Deus EX Human Revolution is one of the best games in 2011.
Story and Presentation:
The revolution is finally here, the year is 2027 A.D. People are in riot, protesting in the streets, the human rights organization become part of the secret societies that known as the illuminaties. A society which controls everything from within. You'll take a role of Adam Jensen, a former cop, who was injured in an incident in a facility called Sarif Corporation. The Sarif Corporation augmented Adam Jensen, so he could stay alive. After 6 months of the incident, he was recruited by David Sarif, the owner of the company and asks Adam Jensen to look for the doctors who were gone missing during the incident that took place 6 months ago.
The presentation is great, I like it. Though the graphics are very blurry (I don't know if it's a bad port or it's just the game itself), it's supported with decent voice acting. Though you can't feel connected to the characters especially those are primary ones in the story. The issue with Desu Ex's Presentation is that it doesn't even try to impress the player whenever a cut-scene takes place. Though dialogue conversations help pick up the slack and adds a good RPG element.
Score: 8.5/10
Graphics:
The graphics aren't that good, some games from 2008-10 look better than Deus Ex Human Revolution. Videos are very blurry, they're ugly that's why sometimes it ruins the presentation. Characters feel very robotic, they don't have any facial animation or expressions to show. Sometimes I wonder if the developers ever completed the characters models' design. I'm not saying they're very bad, I'm trying to point out the flaws in the game. Though the graphics aren't everything (for me personally) when it comes to a video game.
Score: 7/10
Sound and Voice Acting:
In general, the sound effects are really cool. The guns feel very natural when fired, Jensen is a cool character when it comes to his voice acting skills. He's cold, ruthless but I felt he was a little bit mysterious. Other supporting characters like David Sarif, Dr. Reed and others have all great voice acting skills. You'll go through different places like China and Singapore and you will find some people who can't even speak English but they tell that they can't speak English in their native Language and it seems very natural. I like the voice acting part in this game.
Score: 8.5/10
Gameplay:
This is where the game gets good, very good. Deus Ex Human Revolution has a great gameplay that is both tactical and stealth, but not without flaws. If I would like to categorize Deus Ex Human Revolution, this is definitely an RPG. However, it may play like a shooter sometimes and especially when fighting bosses.
Leveling up system isn't very smart at all. It works well, but it's not a very good system. You level up by gaining Experience Points by exploring new paths to your missions, hacking doors, computers, or hubs, killing enemies or you can just knock them out and you can gain EXP points from side missions, but we'll get to that later.
Those are the most common ways to gain experience points. When you're leveled up, you gain an upgrading point called, Prixar "spelling" 1 Point lets you level up one of your augs like Head, Legs, Arms, but those are just limb parts, there are also; hacking skills, superhuman strength, fast sprint, stable recoil, armors, and eye skills let you see through the walls. You have a lot to level up. But the problem is each way of leveling up differs from one another. Side missions level you up fast, very fast but they're limited. I appreciated the side missions being very connected to the main story. But it would be better if there was a special reward for them like a vast Experience Points. I am currently at the last boss and haven't upgraded everything, but fortunately I upgraded most of the skills.
Gameplay mechanics plays like a shooter in the beginning of the game, but then you encounter tougher enemies. You can play it both ways, Action or Stealth. Gunplay is very good. There are a variety of weapons. There are lethal weapons such as; handgun, magnum, sniper rifle, machine gun, sub-machine gun, heavy machine gun, and of course shotgun. There are also non-lethal weapons like tranquilizer guns. You can upgrade your weapons by purchasing upgrade items from different shops found in different areas throughout the game. But there are certain upgrades for some weapons that they're only specific for one weapon only.
I like the shooting mechanics, but the RPG elements aren't very creative nor are they good for grinding. They're not bad, they work well. But for someone who wants to spend time grinding. This system is very bad for this purpose.
Score: 8.5/10
Replay Value:
Well, there are different endings you can unlock after one playthrough, I think whatever ending you might end up with depends on your choices you make in the game. Of course, you can always go a second playthrough to try it out yourself. Side missions aren't something you'd go for, because they're part of the primary story. The only thing you'd have to go back for is the choices made in the game.
Score: 7/10
General Pros and Cons:
^_^ Great Story
^_^ Satisfying Shooting Mechanics
-_- Bad Visuals
-_- RPG elements
Conclusion:
Deus EX Human Revolution is definitely one of the best games of 2011 and I recommend it for its storytelling and great gameplay in general. true, it has its flaws. Every game has flaws and if you keep pointing out those flaws to yourself, you wouldn't be able to play any game.
The Overall Score: 8.5/10