Exploring a neon-lit, futuristic Detroit.
The most interesting part of Eidos Montreal's Deus Ex: Human Revolution is sandwiched between the opening action sequence and the next major plot developments. The city streets of Detroit stretch out beyond Sarif Industries' headquarters. As the newly mechanically augmented protagonist Adam Jensen, you can explore steam-filled urban avenues and talk with shifty vendors, shaggy street dwellers and other undesirables slinking through the shadows of the city's darkest corners and sewers.
In true Deus Ex tradition, Human Revolution isn't just a first-person action game sprinkled with choices to make about which weapons to use. Role-playing game-style exploration appears to be a big part of the experience. The street section of Detroit is surprisingly large and filled with all sorts of hidden pathways, important locations and multiple side quests that are only picked up through interaction with the city's residents. There's even a basketball half-court with a ball you can pick up and shoot, which I'm assuming is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Invisible War, the second Deus Ex game.
In true Deus Ex tradition, Human Revolution isn't just a first-person action game sprinkled with choices to make about which weapons to use. Role-playing game-style exploration appears to be a big part of the experience. The street section of Detroit is surprisingly large and filled with all sorts of hidden pathways, important locations and multiple side quests that are only picked up through interaction with the city's residents. There's even a basketball half-court with a ball you can pick up and shoot, which I'm assuming is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Invisible War, the second Deus Ex game.
I was happy to see how much thought has gone into creating a virtual space that doesn't feel generic. A ubiquitous flood of golden lighting clashes with Detroit's somber, graffiti-tagged four-storey apartment complexes adorned with veins of ductwork and rusted fire escapes crisscrossed by networks of thick electrical wires. Alleys between buildings are littered with trash bags, dead leaves and crushed cardboard. Posters are plastered on telephone poles and across brick walls and liquor storefront windows are covered in dingy advertisements. It's supposed to be 2027 in this world, and touches like these help establish a sense of realism to counterbalance the fact that you're walking around with moddable, mechanical arms.
Those arms and your other non-organic parts can be upgraded in multiple ways. Earning experience in Deus Ex and leveling up nets you Praxis points that can be dumped into a skill or augmentation (aug) tree. Based on my time exploring the nighttime city, it seems there are uses for pretty much everything. Some areas are blocked off by high walls that could only be cleared with the aid of the Jump Enhancement aug. Certain vents are clouded with poison gas that require a Chemical Resistance aug to pass through unharmed. Often, crawlspaces are blocked by sturdy obstacles that can be moved only with the aid of the Heavy Objects aug, and in abandoned elevator shafts it's tough to survive a fall without the aid of the Icarus Landing System aug. On my upgrade path I bypassed these and other options for stealth and armor enhancements so I could focus on hacking. In fantasy games I can never bypass a locked chest, and in Deus Ex I have a hard time passing up the opportunity to break through the security on a computer terminal to check private email accounts, open doors, deactivate laser gates and switch off security cameras.
I didn't invest in sneaking augs, but a high hacking skill seems especially effective for staying unnoticed. A sewer system running underneath most of Detroit's points of interest allows for access to basements and other unguarded entrances. In the police station, which serves as a destination for several quest goals, I could access the basement level only by having a high enough hack skill to break through a security door. One sub-goal for a side mission had me find a hidden weapons shipment, and after I fought my way past 20 or so armed guards I found the shipment sitting directly next to an interactive sewer cover - proof that exploration really does pay off.
Those arms and your other non-organic parts can be upgraded in multiple ways. Earning experience in Deus Ex and leveling up nets you Praxis points that can be dumped into a skill or augmentation (aug) tree. Based on my time exploring the nighttime city, it seems there are uses for pretty much everything. Some areas are blocked off by high walls that could only be cleared with the aid of the Jump Enhancement aug. Certain vents are clouded with poison gas that require a Chemical Resistance aug to pass through unharmed. Often, crawlspaces are blocked by sturdy obstacles that can be moved only with the aid of the Heavy Objects aug, and in abandoned elevator shafts it's tough to survive a fall without the aid of the Icarus Landing System aug. On my upgrade path I bypassed these and other options for stealth and armor enhancements so I could focus on hacking. In fantasy games I can never bypass a locked chest, and in Deus Ex I have a hard time passing up the opportunity to break through the security on a computer terminal to check private email accounts, open doors, deactivate laser gates and switch off security cameras.
I didn't invest in sneaking augs, but a high hacking skill seems especially effective for staying unnoticed. A sewer system running underneath most of Detroit's points of interest allows for access to basements and other unguarded entrances. In the police station, which serves as a destination for several quest goals, I could access the basement level only by having a high enough hack skill to break through a security door. One sub-goal for a side mission had me find a hidden weapons shipment, and after I fought my way past 20 or so armed guards I found the shipment sitting directly next to an interactive sewer cover - proof that exploration really does pay off.
Because I'm the obsessive type, I hacked just about everything that I could. In some cases, like the police station and areas populated by ill-tempered street thugs, NPCs walking around didn't appreciate my technical curiosity. They recognized what I was doing and opened fire while I was picking my way through the surprisingly complex (and fun) hacking mini-game.
I tried to avoid combat as often as possible. I'm not the type of player that wants to start a messy, noisy gunfight every time someone walks across my screen. But the temptation to test out a virtual world's limits was too strong, so I started shooting people. Pretty much everyone wandering Detroit's streets could be executed, including quest targets. I accidentally killed a corrupt cop I was supposed to talk to for a quest, and my mission log marked the task as failed. If I didn't reload my game, I would have continued on with that quest branch locked out completely.
Instead of pushing forward I reloaded my game and tried something else. While exploring I found a ladder to a fire escape and hopped through a window. Somewhere inside was a vendor with a stun gun in stock. I wanted to buy it, but my inventory was full. Eidos Montreal's decision to keep the classic grid-based inventory in the game forced me to make meaningful decisions about item management right at the outset, which I liked. Boxes of ammunition specific to each kind of weapon, grenades, random items like beer and whiskey along with each weapon model take up different amounts of grid space. This means it's not possible to hold onto more than two or three weapons and carry the ammunition required to fire them, at least at the beginning of the game without inventory upgrades. I tossed the machine pistol and took the stun gun, but I could just have easily have dropped my revolver and 10mm pistol with a silencer attachment and ammo capacity upgrade in favor of a shotgun and combat rifle. I didn't because I couldn't bring myself to ditch the upgraded 10mm pistol. It fit in perfectly with my approach of walking crouched through hallways to minimize noise, to always attach to cover and peek around walls before heading into new areas.
I don't want to spoil too much about what happens with the story in each quest, but most seem to be built with multiple objectives and none so far feel like pointless errands. All seem to involve high-risk exploration and infiltration that requires navigation past guards and security systems, like getting access to offices and autopsy room deep within a police station. It's a world that feels dangerous and volatile, one that could turn to total chaos at any moment; a suitable fit for the franchise. I feel like Eidos Montreal nailed the mood of Deus Ex (certainly in some part thanks to the phenomenal electronic soundtrack), and if the early sections of the game are any indication, Human Revolution is on the right path.
I tried to avoid combat as often as possible. I'm not the type of player that wants to start a messy, noisy gunfight every time someone walks across my screen. But the temptation to test out a virtual world's limits was too strong, so I started shooting people. Pretty much everyone wandering Detroit's streets could be executed, including quest targets. I accidentally killed a corrupt cop I was supposed to talk to for a quest, and my mission log marked the task as failed. If I didn't reload my game, I would have continued on with that quest branch locked out completely.
Instead of pushing forward I reloaded my game and tried something else. While exploring I found a ladder to a fire escape and hopped through a window. Somewhere inside was a vendor with a stun gun in stock. I wanted to buy it, but my inventory was full. Eidos Montreal's decision to keep the classic grid-based inventory in the game forced me to make meaningful decisions about item management right at the outset, which I liked. Boxes of ammunition specific to each kind of weapon, grenades, random items like beer and whiskey along with each weapon model take up different amounts of grid space. This means it's not possible to hold onto more than two or three weapons and carry the ammunition required to fire them, at least at the beginning of the game without inventory upgrades. I tossed the machine pistol and took the stun gun, but I could just have easily have dropped my revolver and 10mm pistol with a silencer attachment and ammo capacity upgrade in favor of a shotgun and combat rifle. I didn't because I couldn't bring myself to ditch the upgraded 10mm pistol. It fit in perfectly with my approach of walking crouched through hallways to minimize noise, to always attach to cover and peek around walls before heading into new areas.
I don't want to spoil too much about what happens with the story in each quest, but most seem to be built with multiple objectives and none so far feel like pointless errands. All seem to involve high-risk exploration and infiltration that requires navigation past guards and security systems, like getting access to offices and autopsy room deep within a police station. It's a world that feels dangerous and volatile, one that could turn to total chaos at any moment; a suitable fit for the franchise. I feel like Eidos Montreal nailed the mood of Deus Ex (certainly in some part thanks to the phenomenal electronic soundtrack), and if the early sections of the game are any indication, Human Revolution is on the right path.
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