| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 3 | 9.20 |
| Overall | 9.20 |
|
The original Deus Ex was a milestone in game design allowing for open ended exploration in a FPS RPG hybrid. Human Revolution sticks close to the orginal's design while offering much improved shooting and stealth elements. If you come into this game fresh, without playing any other Deus Ex game, this game will probably shock you with its exploration and freedom in gameplay. Much like the first game you get city areas to explore which lead to specific engagement areas where most of the sneaking and combat takes place. The game has two major cities and many smaller sections. The cities are brimming with life and personality. Fans of cyberpunk futuristic worlds like blade runner will be in love with this setting, As you explore you will encounter NPCs that give you side missions. This isnt like a GTA game where there are a ton of small side missions, these missions are very thought out and have interesting side stories. There are only like 13 in the game, I wish there were more cause they were very well done. The main missions will require you to use all your skills to usually infiltrate an area. Each of these areas have multiple paths each tailored to a specific skill set. This is where the RPG aspects come as you can customize your character any way you want. Spend points to upgrade your stealth augments if you rather stay in the shadows. Or spend them to upgrade combat augs if you choose to kill everything that moves. The stealth elements are fantastic offering all sorts of fun ways to clear out a room. The augs you receive make you feel like a badass superhuman robot. Like MGS games I had a ton of fun just clearing out rooms in different ways. On the flip side the gunplay is good but not great. There is variety in weapons, the issue is that there isn't enough variety in enemies to make all those gun choices matter much. Gunplay mostly boils down to classic cover shooter mechanics. Don't get me wrong, the shooting is very good but as a shooter alone its not that fun, only when you combine and mix the two elements does the gameplay really shine. There are moments where you have a sort of conversation battle with a character. In these moments you have to chose the correct line of phrases to push the conversation in the direction you want. LA Noire comes to mind during these segments but I found that the conversations here felt more natural and engaging than the guessing game that is LA Noire at times. The facial animation however doesn't even come close to LA, it's like a generational gap between the two. I really want to be madly in love with this game but it lost me in how it handles your choices. I have played the game twice and tried to handle situations different ways and I have found that these choices have such limited effect on the story. The different endings have nothing to do with your choices throughout the game, you simply choose what ending you want. The first game felt like every action you took had a direct consequence that you feel throughout the game. Even the augmentation and item system of the first game was more about choices and consequences. In HR you can basically end up with all powers by the end, no need to chose one over the other. Locked doors are all opened by hacking, lots and lots of hacking, so upgrade that and you basically have a master key. The first game had many different ways to open doors so usually you can only access the ones your character was a master at. I feel like they got scared to really have your choices matter, instead they dress it up to make it seem like you are making major choices when in reality it all leads down the same path. Human Revolution is a fantastic game that offers some of the best stealth action gameplay you will find. The setting is interesting, the story is engaging and you will want to play this game at least twice to make different choices. It has an incredible score and fantastic voice acting. It really is one hell of a package. My biggest problem comes with the one area where this game could have been really special, making your choices really matter. I can't say this game is better than the original, but in reality it doesn't have to be as few are, it is a worthy sequel. |
|
Posted by Dvader Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:04:34
Recently Spotted:
gamingeek (8m)
This one felt very OLD, like not just early this gen old, but PS2 old.
I'll give it another try based on your high score though. It could have been that I tried this right after Bulletstorm, which would have been a dreadful contrast.