Pitched as a return to form for a much-loved series, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a literal restart; a prequel that aims to bring back the cyber-punk feel of the first game and blend it with all the modern technological trimmings the last ten years have afforded games designers.
As part of a behind-closed-doors look at Deus Ex: Human Revolution, we were afforded a little glimpse of what's to come from Eidos Montreal's next classic-in-the-making (we hope) – and these are the bits that stood out.
Flexible, Deep Gameplay
Deus Ex: Invisible War, whilst generally regarded as a very good shooter in most respects, failed to match the complexities of the role-playing experience gamers were introduced to in the original Deus Ex.
Combat has been given a complete overhaul, making main character, Adam Jensen, into as versatile a character as you please. These improved technical combat aspects include a new cover system that shifts the viewpoint to third-person for a better sense of surroundings, as well as dodge-rolls into cover and the ability to drag bodies out of plain view – the latter highlights how critical it will be to use logic to avoid detection.
Eavesdropping for hints now plays a larger part in determining the path you take through an area. Solutions are less overt than your typical shooter from what we've seen; you actually need to exercise some investigatory skills if you want to gain the most insight into a given situation. Sometimes simply listening to a conversation between two characters can net you passwords or drop hints about secret areas that you'd otherwise not have known about.
The conversation tree is just as flexible; it's akin to Mass Effect's radial dialogue system, where certain options are more aggressive than others – and depending on your tone, the path of the discourse will change dramatically. Again, if you're flippant and don't read into the other character's subtle body language, you'll end up offending them or missing out on key information completely. Of course, if you push a little harder and press for information, you may just intimidate some key facts out of them, rather than simply getting shut down. It's a risk versus reward system applied to conversations and we love it.
As a reference point, people mention 'Blade Runner' as a direct comparison when discussing Deus Ex: Human Revolution's design ethic. However, despite taking place in over-developed civic centres like Shanghai and Detroit, the actual game's environments seems far more utilitarian and clinical; lived in, but not necessarily dirty and worn.
In fact, there are two sides to the way the megacities of Deus Ex: Human Revolution are portrayed. On one hand, the alleyways of future Shanghai are littered with trash; neon lights wash the cement with hues of green and orange. On the other, we also viewed ornate and minimalist office designs and sterile lobbies. By combining a muted palate with moments of saturated colour, Human Revolution looks fittingly futuristic and – in the same stroke – oddly classical.
Venturing into The Hive, a bar that features early in the story, we also get a glimpse of the persistent hexagonal iconography that seems to appear throughout not just the bar itself, but the wider city. Obviously playing off the latticework wax honeycomb of a beehive, it also makes a subtle and interesting commentary on how drone-like the future society has become; humans are becoming worker bees, 'falling in line with the hive' as it were.
A.I. That Is
Creating realistic artificial intelligence is hard – really hard. A big part of creating realistic AI routines comes from logical responses to the players' actions; in a sports game, that might mean proper defensive manoeuvres or aggressive tactics. In a role-playing shooter like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the same logic must be applied to human bystanders and enemy aggressors.
We were impressed with smaller touches from the outset that, while not new, are often overlooked. Characters don't like having guns pointed at them; aim a pistol at a bystander and they'll cower or back away. Reactive AI like this instantly adds realism. Likewise, if you're approaching a restricted area, don't expect AI to ignore you if you happen to fall outside of their cone of vision. Sound still plays a big part in this game. Enemy tactics are now much more reliant on their rank within an organization or squad. If you target the squad leader, you can severely hinder your enemy's ability to counteract your attack.
Logic also defines how characters react to the way you treat them during discussions. If you're aggressive towards a potentially dangerous character, don't expect them not to react appropriately.
The idea of 'transhumanity' has always played a large part in shaping the future of the human body in sci-fi writ. Deus Ex: Human Revolution deals with the earliest steps towards the augmentation of the human form – before the nanotechnological futurism of the original and subsequent sequel. After the main character, Adam Jensen, is critically wounded at the start of the game, we're shown the extent of his mechanical augmentations: new limbs, enhanced physical traits and the ability to swap out an upgrade these as the story progresses.
As in the first two games, these abilities open up all sorts of gameplay possibilities – something developers love to call 'emergent gameplay options' – and we tend to agree. Because you can never max out all of your augmentations across the board, you'll ultimately have to decide if you're going to favour overt, in-your-face combat upgrades (such as the chain-gun arm we were shown) or tend towards covert manoeuvres like hacking, invisibility and stealth combat. While it should be possible to take elements from both extremes, you'll never be a master of either if you don't eventually specialize – and likewise, you'll ultimately limit yourself to seeing only certain areas of the game using either approach to gain access.
At this stage, we've only seen a hint of the kinds of augmentations on the way. However, we're looking forward to a ton of interesting elements that we can tool around with – perhaps even some augmentations that free up your movement, giving you the ability to fly over obstacles and potentially radically alter the feel of the game.
What are you looking forward to in Deus Ex: Human Revolution? Post your thoughts below.