Deus Ex: Human Revolution review

by Piyoz on Dec 10th, 2016

With my Nintendo 3DS fully busted and my Wii U console a world away, this writer has begun to dig into his meager Steam backlog. First on that list is Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Originally released in August of 2011 on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the third installment of the famed Deus Ex franchise brings the cyberpunk stealth shooter into High Definition. Years later, publisher Square Enix and developers Eidos-Montreal released a definitive Director’s Cut on those previously mentioned systems plus the Wii U. This review will discuss the PC release of the non-Director’s Cut of this first person role-playing shooter with all its stealth, story and world-building. Let’s start with that world.

Human Revolution begins in the year 2027. The protagonist is Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT man turned security detail for a major corporation called Sarif Industries. Led by visionary scientist David Sarif, the company designs and manufactures artificial organs and limbs called “augmentations” or simply “augs”. The purpose of this augmentation technology is to assist those born with handicaps, those suffering from serious injuries and those who simply want to gain an extra edge in life. Sarif’s visionary technology has haters, though, as a worldwide resistence to augmentation has formed under the banner of the Humanity Front.

While this hi-tech future has curtailed climate change and cured countless diseases, the rise of augmentation has created a new division: between the wealthy and privileged few who can transcend their native human form and the poor, the incompatible and the morally opposed. For one, augmentation is pricey. After that, a user needs regular prescriptions of a highly expensive drug called Neuropozyne to influence their body to accept the augs. All in all, it’s an icky situation. And Jensen is smack in the middle.

After a deadly terrorist attack on Sarif headquarters in Detroit, Jensen and many critical scientists were victim to the strike supposedly called for my Humanity Front’s leader William Taggart. On the verge of death, Jensen is able to survive by the grace of some emergency, heavy-duty augmentations. Months later, the man is back on his feet and tossed right into his first missions to investigate the terrorists who attacked Sarif HQ. These missions will lead Jensen across Detroit, Montreal, Hengsha Island off the coast of Shanghai and a trope-y arctic base.

Jensen’s missions around the globe make up a large amount of game play. Sarif’s missions are composed on linear treks through guarded warehouses, factories and offices of all shapes and sizes. Within these areas, the player has the option to employ standard run-and-gun violence or more subtle stealth tactics. In fact, you could totally progress through the non-boss portions of this game without killing a soul. There’s a stun gun and a tranquilizer rifle for that. Anticipating enemy movements and stalking your prey is such a joy. For those more partial to testosterone and outright violence, you have a pistol, revolver, shotgun, rifles, plasma gun, crossbow and plentiful ammunition. Whether you choose to strategically disable enemies or fill them with airholes, there are always at least two options to advance.

As you progress through missions, the player can use Jensen’s internal augs to hack into loads of tech. From computers to security systems, nothing with a keyboard is safe from Adam Jensen.

Sometimes while scouring the bountiful office drawers and cabinets, you may come across intel on passwords to access certain machines. If not, you will have to play the hacking minigame to get your metallic hands on that juicy data. This hacking involves starting from one node (the blue globe) on a digital map and gradually sending your virus to other nodes (gray monitors) before the security bot (the red tower) finds you. Very engaging stuff. Never truly challenging, though. You will need to employ a big of logic and awareness, but mainly timing and precision are the keys to virtual victory.

At the end of these missions are usually talky bits but sometimes there’s a bossy bit, too. Bosses in Human Revolution…well…they’re no Metroid Prime. Just shoot the big baddie before he/she shoots you. Not much strategy involved. No use of newly-acquired weapons or skills. Just shoot while avoiding being shot. Just keep moving and don’t be in their cross hairs at the wrong time. For all the tight and clever level design leading up to them, the boss battles in this game sure are lacking.

Between missions you will explore the hub worlds of near-future Detroit and the twin-level Chinese island city of Hengsha. This is when you buy or sell weapons and upgrades. Loot storage lockers. Raid the apartments of randos. Fight off vicious gangs. Find all the cool secrets and fun details of this world. You sometimes run into NPCs who can give you side quests, these extra missions around the city for earning bonus experience and money. The side quests are cool and well-written. In fact, I enjoyed much of the writing of this game.

Throughout the whole game, there are e-books scattered across dining tables and couches. These books provide news and background on the goings-on in the world of Deus Ex. Info about aug tech, how people react, the history of various companies and the state of the global political atmosphere. All pretty interesting stuff, no doubt in my mind. Nothing I’d read a novel about. It’s just cool to see what impact this experimental technology would have in a world just like ours.

I was very amused by the number of emails that the writers of this game had to create. When you hack computers, you can read countless personal emails and find out everything about their personal lives and office politics. Yes, it may have been a waste of my time. but who doesn’t enjoy reading what they’re not supposed to?

I can’t say quite the same for the plot. When Jensen begins investigating who attacked Serif and why, the story that follows isn’t bad by any means. It just failed to truly hook me in and make me care about the next step. Tough to follow at points, yes. Never truly dull yet never exciting. The final twist is conceivably good. I thought it was smart. It didn’t wow me. And when the player is presented with three different choices at the climax of the game, the options made sense to me. I just didn’t feel the weight. Despite how well-fleshed out the world was, I never felt drawn in. Part of that may be the characters.

To be blunt, the characters are a bore. Adam Jenson is yet another distant, stoic, battle-hardened soul looking to correct the wrongs in the world but here he’s written so bland. I wouldn’t mind if he were some sort of silent protagonist or a simple audience avatar. But as an original character I didn’t feel like I could connect with his choices of words or actions.

All the other characters, primary and secondary, sort of feel the same way. Characters like Megan Reed (Jensen’s ex-girlfriend), Frank Pritchard (snooty IT engineer), Hugh Darrow (mastermind behind augs) and Zhao Yun Ru (Chinese aug tycoon) all have distinct purpose and personality. But nobody has any passion to do much in the plot. Nobody really feels. Nobody has determination or drive to do anything but their jobs. That doesn’t make for interesting characters. Well-written they may be but relatable they are not. The voice acting is mostly very high quality. In the end, though, the characters just seem like tools getting us from Point A to B.

This is a shame because progressing through the game is fun in its own right. I enjoyed leveling up to gain new and improved augments. There are a load of augs, too. Quieter hacking. Stronger upper body for punching through walls. Faster feet. Wider radar. Plenty of weapon upgrades, too, from silencers, laser sights, faster firing speed, faster reload speed, targeting rounds, explosive damage, faster cooling, you name it. It just feels satisfying to advance through the ranks as well as the individual missions. I just wish the story felt as rewarding.

At the end of the day, Deus Ex: Human Revolution plays around with some fascinating ideas. Excellent level design for both stealth and action-y players. Great upgrades for weapons and abilities. A big and wonderful world to explore with all its NPCs and the inner workings of their world, both small scale and wide scale, on display. Tight control and a variety of ways to progress through levels. As much as the dialogue and voice acting are on point, the characters and larger plot may have some interesting concepts in play but ultimately don’t amount to much of note. Empty characters and uninteresting main story may have damaged my investment somewhat. However, I still had a blast with everything else that Human Revolution had to offer. This one comes as a strong recommendation.

4 / 5

Excellent

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