Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I just found out that it’s actually pronounced Deeyus Ex

I’ve joked a bit about how sloppy the moments felt in past Deus Ex titles. The story and the world that takes place in the franchise had always been great but lacked conviction. When Deus Ex: Human Revolution (DXHR), the newest title in the line, starts up the facility the protagonist was in got destroyed and burned as black ops soldiers stormed in to track down fleeing researchers. When that ended an awesome title sequence jumped in, letting me know that the Deus Ex franchise has finally received the cinematic treatment it deserved.

The game takes place in the near future of 2027, a world where corporations have power than surpasses governments. It is a time when human augmentation has become common technology. People who opt its use became superior in physical and mental abilities. This creates pressure for everyone else who remained natural as they are left behind. Tension rises as opposing opinions regarding the technology threads towards a breaking point.

You play Adam Jensen, head of security from a leading biotech firm behind augmentation technology. When a sudden attack at the firm’s headquarters took place Adam’s life was turned upside down, thrusting him into a world of conspiracy as he struggles to discover the truth.

It’s a very interesting premise for sure. In execution the cyberpunk themed story starts off pretty slow but once the ball started to roll it can get pretty gripping. The world felt alive as every event that the player goes through is echoed through news broadcast and newspapers, emails and conversation between NPCs. There are talks about other happenings across the globe as well. A lot of reading material can be found for anyone who likes to know more about the world and the technology behind it. Also, the soundtrack behind the game fits the atmosphere really well and sounds great. At times I feel like a tourist strolling around the city hubs, just watching the night life there. The developers spend a great deal into making the world of DXHR as immersive as possible and it shows.

One look at a screenshot of the game and you can see how stylish everything looks. The developer calls it Cyber Renaissance. What this suave term means is that certain building interiors and fashion styles in the game has a Renaissance flair in their design and was done so in an ultra modern way, hence the Cyber part. This Cyber Renaissance approach was picked to reflect the themes behind DXHR. It’s a very interesting concept but unfortunately the idea was not completely applied throughout the game, as only the Cyber part really made it throughout the game. But it’s still pretty nevertheless.

DXHR seem to have branded itself with black and gold (fits right in with this blog don't you think?). I read from somewhere that the black and gold colour scheme is supposedly a reference to the colour of ink and parchment from the Renaissance blueprint drawings. Sound reasoning but it’s not that simple. It’s very likely that they were inspired by GITS 2: Innocence, which used the same colour scheme as well. Visual design philosophies aside, it gives the game a warm dystopian feel.

Check out the mechanical designs in this game. For the augmentations, they wanted to avoid over the top cyberpunk designs of wires spewing all over the place and went for the sleek approach. It’s more likely it would look this way in the near future, the developer say. I approve. And not forgetting are the vehicles and the robots that inhibit the areas which looks sweet. One that stands out is the Boxguard, a quad-pedal robot (about the size of a car) that can fold itself into a cube for easy transportation.

One of the central themes of Deus Ex has always been about moral choices. On many occasions, the issues presented to the player are grey, that there’s never a clear right or wrong solution. A player who strictly prefers to role play only as the guardian of light should totally avoid this game; it is practically impossible to be a 100 percent good guy in this game I tell you!

Deus Ex can be described as a first person stealth/shooter/action rpg. Its core gameplay is that you can complete an objective in various ways. For example, to enter a secured building, you may either enter with your guns blazing, or sneak through a hidden vent, or sweet talk your way with the guard at the front door to gain clearance. And there are many augmentations to help you win your game. Among them are cloaking, the ability to punch through weak walls, the ability to see through walls, super strength, jump higher, slow fall, and more. But you can only get them through experience points, and which augmentation you choose should depend on your play style.

However, Deus Ex tries to do a lot that it rarely excels in any of them. This is not to say that the game play is bad, just that it’s decent enough. The game can get punishing at times; if the enemy gets a very clear shot of you then expect the game over screen within 3 seconds. There’s are some minor bugs in my experience playing the PS3 version of the game, the most annoying of which was that my character would initiate one of his weaponry augmentation instead of cloaking/de-cloaking, therefore instantly sounding the alarm—makes me facepalm all the time. I find that pressing the cloaking button while not moving solves the problem.

It’s likely that gamers who are not so much into cyberpunk would walk away thinking it’s not that spectacular but it’s not too bad either. But if you do appreciate this stuff, then what are you waiting for? Deus Ex: Human Revolution is probably the best big budget cyberpunk game out there in the market right now.


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