Deus Ex: Human Revolution Launches Today
Let me begin by answering Dino’s question about the latest Deus Ex game, Human Revolution, first: no, Warren Spector had nothing to do with the game.
That doesn’t mean, however (if reviews can be trusted), that Human Revolution does not recapture the magic of the original game in the series, getting everything right where the second installment in the series got it wrong.
Ars Technica’s review of the game is almost glowing, praising nearly every aspect of the title…but from the sound of it, the praise is deserved. The game seems intent on forcing you to make hard decisions and to live with the consequences, in both minor details (like inventory management and weapon upgrades) and major details (plot points, who lives or dies, etc.). The action in the Human Revolution is apparently quite intense, and requires no small amount of tactical skill to survive. And the story, though it apparently gets a little too thick with its conspiracies by the end, is nevertheless supposed to be quite gripping.
Oh, and it’s evidently an utterly gorgeous game, especially if played on a DirectX 11-capable PC:
Just. Look. At. The. Lighting.
I haven’t played it yet, and probably won’t get around to doing so for a while, so if any of you Dragons or Dragonettes have a go at it before me, please feel free to share your thoughts here.
For the record and the sake of starting flame wars, I think both Deus Ex games were equally good, the first one rather overrated, and the second one vastly underrated.
Not to sure what to expect of this one.
And I wish Spector would stop doing Mickey games.
One of my favorite gaming bloggers, Shamus Young, has nothing but praise. Which is rare, coming from him.
I won’t say “Greatest game ever” But still amazingly good. I’m not a fan of cover based shooters, but it’s used in a fantastic balance. Upgrade system is punishingly slow, but makes the work for getting them worth it. The stealth elements are awesome, and even the writing is REALLY good. And of course it’s shiny as all get out. All in all, 100% worth the AAA price tag, and a worthy successor to the Deux Ex throne. Better than Invisible War anyway.
Amazon is currently selling the digital version for $34.99. (can activate on Steam)
I’ve only done the first mission, but how it starts immediately reminded me of the first game and brought back a lot of feelings. My last new games were Doom 3 and Fallout 3 so I have no idea if the “cover” movement and “take down” move are both old hat, but pretty damn neat nonetheless (especially the latter).
I also have to agree with Sergorn. I thought Deus Ex 2 was good, at least equal if not better than the first (I’m only wearing 25% Fire Resist Cardboard Armour of the Fool so don’t blast me too hard :).
Oh, and it does look VERY nice, even with an old Nvidia 8800 SLI setup.
Cheers,
Ram Dragon
I think a lot of the flack Invisible War is getting come from the fact that all things considered, it’s a very different beast while most fans of the first would have settled for an “improved more of the same” approach to design while Harvey Smith went in a different direction in that one.
That’s not to say some the game doesn’t have issues, and some of the complains are indeed legitimate (most notably the crappy pre-patch UI, and the ridiculously small zones caused by the Xbox’s lack of memory), but i’d argue it was still a pretty damn good game on its own and did a lot of things very well. It had its flaws, but I’d certainly welcome more games like DX2.