Deus Ex 3: Human Revolution

[redemption]

[Cyph]

^ Same thing happened to me on the second boss.

[Jarrod]

@JackSlack: They were in it because they were in the original. I always figured that the heavy conspiracy themes would somewhat go against reviving Deus Ex. They need to be there, but new fans might get a little bit weirded out by them as they can seem a little ham fisted.
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[JackSlack]

[Jarrod]

Yeah, I agree, but I mostly blame that on how rushed the ending felt. Deus Ex did a pretty good job of introducing you to all the key world players, spending time with them, and then having to make a decision at the end. Human Revolution doesn't really do that, rushing an introduction of one at the last minute, and making another really quite dislikable. Something to improve in the sequel, me thinks.

Anyway, ENB is working on a graphics mod for Human Revolution. He's the guy that did those insane GTAIV tweaks. Check it out (low framerate because its not optimised).

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[Cian]

Finished it last night. Overall, an excellent game and if it wasn't for Portal 2, it would be my game of the year so far. I managed to get through it without killing anyone and without setting off any alarms, phew!

Level design is pretty much perfect throughout although it is technically struggling on the Xbox 360. I can overlook that because the gameplay is so good. Soooo many choices.

I'd have to say the story is what really holds it back from true greatness. It started off reasonably ok but never really builds up to anything, and by the end it's just a mess. Maybe that's because I haven't finished the other two, it probably doesn't help.

But still, it's essential for every gamer regardless of whether you're a fan or not. Now I must listen to the soundtrack...again and again...
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[Jarrod]

Nah, playing the other two wouldn't make the story much better. There's a lot name dropping and cool tie ins, especially at Picus, that make you go "Ooooooh!" as it 'all makes sense', but nothing that would drastically change the perception of the story.

It needed to develop the characters better and have a proper start/middle/end. The ending especially lets its down.
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[ObsoletE]

finally finished it - not because i didn't want to play, just that i could never find the time.

i was really hoping it wouldn't have the same issue (in my opinion) as the first 2, and have multiple endings, but have them all clumped together so you could just reload and go again.
i'd hoped this because there was at least 1 point in the game (that i'm aware of) that did split, and if it weren't for the fact that i initially assumed that i'd opened the "final" door first, therefore missing exploring the rest of the building and therefore reloading, i never would've known that doing the exploring first, would in turn lock me out of that first door.
(Spoilers) At the convention centre, i initially went in and confronted Taggart, but reloaded to explore first, which then meant i had a different objective, and therefore could not confront Taggart. (/spoilers)

but no. in fact, if anything, they made it even more... convenient to do this.
the only thing i can say this time, is that in DX1 and DX2, you could choose factions all through the game, so in choosing that factions ending, it felt like you were an agent of that faction the entire game, and giving you the option to ignore the rest of the game and instead choose a different faction (because they forgive all that killing their men for the previous 40 hours) felt wrong.
this one at least didn't really involve the factions quite so blatantly throughout the game.

i found it amusing how many people didn't have "The D Project" achievement though. on Steam - 30% of players have finished the game, but only 15% have The D.

otherwise, i think the final map-hub was a bit of a let-down. particularly the enemies. it felt, to me, that they had the environment designed, and just ran out of time to actually implement much in the way of hazards. a shame really.

that aside, one of my most enjoyable gaming experiences this year.
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My Play-Asia Affiliate Link.

[Jarrod]

The final map was shit. And yeah, I got the impression they ran out of time for it. When you first arrive there are multiple paths, some obviously for stealth, into the main complex, yet no enemies to avoid or any real purpose. It seems like that opening area was designed for your normal encounters, but there are none.

Anyway, here's some before/after shots of what the ENB mod is looking to do.




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[Cyph]

Nice screenshot comparison Jarrod. I agree with the final level and how the game ends. It seems... I don't know, unfinished. Either they ran out of time or they are saving more for DLC. My instincts tell me the latter.

[grim-one]

Finished my first play through this morning. I must have slipped up somewhere and killed someone accidentally because I missed the Pacifist achievement. I'm glad I at least got Foxiest of Hounds though, which is probably the more time consuming of the two.

I agree with most of the criticism, but the game is still bloody brilliant. My addition to the wishlist is that they didn't have so many cool cutscenes (crazy I know). I would rather have control during most of them, especially the conversations. It just seems weird to have so much control over some conversations but then being left completely out of the loop in others.
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Steam:grim_one | PSN/Live:najakh | Flickr

[metalgear_yoshi]

I've been playing the game for a bit now, just up to the bit where I need to plant a bomb and stow away on a ship or something. I'm really enjoying it and can't complain too much but there are quiet a few little niggles that could of been easily fixed or are just odd inclusions, like the boss fights. I do find that the augment system is rather redundant as you pretty much either choose combat or stealth, and even then you could probably merge both pretty effectively as the paraxis points come pretty thick and fast. The power ups are cool and really open the game up, but I never really felt any apprehension about spending any of the xp. Really, they should of split the classes into combat/stealth/hacking rather than a mix of combat or stealth AND hacking.

I think I'll get much more out of it when I make a second playthrough and go the Pacifist/Foxiest route. It's fun shooting dudes in the head but it's pretty obvious that the games designed around stealth regardless of what they say about playing anyway you want and approaching objectives from multiple angles.

Anyway, as grim-one said, it's still bloody brilliant. Hopefully they get a sequel out in good time, open up the hubs a bit more and take a more hard-line approach to the RPG elements as I feel they either streamlined the game a bit due to time/money restraints or in trying to make the game more accessible. Oh, and more side quests, I love me some side quests.

Edit. I forgot to add my thoughts on the graphic overhaul. Basically, I really think it's wasted on this game. I know it's not overly pretty but it does the job and I think that's all it needs, the game worlds to static to really benefit from top notch graphics. The GTA 4 mod looked absolutely breathtaking and made me envy the master race but I can't say I really care in this case. It is pretty though and the guy/s who did it should be commended on their effort and hired by a developer to do pc optimisation on other console to pc ports asap.
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[Jarrod]

I wouldn't call it wasted. Human Revolution's art direction is what sets it so far above everything else, but on a technical level the game is extremely dated. The engine is balls and lacking a surprising amount of modern rendering effects. Maybe it's just the PC hardware pushing fanboy in me, but seeing all the additional bells and whistles that the ENB mod looks to add just makes me giddy with excitement. It makes it look almost exactly like the concept art.

And yeah, the frequency at which praxis points are thrown at you kinda negates a blanket choice of stealth or combat, but I guess thats part of what the game is all about. Its less "this aug or that", and more about how you use them that dictates how you play. Combat and stealth are simply umbrellas that cover a pretty wide range of options themselves, same goes for non-lethal. In all cases you have to wonder whether you want to be ranged or close quarters, silent or loud, hacking or throwing, jumping or sneaking, etc. You can pretty successfully blend every play style under the sun, and I think thats the games biggest pro.

Im glad people are loving the game. Its sold okay in the states so far. Hopefully word of mouth and a flow of DLC keeps people interested. Then maybe Square will give Eidos Montreal a bit more rope, and we can look forward to a hundred hours of Deus Ex, like they planned for Human Revolution.

EDIT: Another shot of the ENB mod.


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[JackSlack]

I don't think any Deus Ex game will ever have those massive long playthroughs. It's simply not practical with today's budgets -- I think Yahtzee is right when he notes the original Deus Ex came out in a weird butter zone for gaming: Games were expensive enough to have a lot of possibilities, but not so expensive that you couldn't afford more than a few of them. Frankly, I'm staggered DXHR is as open ended as it is.

What I do hope for are more sandbox like levels overall; the game was a long way from linear, but I craved more of those 'wander around the level first, feel it out, then commence' designs from the original. I'd also groove on the social aspect being ramped up and integrated more: Imagine being able to go undercover to solve a mission. This doesn't need to be the 'I win' button you'd think -- it would probably mix with stealth. If you impersonate a mook, you still can't enter the restricted zone, and you need to be seen trying to break into computers, etc. (If it was like the game's first level). For extra bonuses, throw in a classic 'kill the dude to maintain your cover' crisis.

[Nietzsche]

Am I the only person who thinks the story is really bad. There is great world building and the intro is nice but the A to B is just awful.

[JackSlack]

The story is a bit flat, isn't it? It's not terrible: It's clear and obvious what's going on. It's just that there aren't any really big twists. It'd be nice if it surprised the player a bit.

[Nietzsche]

For instance the reason why you go to Shanghai is amazingly stupid.

[JackSlack]

Stupid Deus Ex Playthrough Idea: An I Must Kill Everyone playthrough. Kill everyone. By your hand. Someone has a hostage and is about to execute her? Your goal is to save her, and then shoot her yourself. Count every dead person with a count clicker. See how high you can get, post it online, and compare with others.

[Nietzsche]

I wonder if dead civilians would respawn.

[JackSlack]

Oh, true. I didn't think about that. That would be unfortunate.

[Jarrod]

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[Chopbusted]

I think I'm up to the second last location in the game and Steam says I've played for about 45 hours so far.

Up until now I've taken out everyone with non-lethal takedowns, hacked everything I could, read every email and ebook, searched for all the alternative pathways, etc and have been having a blast.

But I must admit I'm a bit over it now and just want to finish the game. The only augments left that I haven't already purchased are all pretty useless and I'm only quickly skimming through the emails now.

There isn't a new game+ mode is there? It would be awesome to replay the game with Jensen maxed out.
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Buy games for less at Play-Asia: http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-9tbz-49-en.html

[Jarrod]

<3 Jensen.
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[Jarrod]

New ENB shot comparisons. Still a WIP, but he managed to get reflections working too.




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[Cyph]

Big improvement if you ask me.