them, which can add up to anywhere from 50 to 100 exp depending on enemy type and situation. Finding hidden areas and completing the somewhat pointless feeling hacking mini games earns exp too among other actions. Beyond that though, this is a first person actioner that offers a tremendous amount of choice to the player for how to approach most situations, with most areas riddled with lightly defended rear entrances and ventilation shafts and hackable security measure for you to exploit however you like to get to where you need to go. You CAN just shoot your way through the game if you want, but the combat isn't quite some easy Halo-a-like where you can absorb hundreds of bullets and stay standing. No, a handful of shots and you die, with the game never really making you powerful enough to feel like an unstoppable super soldier or anything... and it's GOOD that such limitations are placed as it forces more creative play rather than mindless slaughter and overall results in a far more satisfying experience. The set up of the hub cities you wander around to complete side quests in between travelling to mission locations is very similar to the colony/space station areas in the Mass Effect games, but with much much more depth than anything seen in ME. You can traverse sewers and rooftops at will, with updates to augmentations for your jumping ability and long fall survivability as you go unlocking more and more areas to explore and find in the hubs. This is all backed up with a conversation system that is again very similar to Mass Effect, but in Deus Ex there is perhaps a lot less 'branchability' available for the conversations, but even so it can actually require some thinking to decide how to win an argument or persuade someone using the dialogues available to you. It's a detailed game and exceptionally polished for something like this, with no discernable bugs or glitches or graphics problems getting in the way of the gameplay. It is exceptionally fun however you choose to play it and has enough variable elements to it's story that it's replay value is fairly high.Visually, the game is great. It's not a 'stunner' by any means, but the texture work is solid and the framerate runs very smoothly for the vast majority of the game but it's the sheer attention to detail that really sells the visual quality, with fairly minor details such as being able to read book names on shelves and notices on walls, newspapers on desks, etc(Even if most of the same ones recur constantly throughout) clearly and all of them are authentic looking and help with the immersion the game world offers, making it feel closer to an actual living breathing world than pretty much anything else you'll have seen on consoles. That's not even getting into the interactivity of the environment, which lets you pick a lot of stuff lying around up, like, for instance, I came across a street preacher spouting anti-augment hate speech to a crowd of listeners during one trip through some back streets so I decided to pick up a bin and throw it at him, knocking him out cold and sending the crowd scurrying away from me. You're free to do amusing stuff like that as you like, and once you get some decent strength upgrades you can do stuff like pick up and toss away vending machines to see if there are ventilation shafts you can use to infiltrate buildings and such behind them. The physics engine is really something here. The sheer detail is staggering and it cannot be overstated how much it adds to the game. The soundtrack and voice acting are top notch as well, with a really nice 80s John Carpenter vibe running through a lot of it.The flaws are minor, insignificant even, and the simple truth is that Deus Ex Human Revolution is an amazing game with a truly impressive game world that offers variety and immersion on a level most RPGs can only dream of. Couple this with genuinely tense action based combat and a robust play time and you've got an astounding product on your hands. Buy it now.

7.3.2012

Regardless of First-Person shooter games not really being my thing, I had flirted on and off for some time with the idea of getting this. The gameplay looked fantastic and the storyline looked quite gripping. I was initially a bit dubious I would be able to get into the story due to the fact this game is a 'follow up' game from other games; I was glad to discover that this game is actually a prequel to the events of the previous games and therefore playing the previous games wasn't necessarily important to the plot (I'm sure players of the other games in the series would disagree but for a new player, this was an advantage).The gameplay is of course, focused highly on first person roaming with the important shooting element.There are a number of firearms the player will find themselves in possession of throughout the game. As this is a shooter, you won't find melee combat in this game; the game protagonist Adam Jensen has the ability to knock out/kill an opponent in close proximity (stealth kill) but never gets involved in hand-to-hand combat, and other than his augmented blades, there isn't really any other weaponry than ranged arms. That being said, you don't have to focus on it being a shooter and can still enjoy the roaming, spying and hacking aspects of the game that make this a fun and immersive game.The plot: In a not so distant future, Adam Jensen, a former SWAT captain is fast tracked to security manager of Serif Industries in Detroit. Serif is a company specialising in the manufacture of robotic components that can be installed and programmed into humans to replace amputated limbs or to increase abilities and skills giving augmented humans an extreme edge in various fields. The components - known as Augmentations - are ridiculously expensive and addictive (as are the drugs needed to prevent their bodies from rejecting their implants and limbs).When Serif is ambushed by an unknown enemy, several staff members are massacred; head researcher - Adam's former girlfriend - Megan Reed and her co-workers are lost to the attack, and Adam is mutilated horribly and left for dead. In an attempt to save Adam's life, David Serif, Adam's employer, puts him under an extensive and deadly augmentation surgery to repair the damage done. Six months later, Adam is called back to work before his recouperation is completed when another of Serif's factories is targeted and ambushed once again. Following these events, in a chaotic whirlwind of conspiracy and underhanded politics, Adam is dragged along by order and fuelled by anger to uncover the reasons behind the attacks and why Megan's research is the key to it all.Features:* A number of different firearms to use including Shotgun, Machine Gun, Pistol, Revolver, Combat Rifle, Tranquilizer and Stun Gun.* Free roaming (although the game is quite linear, there are quite a few maps to travel across).* Hacking is a huge feature in this game; you can hack security systems, computerized door locks and computer systems.* Being able to read newspapers, e-books and emails in the game adds to the sense of spying and learning more about the world around you (and the shady people within it).* Adam can augmented to the player taste - if you'd rather focus on hacking skills than lets say...cloaking systems or better jumping skills, then the choice is yours. You will not be able to obtain every augment throughout a single game as there are only so many praxis points available to use.* If FPS style gaming isn't quite your thing, you can actually play this without needing to kill enemies (excluding the bosses obviously). Stealth hits/knock outs are actually more rewarding than a flat out kill, and trying to obtain the trophy for completing the game without killing any enemies unneccessarily is a real challenge.* You can change the game difficulty throughout the game if you are finding it too hard (I believe there are three or four different difficulties).* Some events have a slight variation of results depending on your (Adam's) choices through the game.* A few minor side quests (not enough!) to play away from the linear storyline.* You can listen into conversations the NPCs have with each other (at one point I had Adam walk into a ladies room and there were two women in the stalls talking to each other, which was quite amusing).* More than one way to complete most tasks. For instance, if you are asked to enter a room and you can't get in due to a door lock you can either hack it, find an alternative way in or you can try to find the passcode through various emails or pocket secretaries you might find in the area.* The entire game is set at night time which gives a nice underbelly seedy feel to the world you travel in.* The interior areas are extensive, huge and well planned out. There's alot to discover, useful items to find (weaponry, power bars, passcodes, etc).Things that let it down a little:* Not enough side quests. I'm not sure if I just didn't find the right NPCs or if there were very few to find at all.* A larger sandbox option would have been nice.* You can't chop and change city areas if you get mored. If you go to China, you are ultimately stuck there until you complete the main questline there - you can't decide to go back to Detroit to try to finish off a side quest there. Also, once you've travelled to another city, any unfinished side-quests in your previous city are nulled with no option to go back to them later on the return. I was disappointed by this as it seemed it wasn't until much later I was in a position to actually be able to complete one of the side missions.* I thought the maps were a little confusing to follow in this (maybe just my opinion though).* Adam Jensen looked (and sounded a little) like Neo from 'The Matrix'. Not important, but I just kept thinking 'The Matrix' whenever I saw him on screen.* Voice acting was a little naff. Especially Frank Pritchard and Hugh Darrow.* The cloaking system was one of the most pointless augments; it didn't seem to last long enough to be of any real impact (I think the first upgrade of it lasts about 5 seconds).* It's too easy to accidentally kill certain useful NPCs (non playable characters). During my first playthrough I accidentally shot Seurat, who is an arms dealer in one of the apartments...this limited me alot later. Be nice if the game was programmed to allow you to attack only insignificant npcs or hostile/alarmed npcs and prevent the accidental/deliberate murder of questline/shop NPCs.* A few parts of the story were left seemingly unresolved (things that seemed to either be red herrings or important to the plot were never touched on - don't know if it was forgotten/ignored or if these things were relevant to the plot in the games that this was the prequel to).Regardless, this game was a great game and very addictive to play. I'm on my third playthrough so it has potential to not become a 'one play then trade' game. Hoping that I see more games like this come out, especially if a sequel to this comes out.

8.9.2011

Overall Score: 9/10Notes: This is a review for the PS3 version. The score is weighted, accounting for the following: competition within the genre on PS3 and comparison to the original Deus Ex, which I score at 10/10.Summary:Deus Ex Human Revolution (hereafter DXHR) is a brilliant, well written and beautifully presented extension to the Deus Ex lineage, putting Invisible War to shame, but falling just shy of the greatness of the original Deus Ex. Sometimes it's tricky and sometimes confusing, but the game is such that this is the point, and the game forces the player to question `traditional' play style and at times even their ethics. Shortcomings are minor compared to the scale and ambition of the game,but die hard DX fans will find them irritating, including some niggles with Augmentations and a comparatively barren sense of humour. The complete review gets a bit niggly, and focuses a lot on the minor shortcomings, but bear in mind I've given a 9/10 score: the game was really rewarding, and I couldn't write too much praise without spoiling what is a great story. I really enjoyed the game, and recommend it.Full Review:The HUD and interface are a work of very subtle design, inasmuch as the stop being noticed very swiftly: only when I moved to another game did I notice how well planned the DXHR system was, and while the button mapping was odd (the X key is Jump, not Use, which took some getting used to) this is a minor niggle.Combat is dangerous, which at first I really liked, because it reflects a reality which many FPS games ignore: bullets will hurt significantly. However, as the game progressed, I got a bit bored of non-engagement: combat was so expensive (ammo and health) it just wasn't worth it in most cases. Most levels with several enemies involved massed opponents patrolling a zone littered with cover, or a few baddies in a corridor easily subdued by a nonlethal takedown. The problem is this: the game doesn't force a non-combative method as such, and provides some very cool weaponry and augs for combat, but even with all your augs geared for death-dealing and a full supply of ammo, surviving a firefight with more than three enemies is rare: it's disproportionately easier to avoid encounters entirely.There aren't any swords or batons either - close range weaponry is limited to your fists, which bizarrely drain bio-energy, and a sort of implanted arm-sword, which I never used. I would have liked a cool sword to swing about - it's just not quite DX without one.There are boss fights, which aren't as odd as some DX reviews would make out: remember Walton Simons, or Gunther Hermann? These fights were challenging, and in a game which seems to favour stealth, a refreshing change from sneaking around. I think they're a good feature and one to be praised.I disagree with the idea that the game is so open-ended that it supports traditional combat, stealth and other combinations when it very strongly supports stealth. That said, I did really enjoy the stealth element: it was tense and realistic, and the level design was rich and rewarding to explore in this style.Augmentations/experience points, a central plot device and key to the player's characters' abilities, were well resolved into a single system which handled everything from hacking to a cloaking device or ballistic weapon-thingy. This made the RPG element fun to use, even for a stat-junkie like me, and I enjoyed having to gain more exp to unlock aug bonuses. However, some of the augs were totally pointless or drained energy too swiftly, which made them a rare treat in lieu of being central to gameplay. I felt that some of the levels punished me for not having the right aug, and I thought this was really good, but this was rare; I'd have liked that a bit more.Graphically the game is 720p at maximum, but never felt under-polished or badly detailed. Textures were never visibly repetitive; the graphics and design allowed an immersion rarely achieved in any game. Atmospheric effects, water and shiny things were all immaculately rendered and never clipped or glitched, and the physics engine was actually quite fun: trying to stuff a corpse into an air vent was particularly fraught.Level design was a bit stylised, but highly detailed: the levels were a bit samey, and the green and orange wash permeating the entire experience gave the game a sense of uniformity which a bit of different lighting could have dispensed with utterly. At times the levels were claustrophobic and labyrinthine, but at others the ambition and architecture were remarkable. As stated, there were legion methods of exploring any one level, and an attention to graphics and branding made exploration a pleasure.Character design and dialog is really good, although I felt that of the four big-wig characters I only really engaged with one as the others seemed peripheral and too distant given their importance to the end of the game: the character in the opening cut scene is hardly mentioned at all, and I would have liked to have seen him in some passing mention, or behind a glass partition during the game or something: the original Deus Ex coloured the characters and their agendas very well and did so continuously and backed up the history with dialog and found texts, emails etc.While this incarnation of DX doesn't quite manage to pull that off, it is still leaps ahead in terms of character development than any other game I've played.The story is engaging and really makes the player think. At times I felt at a complete loss, but I think this may have been intentional. I never really knew the motives of any of the characters, and whilst this may at times have been sloppy writing, at others it was eerily appropriate. There is a lot of peripheral material floating about, including text and emails which helped flavour the realpolitik. Overall the narrative was thorough if a bit aloof, and contextually believable and thought provoking even if the key characters were a bit late in the flowering.Deus Ex set a really high benchmark. Warren Spector's original was humoured, exhaustively detailed and great fun. This version takes much of the best of that and forges a believable, enjoyable prequel, although it occasionally falls short on its stated ambition.There's an end cutscene which made my mind up, for all the niggly faults I've listed above: it made me really, really want to play an updated version of the original Deus Ex. The interface, level detail, level mapping and experience system of DXHR married to the narrative wizardry and well-explained subterfuge of the original would be truly breathtaking. I want to know what happened to the people who influenced my choices at the end of Human Revolution, and to see how they fit into the original story. For that reason, the game is a master stroke: it made me re-engage with the DX universe.

29.8.2011

I honestly can't remember ever having had this much fun playing a game. I'm a big fan of RPGs like Fallout 3 and Mass Effect so I pre-ordered this, and I have to say this surpasses them both.This game is actually very difficult to categorise, it is basically an intelligent hybrid of a stealth game, a first person shooter and an RPG, with hacking and dialogue mini-games thrown in for good measure. But what makes the game so unique is its sense of freedom. Every situation you encounter can be resolved in a variety of ways, and unlike almost all other games you aren't forced into going down any one path. For example it is possible to complete the game without killing anyone except a few bosses (there is actually an achievement for it),but it is equally possible to kill hundreds of people, as there are only a few key NPCs the game won't let you harm.There is no multi-player in this game, but the single player game is huge. You might be able to complete it in 20 hours if you just ran through the main story and didn't bother with exploration or side quests, but if you are playing stealthily and exploring it can take a lot longer (I am nearly 30 hours in and still have a long way to go). Most of the game takes place in two hub areas which you visit multiple times for the main quest and side quests, while there are also other areas you visit to complete missions. In terms of size each hub is larger than the Citadel in Mass Effect, but the game is not as large a true sandbox game like Fallout 3.Of the main pillars of game play the best is probably stealth. There is pretty much always a way to sneak past your enemies, although without lots of Augmentations it is quite challenging and requires patience. Still when you do succeed it is very satisfying, and the game actually awards extra experience points for accomplishing objectives without being seen. There are also lots of hidden alternate routes to objectives, although this sometimes involves crawling through a few too many air vents.The combat is also very good, although anyone expecting this to be a Call of Duty clone will be disappointed. In this game enemies are very good shots with good AI and will kill you in a couple of hits. There is also limited ammunition available. This means even on normal difficulty you need to use cover and pick off enemies carefully, not just run through with all guns blazing. There are a lot of different weapons, all of which work pretty well and all of which can be upgraded with a variety of Mods.The RPG element of this game works slightly differently to other games. As you gain experience points you don't go up levels, rather you unlock Augmentations (Augs). There about 70 of these in total, and they alter the game in a variety of ways. There are plenty of hacking Augs, stealth Augs which do things like turn you invisible, and combat Augs which make you tougher or deadlier. As well as these there are a variety of new abilities to gain like punching through walls or falling without taking damage that allow you to take alternate paths through the game. Because it is not possible to get all of these Augs in one playthrough there is a lot of replay value in this game.The hacking mini-game also deserves a mention, as it is by far the best hacking found in any game. As well as being a race against time to access a computer or lock, you have to decide whether to gamble for extra rewards. In fact the hacking is so good I find I even try to hack locks that I have the password for. The dialogue mini-game is also pretty good, if a little too easy. There are occasions where you can try to persuade people to help you by choosing the right one of three dialogue options based on their personality. It is a little bit like LA Noire although the facial animations are not as good.The main story seems pretty good so far, and is concerned with corporate conspiracies and asks you to make choices about how you feel about the ethics of human Augmentation (both sides of the argument are presented fairly). The choices you make in the game and the route you take have effects on the game like in any good RPG. The side quests are also impressive. Instead of the standard fetch quests in too many RPGs, in Human Revolution the side quests are all quite long and most either relate to the main story or to the debate about Augs.Of course even a great game has a few flaws. The loading times can be a little long, especially since you will probably die often. There are a few bugs in the AI, such as when enemies can't see you if you are in a vent. The only real major problem though is the boss fights. While the biggest strength of this game is the freedom to solve any challenge however you choose, there are a few times when you are for forced into a fight with a boss that you are required to kill. These fights are no worse than what you find in other games, but they don't really fit in a game that is all about freedom of choice.If you are only interested in generic FPS games then maybe this is not for you. But if you enjoy RPGs, stealth games or just want to play something original this is one of, if not the best game on the market right now. You should buy this not just because its great fun, but because if it sells well it might encourage more developers to take risks on intelligent original games.

5.9.2012

I had a bit of hassle getting this game as I was messed around by a Marketplace seller, but I'm so glad I did eventually get the game, as it was more than worth it!Before I get into my review I'll just say this: if you're an avid fan of Call of Duty and are looking for a similarly shallow shooter experience, go back now, this is not the game for you.This is a prequel to the original Deus Ex, and is set in Detroit (initially at least) in the year 2027. Human augmentation technology, which allows people to essentially upgrade themselves in a number of ways, is becoming prevalent. You play as Adam Jensen, head of security at Sarif Industries, a major augmentation-developing company.When the company's headquarters are attacked by a group of unknown assailants, Adam is left for dead and has drastic augmentation surgery to save his life. He awakens almost more machine than man, determined to track down his attackers and discover the truth.That's the main premise of the story, and I won't go into any further depth as I don't want to spoil any of the game's story. This is because the story is one of the best parts of the game. It's deep, full of twists and turns, and constantly keeps you guessing.The great story is supplemented by excellent gameplay. You have a large degree of freedom to play how you want, whether that's as a shooter, stealthy, or a mix of both. It must be said that the game does lean more towards the stealthy route, as it doesn't take all that much to kill you if you do get into a firefight. Personally, I always try and play stealthy wherever possible, so I loved the stealth approach in this game.Your approach will also determine the augmentations you choose to upgrade. As previously mentioned, your character had drastic augmentation surgery to save his life, and you upgrade these augments to give yourself greater abilities. These can include greater strength, a cloaking system that makes you invisible for a short amount of time, seeing through walls, and a number of others. However, while you will focus on certain augmentations which best complement your play style, by the end of the game you will likely have the majority of the useful upgrades anyway. Even having focused on stealth upgrades, by the end I had most of the combat upgrades too.Also, while much is made of player freedom, it comes undone a bit in boss battles. Whereas in the rest of the game you can get by without so much as alerting a single enemy let alone killing them, the bosses are very 'video gamey', set in enclosed areas where stealth is not an option and the boss must be killed to progress. While it isn't awful in the grand scheme of things, it is a bit jarring when compared to the rest of the game. My tip would be to carry a rocket launcher for use in boss battles as it generally only takes a few shots to kill them. It might be a bit cheap, but if you've focused on upgrading your stealth augments and have neglected the combat upgrades, you're going to have a really hard time.There are also a number of side quests, which are purely optional but really help to flesh out the game's story and universe. They do add a good deal of depth to the game, and some give revelations regarding the story which you wouldn't have found out otherwise.In terms of graphics, this isn't a ground-breaking title by any means. They aren't top of the line but they're definitely above average - not as good as Uncharted or Killzone, but miles better than Call of Duty. The visual style is very cool as well, it reminds me a lot of Blade Runner, and gives a really authentic cyberpunk feel. The voice acting also isn't the best, especially your character. There's just something about his voice that sounds unnatural, and after a few hours it'll probably begin to grate slightly.As this is the limited edition, it comes with some extra content in the form of downloadable extras. If I'm perfectly honest I can't say they make that much of a difference. I did find the remote explosives useful in boss fights when I ran out of rocket launcher ammunition, but I hardly used the auto-unlocking devices as I usually hacked terminals instead as you gain experience by doing so whereas you don't when you use the AUD. The grenade launcher isn't given to you until about 3/4 of the way through the game, if not closer to the end, and the extra mission isn't anything spectacular, although players of the original Deus Ex will appreciate a little nod to that game.Overall, this was a great game that took approximately a week of playing quite a number of hours every day in order for me to finish, so you definitely get bang for your buck, as the saying goes. It never feels stale as you're playing either, probably in part due to the story which keeps you hooked throughout and wanting to learn more. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who is tired of all the same old shooters in today's market and instead enjoys a deep gaming experience.

18.10.2011

Deus Ex: Human Revolution can be summed up by one word: compromise. Almost every decision in the game has a repercussion later on, and depending on how you look at it, this makes it either a gaming tour de force or a fatally flawed masterpiece. Either way, I urge you to give it a chance. Like no other game in recent years, Human Revolution will immerse and engage you, but it will also possibly frustrate you - if only out of a sense of a shot at gaming greatness missed.Firstly, the augmentation system. With `Praxis' upgrade points hard to come by, decisions as to whether you prefer stealth or action are at the front of your mind: upgrade my armour and go in all guns blazing?Enable higher jumping and the ability to lift heavy objects in order to uncover new pathways? Or go for cloaking and silent footsteps to be able to creep past guards? I've always been a Splinter Cell fan, so naturally went for a stealthy approach, but when it came to boss fights, I found myself under-prepared and outgunned. Although I wanted to play the game stealthily, I was constantly aware of the need to hang on to heavy weapons (at the expense of valuable inventory space) just in case another boss was around the corner.Boss fights aside, the gameplay is excellent, and Human Revolution succeeds where most spy games fall down. It lets you complete missions in so many different ways, and there's never a `right' way to complete the game: spare a man's life early on, and you'll reap the rewards when he discloses computer passwords to you, only to find that he tries to kill you further down the line. Can't hack a door lock? Eavesdrop a conversation between two guards, and find out one of them's lost their PDA. Go and find the PDA in the men's room, and hey presto - it's got the door code on it. These little touches made me really feel engaged in the spying experience in a way that Metal Gear Solid 4 never did. `Choice' in a game usually means getting from A to B by killing everyone, or by not killing everyone. In Human Revolution, it's the time spent between A and B that make it such a joy to play.But is it actually choice? Strangely, the level of realism makes the whole experience that much more `gamey', since you'll be itching to play the game again to explore new areas and complete side missions you left behind. Even within a mission, you might end up taking all the possible routes to your goal just because you're keen to explore and find items. Here lies the paradox at the heart of the game: choice isn't really choice if you can have your cake and eat it, multiple times.In this respect, the game's ending is a massive disappointment: you are literally given a choice of 4 buttons to press, each triggering a different cutscene ending. It's simple, it's lazy on the part of the developers (as is the miniscule but totally game-changing decision you'll make about two thirds through the story), and it's an unworthy culmination of the love you've poured into completing every single objective of every single mission because you're so totally hooked on the experience. The consistency of the visual styling, the suffocatingly claustrophobic atmosphere of the labyrinthine Lower Hengsha streets, and the geeky but never-in-your-face cultural references (Highway 17, anyone?) makes Human Revolution the most engaging game I've played since Half Life 2, and yet it disappoints on so many levels. The cities positively pulse with energy, but the graphics are at times woefully below par; the story and character development is leaps and bounds ahead of most games, but the carefully constructed atmosphere crashes to the ground when the "city-wide riots" described in the in-game newspaper reports turn out to be no more than a few flashing lights and some background crowd noise; you kill an entire gang, then walk into the boss's office and have a chat - it's these little details that totally uproot the game's credibility in the blink of an eye. When playing Human Revolution, the good moments made me want desperately to ignore these glaring imperfections, and I suppose this is the crux of my review: any player's enjoyment of this game is going to rest upon whether the highs are high enough that you can excuse the lows.It's taken far longer than I thought to write this, and I think that says a lot about this game: I really want people to enjoy it as much as I did, but perhaps it's ahead of its time. We're coming to the end of this current generation of consoles, and I suspect that if Human Revolution was made for more powerful machines - allowing bigger environments, greater graphical detail, and choices that impacted more genuinely on the outcome of the game - it would join the ranks of the few games worthy of the label "masterpiece". As it is, I think it just misses the mark, but the fact that I'm disappointed by that is a testament to the great thing that Square Enix have created here.

16.6.2012

I had high expectations of this and had heard good things about it from like-minded sci-fi fans, so when I finally got a PS3 this was one of the first games I was sure to get...I was not disappointed. I have played the first game, and this improves on it vastly in pretty much any aspect. It looks gorgeous, the design and mood is very much in the style of my favourite film, Blade Runner, the combat and stealth work really well and are nice and smooth, and the game is generally very well thought out to make you think about what you do instead of just going on a brainless shooting rampage (if you want to play worthless garbage like that buy a COD game).The plot is great so far - there are many allusions to Blade Runner in both the main plot and in exploration (watch out for a certain computer in the police station!), the voice acting is much better than the awful work in the first game, though the voice actor of Adam Jensen is pretty hilarious sometimes as he sounds like Christian Bale's gruff Batman voice.I suppose this owes some debt to the metal gear solid and mass effect games, though I would be surprised if the original Deus Ex did not influence mass effect at all...Regardless it still has a good balance of stealth, hacking, social interactions and tactical action that is all pulled off extremely well...You can't go in all guns blazing even on the easy difficulty which can be punishing enough, I personally find complete stealth tedious so embrace the optional tactical stealth action approach as opposed to the non lethal approach...There is room for exploration too, which I love...Could be a bit more I guess but what there is is still very immersive and atmospheric, there just aren't that many side quests unfortunately (on average about 2 per chapter)A note on the boss battles which loads moaned about for some stupid reason, like the metal gear solid games you do come across the super soldier bad guys, and yes you do have to kill them ("oh no, boo hoo, I wanted a totally non-lethal game in which no one dies"), so they aren't out of place at all despite the claims of many with no idea what they are on about...the fights could be better though - in MGS boss battles, which are generally distinct from each other - you can use cover and it can be quite a challenging, drawn out tactical affair (the Fear in snake eater for example)...in this however if you upgrade properly you can finish them all off pretty easily with the typhoon Aug...but I did choose to play on easy as I generally play games more for the story and atmosphere so should not be complaining..perfect game, pretty much...buy it!Edit: Only a couple of problems with this I can think of:The dialogue scenes - whole the graphics in this are generally excellent, the people graphics, shadow graphics (which seems to apply to most PS3 games), and the animation of dialogue leave a lot to be desired...I really wish more games followed in the footsteps of LA Noire and used motion capture realistic dialogue animation, especially where Deus Ex is concerned...imstead we get everyone using exactly the same repetitive arm hand and ace gestures, the mouth movements make them look like ventriloquist dummies and they generally look like gormless idiots a lot of the time during dialogue scenes...the cutting and laughable attempts at looking cinematic in cutscenes are horrendous, the likes of Mass Effect 2/3 and LA Noire do a much better job of producing engaging, cinematic dialogue scenes...My other problem is with AI...even on the harder difficulties, which make it really easy to get killed if you are shot, the enemies are just retarded, just retreat behind a door, into the next room or go upstairs and instead of following you they'll just stand around aimlessly...On a side not played and finished the Missing Link DLC...unlike Mass Effect DLCs this was both cheap and well worth the money, for a measly £2 you get a unique, exciting and very challenging extra mission with a well thought out plot that adds to the plot of the main game, and gives adds some new cool characters into the mix...highly recommend checking this out too to complete chronologically before you enter Singapore in the main game...

27.11.2011

I am writing this having played through once and begun a second play through in a different style.Views are that this is a very good game which I have had immense fun playing and will likely continue to do so for quite a while.There is a good blend of story and action, the fights which you can chose to get into blend use of cover with shooting and sneaking/takedowns & use of augmentations well. The switching between first and third person view for moving to cover is smooth and very well done. Hand to hand takedowns make use of cut scenes which can be a little confusing at first but the rest of the game freezes while these are being completed so no danger of being surprised during orafter.Encouragingly the choice of character upgrades does make a large difference to your playing experience, which has been something other games in this style have got wrong.As with the original Deus Ex the story is immersive and adds good depth to the playing experience. The time playing is split between scene setting, exploring and fighting. In my experience this adds to the depth of the game though if you are looking purely for a shooter or stealth game this may not be for you. Broadly speaking the format of the levels is a city area where you have access to a number of buildings either via front doors, fire escapes, sewers etc within which you then have an objective to achieve or just rooms to search for goodies if you like. However be aware this is not a sandbox type game and while you have choice over how to complete each mission (in via the front door shooting or through the roof by stealth) where you can go in a level is constrained - much like the original. Fallout this aint.Graphically while impressive this is not as good as the demo videos will have you believe but it still paints a good tech noir picture of the world in the not too distant future and makes the game more believable. The choice of weapons is good and the sound associated with them is reassuring bold.Overall there are far more positives than negatives however there are a couple of issues which the prospective purchaser should be aware off.The game does contain boss fights. Awful. Poorly thought out, not in keeping with the theme or style of the game and give the distinct impression of having been added to tick a box, then once the box was ticked outsourced to another company to code. The fact that you go from having choice of how to complete an objective - sneak in or all guns blazing, subdue or kill etc - to being forced into a shoot out with a series of leviathans utterly ruins the feel and flow of the game. This in itself is not a reason not to buy the game but does make me glad I purchased when the price was less than £20.There is a little too much bias toward stealth. As other reviewers have rightly noted it is possible to play by shooting in a way that other games do not allow you however distinctions are notable. For example you get more experience points for a non lethal hand to hand takedown than a lethal one, lethal takedowns generate more noise, experience bonuses are provided for completing a mission without setting of an alarm or being seen - difficult to do if shooting. Small points but given how much the game is changed by augmentations, unlocked by gaining experience, it is a source of small frustration.Loading screens. These can be quite long however once completed you can run through a phase of the game without any pauses in action. This will likely be a real issue if you either keep dying or need to complete a certain element for an achievement which requires you to keep loading.To sum up then, this is a very good game, atmospheric, involving and one which you will likely be happy to play through several times due to the different ways of approaching each mission.It didn't wow me in the same way as the original Deus Ex did when I first played that 10 years ago; however it is unfair to expect it to as the original was groundbreaking whereas this builds more on a now well established format on more powerful systems.At a sale price of £19.99 (at time of writing) this is a worthwhile addition to any collection unless you have a serious dislike of RPG games.

19.9.2011

This is the unlikely prequel to the more than ten year old game "Deus Ex", which is considered a landmark and a classic. The many virtues of "Deus Ex" are, surprisingly, present in "Deus Ex: Human revolution", which even manages to improve upon them."Deus Ex" was about player choice: every task had multiple solutions. For example, in order to gain access to a guarded enclosure you could go in with guns blazing and take out the guards, sneak in behind the guards, knock out the guards, talk somebody into revealing a hidden entrance, pick the lock of a side-entrance, hack a computer to unlock the entrance or explore the surrounding area to find a computer code which would open the entrance,or a find a crawlspace which takes you behind the entrance. Which is great, because you are unlikely to get stuck on a problem: you just try another approach until you succeed, or you improvise a solution. And you can try alternative solutions on a replay. "Deus Ex: Human revolution" goes to great lengths to offer this freedom, whereas in the original "Deus Ex" your choice was at times limited to which kind of gunplay you could use to get by a group of heavily armed and armoured goons."Deus Ex" used enemy AI to great effect. You could sneak by patrolling guards and outwit them by drawing their attention elsewhere, while you slipped by. "Deus Ex: Human revolution" greatly improved upon this. Guards react smater to the sound you are making, they notice open doors which should not be open, and they even revive fallen comrades you knocked out and failed to conceal properly. The game is built from systems such as the enemy AI behaviour, or the game physics. This means you can improvise, such as by building traps for the AI out of scavenged mines, or by stacking containers to climb over an obstacle, or by building hiding places out of containers."Deus Ex: Human revolution" shares the same game world with "Deus Ex", and it, too, tells a deep and branching story of secrets, betrayal and conspiracies which can take some 20-30 hours of play time to get through. However, the game does not force its story upon you. You can pick and choose which paths you follow and which missions you accept. And your actions have consequences on how the story evolves.This would already be a great game, but it looks great, too. The game world is rich and detailed, evoking the futurism of movies such as "Ghost in the shell", and even the darkness of "Blade runner". "Deus Ex: Human revolution" is the rare gem of a game which seems to come along only once or twice in a decade.For all the things the game does so much better than the original, and where it excels far above other games it shares aspects with (e.g. the "Metal Gear Solid" series), it badly slips up in one regard: the game is punctuated by "boss fights" which seem to have been designed for an entirely different game. These mandatory boss fights take away all the freedoms which the game previously gave you and pit you against some random scowling goon which you may not quite remember from some cut scene a couple of hours ago, and which give you no choice but to leave your opponent dead and broken on the ground. To the game's credit, the option to improvise a solution does not completely go away. It is actually possible, for example, to hack a turret, lug it around and drop it in the room which the boss fight is forced upon you, and make short shrift of your enemy. The boss fight "designers" probably did not anticipate this. Good for them.I personally found the boss fights annoying and consider them a betrayal of the game's core values. Where the game pits you against numerous tough opponents and forces you to make hard choices, it is so much more engaging than the rather annoying boss fights. For example, I worked really hard to rescue a downed pilot who was prepared to sacrifice herself for a mission until I had succeeded without killing anybody, whereas each of the boss fights was nothing but tedious gunplay.

8.5.2012

While I could go ahead and bore you with a plot synopsis in this review it would seem rather pointless. By the time you finish reading it; you'll have hopefully decided to buy the game and will be able to enjoy every facet of the thickly woven narrative yourself, without spoilers from myself.Many other reviews will be comparing this, the third entry into the Deus Ex universe, with Ion Storm's 2000 classic. Fortunately/unfortunately for me, I've never had the opportunity to play it, so I went into Human Revolution with no preconceptions. I'd always loved the Metal Gear series of games and given this game's aesthetics and settings I was instantly attracted.From a technical standpoint the game looks ok,with some areas looking stunning and others a little more rough around the edges (literally around the edges - some odd ambient occlusion gives everything an odd dark halo), but the atmosphere of the game more than makes up for any graphical shortcomings. Locations include a futuristic version of Detroit, not dissimilar to that of Robocop - only with more film noir overtones. Shanghai, which makes you feel more like Rick Deckard than any Blade Runner game could, Montreal, and a couple of other locations.The action, should you decide to play that way, is intense, visceral and always fun. The level designers have done a grand job catering for all play styles on every area of the game, and more often than not you'll find yourself switching between stealth - hacking computers, security consoles and door locks, exploration - finding new routes through areas that might provide you with valuable pickups, air ducts that might allow you to sneak past guards, or full on frontal assault - Jensen (the protagonist) has a massive array of upgradable weapons at his disposal. In some instances you may even find being a bit suave with words might save you a whole lot of bother. In my first play through I didn't manage to sweet talk the cop working the front desk of the Detroit police station and had to try and sneak in resulting in a bloodbath as I was discovered hacking someone's emails. The second time around I got in through talking to the cop and I could explore the precinct at my leisure.The game is overflowing with choices like these from start to finish and this is what sets it apart from other games that purport to offer freedom of choice. Here you really can do it your own way, and you are not punished in any way for altering your style. You are rewarded with XP for pretty much everything you do, which can be used to buy augmentations for Jensen. Most of these are very cool and you look forward to being able to afford the next, for example being able to turn invisible for a few seconds, or being able to see through walls.Aside from the odd graphical issue here and there, there are only a couple of other things that niggle. First off, the boss battles. All the way through the game you are allowed to play how you want, however here you are pretty much forced into an arena battle, and if like me you've been upgrading your stealth and hacking abilities you might find these sections tough to the point of frustration, but worry not, they are far and few between.Another personal niggle for me is inventory space. This can be upgraded up to a point, but for a kleptomaniac, hoarder such as myself there's never quite enough space in the inventory, especially if you decide to haul around a giant rocket launcher, but again in the grand scheme of things this is a teeny little niggle.In an age where the FPS genre dominates the charts, yet rarely evolves past bigger explosions, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a truly unique proposition. An RPG thriller, that spins a great yarn and gives the player real choice. An FPS that can be at one moment; edge of seat sneaking in the shadows and silent kills and the next an intense, visceral cover based shooter. To miss this would be to miss one of the best games in the last decade.

26.8.2011

I am so pleased that I trusted all of the amazing reviews of this masterpiece. I was quite shocked to see that out of the 15+ reviews that I read over the past week or so, every single one gave the game 9/10 or higher. It got a stonking and respectable %94 from PC Gamer which for anyone who still reads that mag, wow!It's well deserved. Deus Ex was my favorite game of the early PC gaming generation, and now I can safely say Deus Ex: Human Revolution is my favorite game of this generation. I bought both the PC version and the PS3 version because A) I wanted the steam goodies and B) the ps3 on my big TV looks awesome.The collectors editions and Augmented edition are well worth the money if you can afford either; sadly I can not.The game is a prequel successor to a genre defining game - Deus Ex. Deus ex gave birth to the genre of open ended FPS-RPG. Games like Fallout 3 and Mass Effect could not have achieved such greatness if it was not for the masterpiece that was the original Deus Ex. Now it's back, and just as good as the first. While it does not do much to innovate the genre, what it does do is excel at just about everything else. Stealth, action, gunfights, story (easily the best part, but I will get to that later) and overall package is incredibly fun. The beauty of this game is that you are never forced to play a set style, you can complete the entire game without killing a single enemy besides a couple of main story baddies should you please - or you can slay them all in various ways with many amazing weapons and 'augmentations'. Augmentations are neuro-mechanical enhancements to the human body and the main driving plot of the game.Story - in a nutshell without spoilers - You play Adam Jensen, a Neo-from-the-Matrix-style hacker / security chief nerd who just so happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when a group of shady government spec-ops types smash up a laboratory working on the latest cutting edge human upgrade tech. The technology of augmentation is dividing the world around you, those who can afford the upgrades and those who cant. The rich and poor divide is increased by various issues in the future world (2027). Adam's friends and coworkers are all slain during the attack on the company he works for, and he sets out to find out who did it and why. The ride is gritty, bumpy and full of twists and turns which are sure to keep you interested throughout the games 30 hour story. (I'd say around 45-50 hours if you complete ALL of the sidequests). Government conspiracies, futuristic technologies and memorable characters made me love the game so much.Gameplay - Gameplay is similar to Fallout 3 and Mass Effect 2 with some Metal Gear Solid thrown in. You can sneak, shoot, hack and upgrade your characters various skills in whatever way you want. The story arc revolves around your moral choices similar to how Mass Effect worked - and it works tremendously well. The moral choices feel legit, and not gimmicky like previous titles. Overall gameplay is quite fast paced but incredibly challenging, giving you something new to play with around every corner.Graphics - Perhaps the only lacking area of the game, but it still looks amazing. The facial expressions in some areas are what let it down, but since the game is so good in every other aspect it did not spoil it in the slightest. I will be honest and say the game looks around 2 years out of date - which is not that bad. That being said, the art work and environment detail is simply astonishing. The smallest things have been polished and detailed in every possible way.Final notes - It's fantastic. The kind of game that comes around once every 5 or so years and blows everything else out of the water. After recent disappointing games of this year that I was looking forward to, it felt almost like a godsend. Cant praise it enough! Pick it up!

24.9.2011

DE:Human Revolution is a mixture of FPS, 3rd person shooter, and RPG it's a prequal to the very first Deus Ex released in the year 2000, and one of the best games ever made IMO.Set in in 2027 mankind have developed 'augmentations' mechanicial parts that can enchance a humans abilties. You are Adam Jensen a security operative for Sarif Industries who makes use of these upgrades. As the game unfolds you must infiltrate various enemy installations using tactics of your choice. I won't give any more details of the story expect to say it's better than most games, and especially relevant with some of the stuff happening today.You can use stealth, trying to avoid being seen and elimating guards silently with hand-to-hand takedowns,traquiliser darts or silenced fiearms.Or you can go in all guns blazing and tackle guards head-on.There are a number of skills you can upgrade with xp such as combat skills, abilty to hack computers, turrents and cameras plus you can gain skills such as the use of a cloaking device or the abilty to jump from great heights and remain unharmed. Xp are earned by carrying out actions such as successful hacking, finding secret paths and of course taking guards out of the action.When playing you need to upgrade skills relating to your playstyle. There is more choice in DE:HR than almost any other game of its type. If you need to get into an enemy base there are normally three or more ways to do so. How about sweet-talking the guard on the door to let you in? Jumping onto the roof from an adjacent building? Climbing in a vent and making your way in from there?You can even play all the way through this game without killing anyone (except the four boss characters.)There are also 'hub' areas throughout the game such as Detroit where not only can you concentrate on the main mission but have the option to persue a number of sidequests. These are very well implemented as they tend to provide some very interesting background information on the games story and characters and feel less 'tacked-on' than some sidequests in similar games. The designers have done a great job of making the games cities feel alive.As you move about Detroit or Hengsue you feel very immersed in the setting. In fact the game does a very good job at this in general. For example when exploring offices you can listen in on conversations as you remain in the shadows unseen, and emails you can read from hacking office computers create the feeling of an alive workplace. As well as emails giving door passcodes and other information related to your mission, co-workers email each other about trivial stuff like a weekend out at the movies etc. This really helps the game world feel real.There are only three major flaws this game has IMO. The first is the four boss fights, which don't fit in with the rest of the game, feel very old-fashioned and are also very punishing for players who have upgraded there skills in a certain way.Some of the voice-acting is a bit dodgy, although the main characters are generally very well voiced.And finally the game is very good graphically, however the animations when characters talk to each other are poor and look like they are from a game released four years ago.All in all, this is I believe one of the best games released this generation. If you have ever wanted to play as a futuristic secret agent now is your chance! Fans of the Mass Effect series, Alpha Protocol and Metal Gear Solid should lap this up. Most FPS fans should also enjoy this, as long as they don't expect a traditional FPS but a mix of genres.Highly recommended!!!

17.9.2011

I had no interest in this game preparing myself for Gears of War 3, Batman, COD, Battlefield and the new Assassins Creed and Dues Ex was sacrificed due to funds, my friends were all talking about it but I really couldn't see why. Then something I never expected happened. I read a review where it got 10/10 in a magazine, next day I went out and got it, and it is stunning.The game is all about the Augmentations your charecter can improve himself with, you start with just the basics (you HUD and basic radar) which is all well and good. Within a couple of hours I had played and thought "this is ok". The graphics are excellent and moody, voice acting was solid and the gameplay was smooth and challenging.However fairly quickly I was finding I was struggling to get anywhere wihtout entering a firefight or just dying. I turned the game off and went back to it the next day and then it all came together.I did what the game wanted me to do but I was being too stupid too see it first play, I explored the world around me, and I mean I explored everywhere, and it pays off, sneaking around and avoiding combat has never been so satisfying, rewarding and plain brilliant fun.And that is where this game gets it's brilliant score for me. It could have been a first person shooter where you improve your charecter and blow stuff up and kill things. All well and good but nothing special or different there, but it's not that at all. It rewards exploration and imagination to get to your desired goals.I will say for the odd mission I did mess up the exploration and end up having a big firefight and that was a lot of fun and broke up the sneaking around nicely, but a game where it gives a 100 point achievement for completing the whole game for not setting off a single alarm (which I didn't get (damn!)) knows it has made exploration an important and fun way to play.I will now stop rambling and get to the point a bit more.Graphically this game is one of the bestGameplay is just so massively engaging, I was playing for 8-9 hours solid, and you just don't do that with games that are not fun to play, I have no higher praise for it than I was utterly hooked once I work out what this game wanted me to do.Length- I have no idea how long my full game was but when I finished it I didn't feel cheated, or dissapointed, it was spot on.The voice acting was good, along with the fantastic story which takes a completly new line in story, I was compelled throughout and loved it, the way you could affect your game by even the tinyest action added something to every conversation you had as I never once felt I just could press any button and move with the story, what I said mattered. There are even better examples of your choices affecting you but I won't spoil the excellent story for anyone.However I have now got to come to the negative bits of the review, and its a very short section:I did not enjoy the boss fights, of which there are several. And it was purely because winning them was shooting someone as much as possible, which they had to do in the game, but I just desperatly wanted to get back to sneaking around!I think my ramble there covers it. Basically Dues Ex was a game I was going to miss out and I am delighted to say I didn't, I fully expect at the end of the year I will look back and say this was the best game I played this year alongside Dead Space 2.Hope this helps anyone if they are undecided. But trust me, I bought this on the strength of a review, and I regret it not 1 bit.

List All Products

Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy