The
Director's Cut of
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a re-release of the SF RPG with added and revised features. I reprint in full
my original review from 2011, followed by analysis of the differences between this new edition of the game and the original.
Detroit, 2027. The human race is changing, with nanotech research and
cybernetics technology making 'augmented' humans stronger, faster and
smarter than their 'normal' forebears. Numerous groups are opposed to
augmentation on ethical and religious grounds. Adam Jensen, chief of
security at Sarif Industries, one of the leaders in augmentation
research, is severely wounded when terrorists attack and destroy one of
Sarif's labs. Saved by augmentation, Adam must investigate the attack,
discover the motives of those seeking to destroy Sarif Industries and,
ultimately, decided which side of the argument is the 'right' one.
Human Revolution is the third game in the
Deus Ex franchise, serving as a prequel to the events of the original
Deus Ex and its lacklustre sequel,
Invisible War. Set twenty-five years before the first game,
Human Revolution helps show how that world of nanotech and enhanced humans came into existence. As a prequel,
Human Revolution requires no existing knowledge of the earlier games and makes an ideal jumping-on point for new players.
Contrary to screenshots which suggest that it's a FPS,
Human Revolution
is a science fiction roleplaying game played from a first-person
perspective. The game is built around the idea that though there is a
central narrative the player must follow (this isn't an open-world SF
RPG like
Fallout 3), the player
has tremendous freedom in how he or she follows that narrative. The
game has a robust combat system which will satisfy those who like
shooting things, but it also has a solid stealth mechanic for those who
prefer sneaking around in the shadows (or, more often, inexplicably
large air ducts). The game also has a hacking system so players can also
hack into computer networks and turn automatic defences against enemy
forces. Even within a particular play style, there is flexibility, with
the ability to stun or knock out opponents rather than killing them
being a particularly welcome feature (and the game has achievements for
those who complete the game without killing anyone). Most players will
probably mix and match styles as the mood takes them, or depending on
the mission.
Deus Ex was
infamous for its tremendous flexibility and freedom, adapting its
storyline to cater for the player deciding to kill off major NPCs on a
whim and letting them simply escape from tough bosses rather than being
forced into difficult battles (especially if they were not built for
combat).
Human Revolution isn't
quite as liberal in its approach to gameplay, most notably due to the
four tough and unavoidable boss fights which have been commonly and
frequently criticised. In a game which enjoys giving you different
options in almost every circumstance, being forced into situations where
you have to break out the heavy artillery is annoying, especially if
you've been upgrading your character for say stealth or hacking and are
not optimised for combat.
However, this is the only major criticism I can level at the game. In almost every other arena,
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
is a triumph. The game has a fantastic atmosphere and sense of place,
backed up by an absolutely superb soundtrack and carried through some
top-notch writing.
Deus Ex is one of the most critically-acclaimed games of all time, and there were doubts that
Human Revolution
could live up to that precedent. These doubts have been laid to rest.
The game is more than worthy of its illustrious heritage, and deserves
plaudits for its clever design. It employs regenerating health and a
cover system, two features of modern FPS games which are often
groan-inducing and tiresome (is there a company somewhere that
specialises in building chest-high walls and inexplicably littering them
over levels?), but
Human Revolution
takes ownership of them. The regenerating health is justified as a
force-shield, whilst the cover system (well-implemented as these things
go) does double time as a tactical combat mechanic, allowing your
character to move around whilst suppressed, rolling from cover to cover,
firing blindly and finding sniper vantage points. Actually, the cover
system pulls triple duty as a stealth mechanic in non-combat situations
as well.
The game has a lot to say about the rights and wrongs of
cybernetics, augmentation and the power of corporations and
governments, but tries not to get preachy. As the game progresses, your
character can develop his own opinion on matters, informed by the events
he's experienced and the choices he's made, and the multiple endings
(there are four radically different resolutions, each with three
different endings based on your character's actions earlier in the game,
meaning a total of twelve possible outcomes) can see him reaching very
different conclusions. Whilst you can't create your own character, you
can certainly develop him in more depth than in most CRPGs. This is
helped by an excellent 'dramatic conversation' mechanic where you must
argue with a major NPC over an important topic, trying to convince them
to help you or surrender without the need for violence. Major plot
revelations crop up in these conversations. However, it's odd that there
aren't more of these (there's only three or four in the game), as in
their own way they are more critical to the game than the tedious boss
fights.
The game's central storyline is gripping, tightly-written
and populated with memorable, well-acted and flawed characters.
However, the game has two large hub areas (in Detroit and Heng Sha)
where you can wander off from the main story for a while and pursue some
side-quests. A couple of these side-quests are extensive, taking a
couple of hours apiece to complete, and are a great opportunity to gain
additional XP and increase your character's skills and augments. These
hub areas are rich in incidental detail and flavour (overhearing
citizens discussing the news stories of the day, being offered food from
stall-owners etc), but arguably there's little to do in them outside of
the (relatively few, for the size of these areas) quests and buying
some equipment and weapons from a few vendors. A bit more going on in
each zone would have expanded the play-time (which at 25 hours is
reasonable but not particularly notable for an RPG) and made the game a
little richer. Also, the game rarely strays far from the traditional FPS
paradigm of having most of its actions set indoors in successions of
corridors and offices. A little more variety in locations (perhaps more
outdoor opportunities for stealth or combat) would have been nice.
These kind of complaints are very minor. In a world of increasingly bland and 'safe' first-person shooters,
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
(****½) stands out with its strong writing, well-defined
characterisation and its refreshingly open approach to freedom and
choice, whilst having compelling action sequences as well. It's one of
the strongest RPGs, and indeed games overall, of the last couple of
years and is well worth a look.
The Director's Cut
The Director's Cut is a re-release of the original
Deus Ex: Human Revolution with a number of new features. The most notable is a set of Wii U-exclusive features which make excellent use
of that console's touch-screen controller, allowing players to hack computers and refer to their map, quest log or inventory without switching out of the main view. I haven't seen these features in operation, but other reviews indicate they are well-implemented.
Of more interest to PC and other console players are the upgrades to the actual gameplay. The most notable of these is that
The Missing Link DLC - which takes place about two-thirds through the original game - has been integrated into the main narrative. There are good and bad points to this. First, if you haven't played
The Missing Link before it adds about 4-5 hours of gameplay set on a remote base in the middle of the ocean. It adds new environments and enemy types and, like the main game, a series of situations to resolve through combat, hacking, stealth or a combination of all three. There's also some tough moral choices. The DLC integrates into the main storyline quite well, with Jensen's continuing investigation into the attack on Sarif Industries informing the expansion. Unfortunately, the expansion's biggest weakness remains: it removes all of your augments and upgrades, forcing you back into the state you were at the start of the game. This makes the first half of the DLC a chore as you rebuild your skill set back up to something useful. The
Director's Cut really should have eliminated this tiresome mechanic (originally necessary because it was played separately from the main game) and allowed you to continue with your existing inventory and skill set. Still, once it kicks into gear it's a very worthy expansion to the game.
The second notable change is to the boss battles. Much-criticised in the original game,
The Director's Cut reworks them so each boss can now also be defeated by stealth or hacking as well as direct combat. Unfortunately, defeating the third boss, Jaron Namir, requires hacking skills. Depending on a choice made earlier in the game, your augments may be completely offline during this battle, making hacking impossible and forcing you to defeat him in direct combat. Fortunately, as this battle comes shortly after
The Missing Link, in which you can acquire a powerful missile launcher which can take Namir down in just a couple of hits, the developers have a way around it.
Eidos Montreal also claim to have upgraded the game's graphics. To be frank, this claim seems dubious. The textures seem identical, the lighting and shadows appear to be the same and the character models are still the mixed bag they were in 2011. The console versions may indeed look better, but the PC version is identical.
Finally, the game adds a 'Game+' mode in which your augments and weapons loadout continue into a new game. This is a nice touch if you plan to replay at the hardest difficulty level (which is notably more punishing), but given you can max out 90% of your augments in a single playthrough, it will leave you as an almost unbeatable tank during the replay.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The Director's Cut improves on the original game, but it's more of a series of minor upgrades than a major transformation of the whole game. If you've already completed the game (iffy boss fights and all) and
The Missing Link, it's questionable if there is enough here to make it worthwhile, especially on console where you have to re-buy the entire game. Wii U users will likely enjoy it tremendously as a rare and much-needed example of what their console can do. PC players, however, will find that the
Director's Cut is an extremely cheap upgrade on Steam if they already own the original game and
The Missing Link, in which case it's a no-brainer.
For new players who have never experienced the game before, the improvements remove the original game's most annoying niggles and leave it as a cyberpunk RPG masterpiece it aspired to be. If you haven't played the game before, the
Director's Cut (
*****) is a must-buy. It is available now in the UK (
PC,
X-Box 360,
PlayStation 3,
Wii U) and USA (
PC,
X-Box 360,
PlayStation 3,
Wii U), or from the
Steam platform on PC.
