14 DAY TRIAL // 
Few video game franchises command such a large cult appeal like Deus Ex, which managed to impress legions of role-playing fans back in 2000, with its great gameplay, variety of missions and, most of all, because you could play it in a variety of ways, from a stealthy, non-combatant, to a big, hulking killing machine.
Now, Eidos Montreal, together with Square Enix, are trying to honor its legacy with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a prequel that charts the rise of human augmentations and the large part of society that doesn't want anything to do with it.
Promising the same gameplay variety as its predecessors, with sharp graphics and deep role-playing mechanics, Human Revolution has a hard task ahead of it. So, does it manage to respect the first two Deus Ex games or should it be erased from the franchise's history? Let's find out.
Story The original Deus Ex had a vast and, let's admit it, sometimes convoluted storyline with plot threads diverging at some points only to converge in others, ultimately leading to one of the various endings dictated by the player. Human Revolution takes a bit more streamlined approach, starting out in a simple way and then introducing more and more elements in order to make the plot worthy of a Deus Ex title.
You play as Adam Jensen, a former SWAT member who now is in charge of security for Sarif Industries, one of the world's biggest human augmentation corporations, in which your former wife, Megan Reed, leads the main bulk of the research. Human Revolution is a prequel to Deus Ex, set quite a few years before it, so augmentations haven't become a mainstay of society, which is now split between those who believe they're the future for humanity, risks be damned, and those who want to stop the trend, by any means necessary.
Sarif Industries is attacked by augmented mercenaries, which kill Megan Reed, and almost eliminate Jensen himself, who is saved at the last moment by the company through a huge amount of augmentations.
Now, with Adam more machine than human, the player needs to uncover the truth behind the attack, a quest that takes him from his native Detroit, to Hengsha (Shanghai), Montreal or other parts of the world. With each new territory, the plot thickens and Jensen soon realizes that nothing is as it seems to be and that pretty much every character he meets lies about something.
The story is pretty good, managing to surprise in quite a few moments, and, like I've said, gradually exposes the player to new plots and layers of narrative, never piling on more than is necessary to keep it going. While it doesn't have the twists and turns of the original Deus Ex, Human Revolution more than lives up to its legacy.
Gameplay Deus Ex: Human Revolution is centered around four basic gameplay aspects, Stealth, Social, Hacking and Combat, each offering a great experience, and, when combined, result in a game you won't forget soon.
First up, stealth has always been staple of Deus Ex, largely because it always allowed players to avoid fights if they're clever enough and know how to read environments, enemies and use all their skills instead of their actual weapons. Human Revolution is no different, in fact it prefers to make gamers use stealth in almost all situations. Even if Jensen is now augmented beyond his wildest dreams, he's still human and his enemies will always make sure he remembers it.
As such, he's quite vulnerable, especially given the inhuman accuracy of his opponents, so stealth is one of the best strategies in the whole game, even if you don't waste any of the special Praxis Points to upgrade the ability. You'll always find hidden vents or ducts in the environment of the game and even when enemies are quite numerous, there's always a way to get past them with minimal or no blood shed.
You can subdue your enemies either by killing them with regular weapons, or just stunning them, thanks to the tranquilizer rifle, stun gun or your trusty fists. When stunned, the enemies can be awoken by their colleagues, so plan accordingly or stash the bodies in hidden areas.
Over time, you can spend Praxis points to make sneaking that much easier, like silencing your footsteps, or unlock special powers like invisibility or a sort of X-ray vision, which makes spotting and avoiding enemies much easier.
The social aspect is also quite vast, as regular conversations are carried out in a sort of Mass Effect style, with players choosing the answer they want from Jensen by selecting three or four different replies.
Things get tricky in certain conversations, however, as Eidos Montreal implemented so-called Social Boss Fights, where Jensen needs to convince another character to give up certain information. This is quite hard when relying just on your instincts but, luckily, players can equip the special Social augmentation, which turns Jensen into a true human scanning machine.
With the augment, the player can then see accurate data and personality traits about the character they're talking to, a persuasion meter, which shows how inclined the characters are to give up the vital information, as well as a tool that reveals what type of personality he or she has (alpha, beta or omega). Depending on the type of personality, Jensen can deploy special pheromones into the air around them and then ask a certain question that triggers a positive response from the NPC.
Hacking is another crucial part of the Deus Ex experience, as Jensen needs to break into all sorts of things, like computers or rooms, and disable things like robots, turrets or security systems. In order to do this, he needs to complete a special hacking mini-game which is one of the most entertaining experiences of this sort since quite some time.
You enter a network of nodes and your goal is to occupy the main server, while not getting caught by the security system. As such, you need to take over the nodes separating you from your goal, either by simply waiting until they're under your influence, or using special software like Nukes, which occupy them instantly without being detected, or stop viruses, that pause the detection process of the security program.
While it may sound a bit weird, in practice the hacking is extremely fun and I've often found myself breaking into computers or rooms even if I had the actual entry codes, just to go through the mini-game and, of course, get the extra experience points.
Finally, Combat is the last and probably most important aspect of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Just like the first game, the new one is a first-person shooter, but quickly snaps to a third-person view when in cover, similar to the Rainbow Six: Vegas games. This is a great feature as it doesn't really break immersion, while allowing players a great view of the level without being spotter by enemies.
You can blindfire from cover or just move around in order to inspect your environment and choose which enemies to engage and which you can avoid. You have a variety of weapons, ranging from non-lethal, like stun guns, to more permanent ways of dealing with enemies, like pistols or combat rifles, not to mention heavy rifles or laser guns. These can be upgraded by fitting various attachments like silencers or laser sights, or elements that improve ammo capacity or damage.
You can choose a more hands-on approach, as Jensen's new augmentations allow him to either stun his enemies, through his fists, or kill them, thanks to a pair of retractable blades that extend from his arms, both resulting in a variety of stylish executions.
It pays to stun your enemies, however, as you get awarded more experience when you let your enemies live to fight another day, then eliminating them permanently.
Overall, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a mix of many gameplay elements, but the end result is a great experience and many players will find it satisfying.
Visuals and Sound Human Revolution is a beautiful game, even if its graphics aren't that impressive. This is largely because it has a unique visual style, with the design of its cyberpunk world being a welcome change of pace from the same old gritty post-apocalyptic environments present in a lot of games these days.
What's more, the golden-themed color palette is sublime, offering players a breath of fresh air as opposed to the many titles that adopt colors from the gray or brown spectrum in pretty much anything they portray.
The character design could use some work, however, as many NPCs are a bit choppy both in terms of animations and looks, but it's not a deal-breaker.
Sound-wise, the new Deus Ex also impresses, with futuristic electronic instrumentals dominating the main action, although some of the tunes, like the one played at the startup of the title, are a bit reminiscent of the tracks from Mass Effect 1.
Conclusion Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a beautiful and immersive video game. It manages to combine many elements into a coherent package, which remembers it's a role-playing game first and then a first-person shooter with cover mechanics.
If you're on the fence about this title living up to the expectations of the original, or if you need to have experienced the first games in the series, don't worry, as Human Revolution is a great game that stands on its own merits.
