Deus Ex: Human Revolution Preview

The Deus Ex franchise is one synonymous with innovation. The first game, released in 2000, lifted the idea of free-form gaming to new heights. Whilst RPGs as a genre were nothing new by the turn of the millenium, we’d never really seen a game that offered so much choice. Set in 2052, it followed the exploits of nano-augmented UNATCO agent JC Denton as he uncovered a conspiracy involving lethal viruses, advanced AIs and shady organisations like the Illuminati and Majestic 12. Three years later, Invisible War was released, this time allowing the option of creating a female version of new protagonist Alex D. Set after a cataclysmic event known as The Collapse, Invisible War brought a heap of new choices to the table and helped to define the term “Action RPG”.

Now after 8 years of advancements in game development, programming, graphics and storytelling, Eidos has returned to one of its most famous IPs and upped the ante once again. Set in 2027 (25 years prior to the first game) Human Revolution takes place in a world before nanotechnology, when humanity is taking its first steps in the science of augmentation, using cybernetics and biotechnology to upgrade individuals. In this particular cyberpunk dystopia, augmentation technology is dominated by Sarif Industries, a huge corporation based in Detroit that deals in mechanical enhancement. At the beginning of the game, a frantic, brutal raid on Sarif Industries sees security guard Adam Jensen horribly disfigured and left for dead. With his life saved by Sarif’s technology, Jensen gets a step-up in the corporation – which essentially means he’s given the task of doing all their dirty work.

It should be noted that the world of Deus Ex: Human Revolution is not the future a la Blade Runner that we’ve come to expect from anything set after 2015. Rather this is a future built by Eidos from the ground up, having researched current technology and the paths it’s likely to take. Boasting an art style that’s part-cyberpunk, part-Renaissance and all coated in a glorious golden sheen, HR has a personality, atmosphere and world entirely of its own. The series’ iconic Deadelus / Icarus theme returns and remains prominent throughout, an allegory for mankind’s over-confident leaps into the science of augmentation and forced human evolution.

Spread across five cities including the aforementioned Detroit, Shanghai and Montreal (home of the branch of Eidos responsible for the game’s development), Deus Ex promises a variety of locations and a host of enemies that need stabbing in the face with your shiny new blade attachments. Or not, as the case may be. Once again, the newest instalment of the franchise avoids linearity like it’s wrapped in brown paper and ticking, allowing you to make your own way through the game based on hundreds of gameplay choices. Want to go stealthy? That’s fine – using Jensen’s stealth camouflage, silent blades and x-ray vision, navigating mission areas with a minimum of fuss and bother is only hampered by our own gammy pad-work. Alternatively, you may feel like blasting your way through levels with an assault rifle on auto-fire or simply talking yourself out of every confrontation. Apparently, it’s possible to complete the game killing no enemies but bosses.

And given the reports on HR’s enemy AI, that might not be a bad idea. Incredibly smart and aggressive, enemies will flank you, cover one another and attempt to overwhelm you. Health is regenerative, meaning no insta-health packs to save your cybernetic ass, so you’ll need to employ clever tactics to stay alive. The cover mechanic is similar to that seen in the Rainbow Six Vegas series, with the game switching to a Third Person perspective during cover-based fire fights. Many of the enemies move in squads, too – and slotting the leader first will make the rest of the fight that much easier for you as the survivors spend a few minutes milling about in confusion.

XP – here called Praxis Points – is awarded for almost everything you do, meaning that you’re always progressing and advancing Jensen’s abilities. These points can be ploughed into any of the four main attribute pools, Combat, Stealth, Technology and Social, allowing you to build any type of agent you choose and offering huge replay value.

From the gameplay videos and trailers currently doing the rounds on the net, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is looking like an early contender for Game of the Year already. Eidos are a development house who have proved their mettle time and again, and the Deus Ex name is one that has always gone hand-in-hand with quality gaming. Offering an enormous amount of choice, deep character customisation that genuinely affects the way you play the game and a unique, gloriously dark dystopian world, Human Revolution is looking to dominate the shooter market this year. The release date flitted back and forth like an inebriated butterfly for a while but has finally settled on August 26th. While plot details are thin on the ground, what I’ve seen so far is more than enough to get excited about. It ain’t always easy being human, but expect it to get way more interesting come the autumn.