A lack of imagination when it comes to boss fights stops this being one of the best games of the generation.
Thus the story is laid out, and the plot hammered into stone for you to work through, what really happened that day, who was behind the whole attack, how did they get past your security so easily… all these questions are answered, and more, as you progress through the game.
I generally don't do first person games unless they have something that makes them stand out from the crowd, I don't see why people obsess so much over Call of Duty, I don't see the appeal behind Killzone or Halo, I certainly don't see why anyone would want to play a game that requires the minimal amount of thought.
I do see why people would want to play Bioshock, why the sublime Metro 2033 deserves to have been so much more successful than it was… and I know first-hand why people should relish the chance to play Human Revolution.
Many moons ago I had a demo of Invisible War on the Xbox, the sequel to the PC original Deus Ex (let's just forget about the hideous PS2 port shall we) that had been optimised for consoles and I ignored it for weeks, it was first person, what appeal did it have for me… yet when I played the demo (several times) I had to get the game, and I played through it maybe half a dozen times trying something different, killing such and such a character to see how the ripples of this action would spread out across the game world… I was hooked.
Invisible War had its critics, mostly PC Elitists who hated the thought that one of the jewels of PC gaming was available on a console and that it had been "dumbed down" to work with a controller, they hated that all weapons used the same ammo, that the story wasn't a patch on the original, and that, in general, in their eyes it soiled the good name of Deus Ex.
I hated the fact that, at the end of it all, only one decision had any impact on the end of the game… and that was the final decision as to who you'd upload to code to at the very end of the game, people forgave you any indiscretion you may have been responsible for, one NPC even forgave me for killing his wife in cold blood just to see what would happen.
Despite all its perceived faults though Invisible War felt like it offered more choice in things than Human Revolution does, in Invisible War you were looking after yourself, a Mercenary of sorts who could decide who to side with, which factions objectives to work towards in each area without the constant guiding hand of a single boss to work for.
In Human Revolution you work for one man throughout, sure you may question the ethics behind it as you find out more details as the game progresses, but you're essentially doing the dirty work for one man… thus any element of freedom and choice is removed, your path already laid out before you, the plot progresses from A to B to C and so on.
Sure there are several paths you can take to get from A to B but you end up at the same place, achieving the same goals and collecting the same data, weapon or whatever to progress the story, whether you go in through the front door and shoot everything in the lobby to get to the lift, or whether you sneak in through the roof and use the air ducts to get to the lift, it makes no difference… you're still going from A to B.
Very few side missions offer much room for manoeuvre either, they tend to be the good old fashioned RPG stalwarts of going somewhere and collecting/killing something before returning to the mission source for the reward, only a couple offer more, the best one being the "Shanghai Justice" quest which has you investigating a suspicious death.
All too often the main game concentrates on getting you to a set point and then throwing a load of guards at you to make getting out difficult, it lacks imagination and gets tiresome after a while.
The boss battles themselves lack imagination, one can be taken down in seconds if you've levelled up the right powers before you reach that point, the final boss being such a disappointing battle that you start to wonder why they even bothered.
Once you've beaten them you find yourself at the end game, the ultimate (and in keeping with Invisible War) and only decision that really has any effect on the final game, and even then you start to wonder why as the end game cinematics, regardless of which button you press, are again disappointing, several of them even repeat the same footage as the dialogue spews forth… it's all such a let down.
So… why the high score?
Because if you can look past the real lack of freedom, and the disappoints that are the boss battles, it's a bloody good game, it controls and plays beautifully and the story is a near masterpiece… yes the "twists" are as obvious as the nose on your face, and the lack of movement and life in NPC's starts to grate after a while, but first time through the game you don't notice the short comings.
Playing the game is a real pleasure, finding alternate routes is fun, and finding the ideal vantage point for your one man army to deal with and take down a platoon of guards without being spotted is great fun, finding snippets of text that relate to current day stories gives you a real sense of achievement, whether it be spotting the Final Fantasy 27 poster on an apartment wall, reading an e-mail as a sports reporter discusses the chances of Steven Strasbourg being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame first time now he's retired or reading a "romantic" E-book making reference to Gear of War Cog's… it's fun and you can't help but feel good about yourself.
You can't help but feel good as you sneak through an area without being spotted, as you hack a level 5 security code for the first time, as you get your hands on one awesome weapon that you know will come in handy later on… it's a game that makes you feel you've achieved something even without the gentle "plink plonk" of the Achievement notice appearing on screen.
Eventually as you level up sufficiently your character will become the superman I mentioned at the top of the piece, virtually unstoppable, I true one man army… and then the fun really starts as you no longer have to worry what's around the next corner.
Overall it's a game that should be played by anyone who enjoys a good story, look beyond the first person viewpoint the game is played through, and delve into the RPG nature of levelling up and finding the truth behind the attack you witness before the opening credits roll… because the game as a whole rises above the weak points that could drag the game down to being a merely average shooter… and that should be applauded.