Review – Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Version: Xbox 360
Developer: Eidos Montreal
Publisher: Square Enix
Release Date: August 23, 2011
Reviewed: October 17, 2011

This got lost in the flood of games being released. Finally got around to finishing up this review, and I think it’s for the better, since my initial reaction was based purely on, “Oh god, this game is the best, most amazing game, EVER!” However, after I let it sink in I’ve found myself disliking certain parts more than I did the first time around(In a review sense). Also, I’ve never played the original Deus Ex on PC, and I believe that might change the way I approach this. Anyway, enough of that intro, it’s on to the review itself.

I’m sure by now a majority of anyone that happens to read this will have already played the game, but I’ll still explain a few details. In Deus Ex: Human Revolution you play the role of Adam Jensen, an Ex-SWAT security officer working for Sarif Industries. You’re doing your job when suddenly there is an explosion in the building. You’re off to save the day, or at least that’s what you’d think. You end up getting brutally beat up, and barely surviving the ordeal, which leads to surgery to save your life. Fast forward 6 months, and you’re brought back to Sarif Industries to help with a crisis, but this time you’re not the same man you once were. Nope, now you’re Augmented, which even comes with sweet retracting shades because who cares, you need to look awesome while you’re working.

Now the real game starts. Exploration. This is the bread and butter of Human Revolution, however, it’s cut short when you’re forced to go to your next mission quickly, otherwise the situation may become worse. I’m sure a lot of people were turned off by not being able to search around for every little thing so early, but it gave a feel of time moving forward in the world. The downfall is that this feeling isn’t kept the same throughout the game, at least it didn’t seem that way(Night sure does last a long time). Anyway, the first mission let’s you get your barrings set on how you’ll be able to approach a majority of the rest of the game. I’ll be straight-forward here, if you want to treat this game as a Run-N-Gun, then you better hope you’re an amazing shot with your bullets, and don’t ignore doing takedowns when available. You’ll find yourself burning through the little ammo available quickly if you approach every situation with the intent on shooting everyone in the room. However, the Run-N-Gun method IS viable, but only if you take advantage of specific Augments. The impatient players may find this game more frustrating than fun. Even on the lower difficulty you are not an invincible bullet-sponge, so don’t expect to take 100 hundred bullets in a firefight and be perfectly fine. That being said, Human Revolution rewards stealthy approaches with higher Experience in comparison to the Run-N-Gun aspect. The game is really centered around taking your time, and trying to approach every situation with the intent on not being seen or heard.

Once you’re free of the first mission, you finally get to start the ‘No time limit’ Exploration, and each consecutive area is the same. The downfall is that you’re limited to the specific areas you’re in at the time, there is no “I want to go to this city, then come back to this city.” You progress through the different areas as you progress through the main story. You could make a dash for each main story mission, but the other bread and butter(toast with butter perhaps?) is the sidequests. They’re littered throughout each main area you visit, and they help you gain a large amount of experience or even some Praxis Points if you’re lucky.

Praxis Points. These points are your stats in the game. They allow you to upgrade Jensen, and unlock new Augmentation abilities to perform. The abilities range from being able to turn completely invisible, recharge your energy quicker, increased armor, increased hacking, launching out a 360 degree of grenades around you, and so on. It’s in your best interest to think carefully about which ability you unlock, because you might keep yourself from being able to take certain paths(Approaching situations, etc).

Now to tackle the boss fights. Yes, there are ‘boss’ fights in Human Revolution, however, they are all confrontational boss fights. You have to be prepared to get up close and personal with all of these bosses, but even if you’re a stealth and sneaky type this can still be handled easily. The one recommendation I make to anyone is to stock up on Frag Mines. It takes roughly 4-5 Frag Mines to take out a boss, depending on if you shoot them with any guns you’ve been holding onto. It’s rather disappointing that there are even boss fights in this game, since it detracts from the real element of Human Revolution, which is to explore and unfold the story(or sidequest stories).

In the end, the game is still rather solid despite having issues with the boss fights. I personally never had problems against the bosses in the game, but I easily understood where problems could arise in the fights. The exploration felt great, and rewarded you even when you did something as simple as explore a ventilation shaft. It was addicting to try and explore everything that you could find just to keep getting experience points to get more Praxis points, which allowed you to unlock your Augmentations. It was difficult to feel invincible if you didn’t manage item usage in the middle of fights, but if you do it well enough then it feels great when you take out 4-5 guys in one fight. I recommend to rent it if you enjoy exploration and sneaking around.

Review Score: 88/100