"Human Revolution successfully blends stealth, combat and freedom with an impressive story and a dark, futuristic setting."
Positive
- Extravagant options to tackle problems
- All gameplay components work and feel fantastic
- Brilliant visuals and technologic setting
- Improved boss battles encourage a different approach
Negative
- Still no alternative option after end of boss fight
- City map is unbearable to use
Deus Ex: Human Revolution was extraordinary. Its open-ended approach let you bypass most situations the way you wanted without ever imposing anything on you. It felt fantastic to kill an unsuspecting opponent, but still want to reload the game to find an alternative solution, like knocking him down from behind, or simply passing out of sight. The Director’s Cut builds with an extra chapter and improved boss battles, making this the ultimate edition of Human Revolution.
Human Revolution envisions a darker future where human augments have become available despite their controversy. You are Adam Jensen the newly hired security director at Sarif Industries, a company on the verge of discovering something revolutionary regarding human augmentation when a terrorist attack happens, which in the end leaves Jensen to die, only saved by undergoing a severe operation that replaces the majority of his human limbs and organs with robotic augmentations. Several months after that, Jensen returns to find out who the terrorists responsible for the attack and kidnapped the scientists. It is now more than just a job; it is a personal affair to hunt down those responsible. The story is mostly consistent, with an interesting view of augmentations advantages and disadvantages and some character will show in the game. Also, the game has some challenging conversations, and with your input in certain conversation, you can have persuade them or otherwise turning them against you. It is a great feature that accepts player’s output, even if it doesn’t change the path of the story. Although, Steam does reward the best solution with achievements.
Not too often do games let you tackle a problem in multiple methods. From the very first level, you have the option to kill the first guard, stealthily knocking him down without drawing attention, or simply passing by him unnoticed. Alternatively, the more obscure option of passing was through a vent on the roof. And the freedom is always there, and it is always up to you to get to the next destination in any way possible, doing whatever you think is the right approach. And it gives little EXP points each time you perform an action. You can gun blaze and kill everyone in a fire fight which is a difficult approach, even with a very good covering system that lets you navigate the area easily. The option of shooting attracts all of the surrounding guards, including sounding the alarms.
Then there is the option of stealth, which is possibly the best way to play the game. You can sneak around guards and ideally taking them down one by one, either with a stun gun, or the takedown button. When pressing Q, Jensen knocks the enemy out, while holding the Q button; he performs a lethal takedown and disables the enemy permanently. Stealthily moving is satisfying and tense and thanks to adept AI, it rarely ever feels you are unrealistically seen from a hiding spot. Although running and opening doors will alert guards, which will be on a relaxed state generally when you enter their area. Any sounds or sighting will alarm them, forcing them to explore the area, while when they confirm your position, they will enter hostile mode, making them fight to kill you. Wall hugging and crouching are the most effective way to manoeuvre in an area.
The remaining option is that of simply passing by them without alerting or provoking them. Vents are a common way through if you can find them, sometimes well hidden in the environments. You get rewarded for this approach as well as when you are doing the previous two actions. Alternatively, vents can be hidden behind locked doors, which can be opened with a simple but entertaining hacking game. Hacking come in 5 difficulty levels, where you need to hack and bypass files to get to the needed data. When detected the system will fight back to try to kick you out, and that is where you will have very limited time to finish it. Complete it successfully and you can open doors, view computer emails, and later on even disable cameras and robots. Gaining access to all 5 levels of hacking will require you to upgrade Jensen’s augments. As you gain EXP and level up, you unlock a Praxis Kit, which let you choose and improve any of Jensen’s augmentations. This system, once again demonstrates how open and varied your options are. You can enhance your gameplay experience: like invisibility to slip pass enemies or knock them out unsuspectingly, break weak walls to find alternative routes, falling from great height without any damage, and other effective options, that can help you improve your method of approach, and it gives the game an even bigger boost.
Weapons pack a satisfying punch, even though shooting is not one of the game’s strongest assets. Although a sniper shot from distance always feels incredible. Weapons vary from common pistols, revolver, machinegun, combat rifles to the more unique like heavy, plasma and laser rifles. Your weapons can be upgraded as well, including adding a silencer, laser sight and increase damage if you can find the appropriate upgrade. The inventory can handle so many weapons, and that excludes what else Jensen can find and loot from enemies. Increasing the strength augmentation will increase the number of slots though. Common items can be found anywhere like painkillers, ammo and virus software, and even pocket secretaries, that may contain passcodes, which can be an alternative to hacking.
The bosses return, and while the original game forced you on a head-to-head battle against a tenacious boss, omitting the option of choice, this edition adds another solution to how to take the boss. In the first boss, you can hack a system hub and pit robots against the boss. The second and third offer interesting options as well, making for a nice diversion, despite once again lacking the option to save, or kill the boss. It is understandable that this could change the story, but a different sort of conversation would have been nice. Another problem is the map which remains a hindrance. Due to different elevations, it can become hard to navigate to objective and even getting around the city by simply following the pointers.
Inevitably, Human Revolution looks most impressive on PC, and the cyberpunk, fictional future is well realized. Environments look detailed and fantastic, and while some human models could use some extra work, Jensen’s augmented body looks simply fantastic. Conversations can feel a bit stiff since the camera simply moves to the talking character, but the more important cutscenes are displayed brilliantly. Voice acting is mostly solid, aside from one or two characters here and there, and the moody soundtracks fits throughout. There are some irritatingly load loadings time, especially since this is a game you might have to reload after a short while if you are trying to play in a way. Luckily, you can save almost everywhere with a handy quick save.
If it wasn’t for a disappointing final mission, an unremarkable last boss and a questionable presentation of the endings, Human Revolution could have been even more stupendous. It is an outstanding game that skilfully giving you many options and rarely ever forces you down a single path. And powerful dialogue options gives you the chance to convince the person in front of you as you like, instead of simply sitting behind the computer screen and letting Jensen talk. All in all, packing a great presentation and an impressive depiction of the unforeseeable future, Human Revolution is a must.
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Graphics = 8.9
Sound = 8.7
Presentation = 8.6
Gameplay = 9.3
Story = 8.2
Recommendation Level = High
If you’ve played Human Revolution before, the main additions are improved bosses and extra chapter. It won’t warrant a full price purchase though, but if you didn’t play it, you should.
Level of Difficulty = Medium
Multiple difficulty setting to start with and unless you start unnecessary fire fights, only the boss will be a bit difficult. There are some challenging parts where it isn’t easy to go unnoticed, but it never feels absurd or impossible.
Hours Played = 15 hours
10+ hours campaign, that includes an extra chapter with a tough decision, and new game+ that restarts the story but with the endgame augmentations that gives incentive for another run.
OVERALL = 87 / 100
Human Revolution successfully blends stealth, combat and freedom with an impressive story and a dark, futuristic setting.