E3 2010: Deus Ex: Human Revolution First Impressions - Blade Gunner

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Dan Webb

Deus Ex: Human Revolution when it ships in 2011 will rely on 4 pillars of gameplay, says the Lead Writer, Mary DeMerle at this year’s E3: combat, stealth, social and hacking. It is however the player choice that acts as the glue that binds all these pillars together and ultimately, the first-person, action-RPG allows you to choose which one of the 4 pillars you’re going to heavily rely on the most.

“We also have the multi-path, multi-solution approach to the game,” says DeMerle, which is a posh way of saying, there are many ways to tackle a mission and you decide how to approach it – whether it be through stealth, persuasion or pure aggression.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution takes place in 2027 – so before the other Deus Ex titles - and follows the global investigations of Adam Jensen, a cybernetically enhanced security specialist, after his company is attacked. It’s a classic “whodunit.”

In the first part of a two part presentation, Eidos Montreal runs us though the explorative and social aspects of Deus Ex: HR, as Jensen heads to a small island outside of Shanghai known as Heng Sha, in order to track down a hacker who has a suspected involvement in the attack. Taking to the streets of Heng Sha, Jensen navigates the streets in search of his friend and it’s just like something out of Blade Runner – a neon and gritty paradise, that has everything from market stall sellers and silhouettes of erotic dancers used to entice the low-lifes of the city to part with their cash.

The city is alive with personality and not only do the NPCs react to Jensen’s actions – like pulling out a gun – and go about their everyday lives, but you can go up to all these NPCs and talk to them. After all, the locals are not only a perfect source of information on your current mission, but they also lead to a few side-quests as well.

It’s not long before Jensen arrives at the island’s seedy nightclub, The Hive, and becomes involved in a debate with the club’s doorman. “The Hive is a member’s only club,” says the doorman, as Jensen questions the club’s entrance policies. “You’re telling me I have to pay to get into this dive?” This exchange is an example of the game’s “multi-path, multi-solution” mantra, because not only can Jensen pay to get in the club, but he can also kill the doorman, look for alternate paths like sewer entrances or back-alleys, or he can even talk to the locals and find other ways past the bouncer.

When in the club Jensen discovers from the barman downstairs that the person who can help with the hacker’s whereabouts, a Mr Tong, can be found upstairs in the VIP lounge, although after speaking to the barman upstairs, he seems to be less willing to give up the boss’s location in the club. It’s here where the dialogue starts to excel as each time Jensen has a handful of options to select from to see whether he can coerce the barman to give up his whereabouts. Jensen tries a number of approaches to convince the barman to assist ranging from an aggressive approach, pleading to his sense of reasoning, a little flattery and he even tried a little humility... unfortunately, none of which proved to be successful. It’s time to explore then.

After wandering around the club, Jensen overhears that one of the bouncers has lost his electronic PDA that might have the code for a back way into Tong’s office. “It seems to be his lucky day,” notes DeMerle, as Jensen picks up the PDA from the bathroom floor and gets the back door’s security code. Moving through the club, Jensen comes across the door that he needs to access. Tap, tap. Jensen taps the bouncer guarding the door on the shoulder... WHACK! A quick punch later, Jensen drugs the bouncer and continues through the door and into a vent that leads into Tong’s office.
 

From the vent, Jensen listens into a conversation between the VIP bartender – who it appears is Tong – and his goon, to learn the whereabouts of the infamous hacker. It’s time to head to the docks where it appears Jensen has some business to attend to, but this time, he’ll come across a little resistance.

The action section of the presentation was admittedly pretty brilliant and those who have an affinity for stealth games will be pleased to know that Deus Ex caters to your desires perfectly. The dock sequence can be approached from an action front of course, but our demonstration focused on being a silent predator. Well, for the most part.

The action sequence kicked off impressively, but actually got better the further we got in. Jensen’s first move when he hits the docklands area was to move a nearby box with his strength augmentation and place it just underneath a window – incidentally without that augmentation, Jensen would have had to use a more direct route. After climbing the box and sliding the window up, Jensen slips inside and silently kills a guard who’s taken position at a computer with a contextual takedown move. Only then is he is then able to disable the security cameras. Merle points out that computers are dotted throughout the game and usually you’d have to hack them, but once in you can deactivate turrets, read e-mails and get involved in other typical RPG computer-hacking action.

Just as quiet as Jensen slips in, he slips out and onto some shipping containers nearby where two guards down below talk about their day. A quick activation of the invisibility cloak augmentation and Jensen is able to jump down and double assassinate them in a timely fashion – think Assassin’s Creed II's dual execute. From one piece of awesome to another, Jensen then takes down a solitary guard with a crossbow headshot and then after using some sort of X-ray ability to look through a wall, punches through it and snaps a guard's neck. Wait... it gets better.
 

Jensen’s next step is to climb on to the warehouse’s roof, where all that exists between him and his final destination is a glass skylight. “You should know that there are about 5 different ways that you can get into the warehouse,” jumps in DeMerle, “and each one will give you a different experience on how you want to play it.” Our way? To jump through the window, land in the middle of a group of 4 guards and to use an augmentation that fires projectiles at various angles, killing them all in the process. Now if that isn’t epic, I don’t know what is.

As Jensen’s cover is now blown, the next scene is pure shooter combat and Deus Ex seems to cope with that just as well as everything before it. The viewpoint shifts from first to third person as Jensen enters into cover, but not even some wild blind-fire can help him take down the giant mech that’s been unleashed upon him. All it takes in the end though is a couple of shots from an upgraded missile launcher – all the weapons are upgradeable we're told – and our mechanical foe is no more. Finally, cue the ending cutscene where after Jensen narrowly escapes from a bomb that was set to blow, he is punched by a massive cyborg and the black-screen concludes the first look.

Everything from the Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s first look at this year’s E3 screamed potential and triple-A production values. With plenty of RPG and action sequences demonstrating the depth, diversity and attention to detail of the title, it’s no wonder the title won our Game of the Show award this year. It’s possibly the only title at the show that totally caught us off guard. Yes, we’re aware of the franchise’s rich history, but recreating the success of such popular franchises a good 7 years later is a tricky thing... Especially when you don’t have Warren Spector and the development has switched hands. We have very high hopes for Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution, especially since it’s looking more like an over-the-top version of Blade Runner by the day. Punching through walls and snapping necks? It doesn’t get much better than that.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is scheduled for a 2011 release.
Comments
35
  • Sounds bitchin
  • cant wait
  • can't wait for this so much, Invisible War was incredible.
  • This is lookin like what I wish shadowrun for 360 would have turn out like. Never played the previous deus ex's might check them out now.
  • It's nice to see that they apparently do the series justice with a worthy new sequel (well in this case a prequel). Can't wait to get my hands on this game (why can't I time jump???).
  • @5 creating paradoxs left right and centre would be a good reason why you can't time jump
  • I'd kill for this game.
  • @4 Yeah I really wish Shadowrun would of had a campaign mode and I'd say it could of been something similar to the way this game is sounding, they could have done so much more with it. Having said that though I still think it's one of the best online multiplayer games on the 360. It's so well balanced and just plays great - I remember playing it for hours on end from the minute I got out of school till 3am every day! ON TOPIC THOUGH: Never played the previous deus ex. Definitely keeping my eye on this though, sounds awesome!
  • I haven't been following this at all, but i'm stoked. The original was (and still is) one of the greatest games of all time. If you haven't played it yet, WHAT A SHAME. Might want to skip the second one though... dumbed that down way to much.
  • WOW, you really have sold this game to me!! I WANT IT!!! NOW
  • Any way to get a really large print of that first screenshot, without the x360a watermark? Thinking of getting that made into a poster, it's..... beautiful....
  • This game has eerything that I want in a game. If they can pull off everything they say with no compromises down the line etc.. then it has potential to be one of the best games made, imo. Don't rush it Eidos, make it brilliant.
  • This game is on top of my wanting to play list.
  • kool! :D
  • There are only four games I am genuinely excited for this year. This is one of them.
  • @#11 - Fire me an e-mail and I'll send it you across =)
  • I'm so looking forward to this, I really enjoyed the last Deau Ex game and this is (so far) looking like it won't disappoint!
  • Sounds absolutely brilliant, just my kind of game. If its as good as you say it is it will blow sum freakin minds :)
  • Hopefully this is as good as the original! I was trying not to get excited to avoid disappointment, but I've failed. The visuals seem really Ghost in the Shell inspired to me too.
  • Love me some Deux Ex. One of my favorite games from my past.
  • #8 - I totally agree with you there, i racked up so much time on Shadowrun, still have a copy for the pc. :D
  • Looks sick!
  • sick graphic
  • I've never played a Deus Ex before...but if this game can deliver on everything you've said, it will be mind-blowingly epic.
  • I cant wait for this game !!!
  • awesome
  • The first Deus Ex was incredible, truly memorable stuff. If this is even half as good, it'll be utterly essential.
  • People who haven't played the first game make me sad. It's one of the best games ever and you should all go back and try it out.
  • this game looks nasty! cant wait!!
  • #29 I agree with you. But did any Deus Ex veteran noticed that Adam Jensen is supposed to find a "Mr. Tong" for the hacker's whereabout.... *cough* Tracer Tong *cough*
  • I love story driven games, especially if there an FPS! This game loos awesome!
  • @31 i caught that lol
  • cant wait loved the first one was not impressed with the 2nd 3rd time lucky i hope
  • Wow. I hadn't planned on giving this title much attention, but the way you talk it up makes it sound absolutely amazing. Looking forward to hearing more about it. @19 I think you're right. The visuals have a definite GITS vibe and that's just great.
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