Apparently, others agreed with my assessment. When I arrived at the private booth to see the demonstration of the game, there was a huge throng of people trying to see this game. The booth had been set up for nine visitors at a time, but due to the demand, Square Enix packed as many people as possible. The trailer had definitely done its job.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmMTO9ZGnBI
For those who are unfamiliar with the original Deus Ex, I highly recommend checking it out on Steam where it is available for download at the low, low, price of $9.99. But if you’re not a fan of “retro-gaming” (the game came out oh-so-long ago in the year 2000), here’s a quick spoiler-free summary of the game. Deus Ex was a first-person shooter RPG, which was a pretty unique concept at the time. The game took place in the year 2050, and you played JC Denton, a member of the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO), which was attempting to maintain peace around the globe in the face of multiple terrorist groups. What made Denton uniquely qualified to serve in this organization was that his body was enhanced with nanotechnology that allowed him to perform superhuman feats. As you completed missions, you received skill points that allowed you to add or improve these various nanotechnologies.
These RPG elements empowered players to choose their own way forward and was one of the greatest strengths of the game. Almost every mission had multiple ways to complete it based upon the gamer’s style of play and upgrades. You could use stealth, conversation, technical know-how, or a frontal assault to get the job done. Customization of Denton and his weapons were also a large part of the game.
But for some, the best element of the game was its conspiracy elements that provided a rich and complex story. Groups such as the Illuminati, The Triads, Majestic 12, and others all make major appearances and Denton often does not know who to trust. One of the creepier and prescient conspiracies involved the framing of one terrorist group for the destruction of the Statue of Liberty.
These combined elements resulted in Deus Ex receiving numerous accolades, and even today, it is considered by many to be one of the best games of all time. So can Deus Ex: Human Revolution live up to its pedrigree?
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is technically a prequel to the original game as it takes place in the year of 2027. Nanotechnologies have not yet taken hold, but neuroprosthetics are beginning to be utilized to enhance an individual’s abilities. However, only those with wealth can afford such augmentations, and this contributes to the social divide between those who can afford this technology and those who cannot.
You will be controlling Adam Jensen, a private security specialist hired to protect the interests of one of the largest bio-tech corporations. Prior to his own augmentation, Jensen was conflicted over the use of neuroprosthetics, but during an attack on his facility, he is critically injured and the scientists make the decision to augment him. Because this choice was forced upon him, Jensen becomes obsessed with determining who attacked the facility and why they did so. During this search, he uncovers dark secrets about the world and the resulting actions he takes could affect the future of the entire human population.
During the demonstration, Eidos Montreal showed us two sequences of in-game footage that take place about six hours into the game. In the first sequence, Adam Jensen has arrived in Shanghai in order to track a hacker who was involved with an attack on the United States. The depiction of Shanghai looked similar to that of the city in Blade Runner, except a little cleaner and neater. Even though the game was a pre-alpha build, the graphics of the city looked fairly sharp and impressive. The developers stressed that all of the non-player characters in the city would have their own motivations, and speak with and react to Jensen. As an example of this, Jensen was made to draw his pistol on an innocent bystander who reacted with fear and placed his hands over his head.
In order to gain entry into a nightclub called The Hive, Jensen bribed the bartender. The developers insisted, however, that Jensen could have gained entry into the building in multiple ways and that the four pillars of the game (stealth, combat, technological know-how, and social interactions) will all be at the player’s disposal. The choices made by the player will supposedly affect later events in the game.
Eidos Montreal then showed Jensen interacting with a bartender (possibly Tracer Tong from the original Deus Ex?) in a similar style to that of Mass Effect 2. The voice acting was good and delivered with dramatic flair, but the actor playing Jensen had a little bit of a “Christian Bale-Batman” voice style, which may be off-putting to some. Otherwise, the interaction was smooth and convincing.
The next section shown by Eidos Montreal was the combat. The scene showed Jensen attempting to make his way into a warehouse using augmentations such as strength and stealth. As you might expect, strength allowed Jensen to lift heavy objects, and stealth allowed Jensen to camoflauge himself. The combat system is a first-person shooter at heart, but with an interesting twist. When Jensen would take cover, the camera would zoom out to show a third-person view. The third-person point of view reminded me a lot of Gears of War’s cover system as you could shoot around corners without exposing yourself. Personally, I liked the view change, because it will give players a better idea as to whether they are really protected by cover or not. The transition between the two camera angles seemed to be fluid and worked well during the demonstration. It was unclear how many different weapons will be in the game, but each one is supposed to be customizable.
Stealth mode attacks also are shown from a third-person point of view. These attacks are contextual in nature and can also be made against multiple opponents. In the footage I saw, Jensen snuck up behind a guard and stabbed him through the heart with a knife blade that extended from his arm (for you Xenosaga fans, it reminded me of a KOS-MOS attack). He also dropped through a glass ceiling into the middle of a group of enemies, spun quickly releasing small explosives at his enemies, and then walked away from the ensuing carnage. Suffice to say, it was pretty bad-ass to watch.
When you are in stealth mode, you also have the option to incapacitate your enemies as well. The developers promised that you could actually complete the entire game without killing anyone. But when you can control a killing machine like Jensen, what fun would that be?
After killing his enemies, a large augmented soldier, who appeared in the E3 trailer, confronts Jensen. The odds didn’t look too good for Jensen as the size disparity was huge, but that’s where the demonstration ended. Eidos Montreal must be really proud of its E3 trailer, because the developers then showed it to us to make sure we all had seen it.
Lastly, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it, you remember the scene at the end of the E3 trailer where Jensen punches a hole in a wall, grabs a guard, and breaks his neck? That’s not just creative license being used in a cutscene. You can actually DO that in the game. Well played, Eidos Montreal. Well played.
If you’re interested in more screenshots or information about the soundtrack used in the trailer, make sure to click here.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution breaks through walls in early 2011 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC.
