Square-Enix Deus Ex Human Revolution review

As the prequel to one of the most highly-regarded PC games of all time, expectations for Deus Ex: Human Revolution were always going to be high. It was a risky move to take the story back to its beginnings, to a world only just beginning to grasp how to advance human evolution using technology, but once you start playing there’s little doubt this is a game that understands its heritage.

Right from the outset, it’s clear that human augmentation has caused a huge rift in society: those that can afford augmentations, as well as the drugs to keep their bodies from rejecting them, are persecuted by humanists that believe it is sacrilege to modify the human form. Players are thrown into the middle of this conflict as you take the role of gravelly-voiced protagonist Adam Jenson, head of security for Sarif Industries, America’s largest producer of augmentations.

After an explosive opening ten minutes that sees Jensen critically wounded and fitted with extensive augmentations (augs) in order to keep him alive, the game begins proper and it’s clear that great care has been taken to keep the Deus Ex legacy alive. Set loose to track down the terrorists responsible for the attack, you’re soon on the trail of a far larger conspiracy. It’s impossible to reveal much more of the plot without giving away massive spoilers, but series veterans are sure to be pleased with the numerous shady government organisations and false trails designed to keep you guessing right until the end.

Between each main storyline mission, large city hubs are completely open for you to explore. Optional side quests given to you by NPCs provide extra credits, weapons or Praxis points for upgrading your augmentations, as well as clues to the overarching storyline. The on-screen overlay, cunningly introduced as a vision enhancement aug, points you in the direction of each objective, but there’s always a map in case you get truly lost.

With hundreds of characters to talk to and interrogate, you could easily spend hours in each new location, but the heart of the game is very much in its action sequences. As we would expect from a game carrying the Deus Ex name, gameplay is entirely open-ended and there are always multiple paths and options open to you. Choosing stealth over confrontation will let you conserve ammunition for boss fights and tougher missions, but the guns blazing approach will still get the job done. There’s always a non-lethal option, such as using tranquilizer darts and silent melee takedowns to help you stay unnoticed when a guard blocks your path.

Gunplay was often frantic, so we found ourselves gravitating towards the stealth approach as it was less likely to get us killed; even on normal difficulty, it only takes a few hits to put you down. Health now regenerates after several seconds, which might anger Deus Ex purists, but you still feel vulnerable when facing multiple enemies. This is less of an issue further into the game, once you’ve sufficiently upgraded your augmentations to help you survive in combat. Being able to turn invisible, punch through walls and throw half-ton crates gives you a huge advantage over your foes, but you’ll need to earn Praxis points to buy each upgrade.

Graphically, Human Revolution is impressive in places, but less so in others. Jenson himself looks fantastic, with fluid animations and very crisp textures, but NPCs and enemies lack the same visual detail. Even with DirectX 11, the overall fidelity of the game engine doesn’t look significantly better than current-generation console titles, but this doesn’t detract too much from the overall atmosphere. This is mainly due to the fantastic soundtrack, which is filled with a mixture of minimal electronic beats and haunting orchestral pieces that are oddly reminiscent of the recent Tron film sequel; they create a techno-noir atmosphere that perfectly suits the tone of the plot.

We were worried that Human Revolution wouldn’t match the dizzy heights of the original Deus Ex, but our fears were unfounded. Not only is it a fantastic game, it actually surpasses the original. A deeply involving storyline, incredibly varied gameplay and a huge replay potential easily make this one of the best games we’ve played all year.