Greg Recommends Deus Ex : Human Revolution Director's Cut

Price : $21.99

Website : http://store.steampowered.com/app/238010/

I tend to avoid action and shooter games, but Deus Ex won me over, first from the overwhelmingly positive reviews it got and then half way through the first act when I realized I couldn't wait to come home and play some more. It doesn't have the best 'shooter' mechanics, but it is one of the very few action games out there that does stealth and a conspiracy story very well. I'm a sucker for good story line, good art, and thought provoking material and in my books Deus Ex scores very high in all three categories.

Here's a summary. It's the year 2027 and there have been several significant leaps in technology, specifically in bridging the gap between humankind and machines. You play as Adam Jensen, a newly hired security manager for Sarif Industries, a private technologies corporation that specializes in biotechnology. Things go bad rather quickly and spectacularly; and you find yourself trying to A: figure out how all of the company security has been compromised, B: stop para-military terrorists from murdering the breached research wing, and C cut through said para-military terrorists to get to your love interest. Long story short it doesn't work out well and Adam clings onto life by the skin of his teeth after a boss fight that... let's just say the odds were not stacked in his favor. It's maybe a cliche beginning, but it's executed well and serves as a solid foundation and motivation for the story that follows.

Sarif industries decides to rebuild Adam using their cutting edge prosthetic military grade technology and lets just say Adam goes from ex-swat of questionable ability to Angel of Death corporate attack dog. He's called into service early when the same para-military terrorist group breaks into a factory and takes hostages. Adam is tasked with defusing the situation while hopefully finding leads as to who these people are, what they want, and where they kidnapped the scientists to. He finds leads alright, but the people behind the attacks are well connected and cover their tracks very well by working through other powerful entities which in turn hire independent and corporate agents to do their bidding. It's big and it goes deep. This is a conspiracy story and it is a good one. Someone is working in the shadows to block your way and the deeper you go down the rabbit trail the darker the secrets and the larger and more unsettling your list of possible conspirators will become.

All that being said you have incredible freedom for how you deal with the enemies that oppose you. You technically don't have to kill anyone in the whole game, except for a some specific boss fights where you must fight to the death. Otherwise enemies can be knocked out, sneaked past, or in some deliciously dramatic encounters, diplomicized and / or intimidated into assisting you. The game does stealth well, often providing you with multiple paths to your destinations and rewarding experience for skillfully avoiding conflict and a large bonus if you complete a level without being seen by anyone.

Complimentary to the conspiracy setting and the ability to choose from violent and nonviolent approaches is the leveling mechanic. You earn experience by completing objectives and either dispatching or sneaking past enemies and when you have enough you are able to unlock one of several different augmentations that Sarif Industries hard wired into you (they just haven't fully synced as your body is technically still adapting to them). These augmentations range from increased strength / stamina to hacking ability to filtered lungs to heat vision to increased speed / jump height to 'chameleon mode' that makes you invisible for a short time. Pick which augmentations compliment your play style. If you're the run and gun shoot all the things type then pick the strength and vision upgrades. If you're the sneaky sneaky steal all the corporate secrets type then grab hacking and pheromone augs to learn all the secrets. The game rewards both sides of the spectrum with maybe a tad extra for players who take the time to follow up on side stories and enjoy hacking corporate emails.

Going back to the story for a minute. It's not just a conspiracy story, it's a story that also touches on some pretty heavy issues. What is the value of human life? Just how much power should corporations and governments exert over individuals? At what point is the cost of power and scientific advancement too high? These may sound abstract on their own but there were points in the game where I was authentically unnerved and upset by the secrets I uncovered and it was because it brought a very raw and real application to these philosophical questions. The game lets you take action on some of these issues and you can become an angel of light or a total cyberpunk jerk but there were a few times that I found the choice difficult to make and even wandered if I had made the right choice in the end. The game also does a good job of making you actually care about the characters you encounter. They have lives, hopes, dreams, fears, motivations, family, and may or may not depend on your actions to see them through to the end. These things are the hallmark of excellent story telling and with the drive for revenge, the action, and the twisting plot points I was hooked right to the end.

The art style in Deus Ex is very intentional, lots of gold on black and light accented by darkness. I don't remember the name of this style but I believe other review sites have identified its origins as Reconnaissance Italy. I think it really helps set the mood and atmosphere for the game while looking awesome! The art style compliments the story and the underlying themes within the game and acts as a subtle stylization on realism which means that the graphics will always look good even though they will become dated.

I didn't get too many theological vibes from this game. I found the light and darkness in the art style reminded me a bit of how light and darkness are opposed in the Gospel of John, but the story and overall direction seemed to be more existential than theist even though there were numerous references to the Bible and Christianity. Adam, a biblical name with special meaning that the game taps into. Seraf, a powerful angel. Artistic depictions of angels and demons spread throughout. The game borrows themes from Christianity but seems content to leave any concept of God (especially a Christian understanding of God) out of it. Different characters try to play god or uplift humanity to become gods, even Adam Jensen gets to play god if he so chooses and other characters will regard him as an angel of death or an angel of light depending on his actions. There is lots of 'working in the dark to serve the light' which is most definitely not Christian but makes for a great thriller story nonetheless. The game seems to borrow overtones from religion and theology which makes it interesting but not enough to be religious or theological and, refreshingly, doesn't try to bash religion like other games.

What Deus Ex does well it does really well, but it is not a perfect game. The art style is great but graphics feel truncated if you take a close look at some of the textures and details, probably so that it could run on the XBox 360. Some characters look great, others, especially the NPCs that aren't characters you can talk to have that glazed over look when they walk around and repetitive 'same voice actor' feel to them. Anyone who played the original Deus Ex will immediately notice that the areas and maps are a lot smaller than the original, which makes sense when you consider the exponential bloat that modern day graphics technology puts upon the size requirements of any game. A lot of people really didn't like the boss fights because they didn't allow for the same sort of 'multiple alternative routes' game play that the rest of the game does well but the 'Director's Cut Edition' addresses this to some extent. FPS players will probably be underwhelmed by the actual 'shooting things' aspect of the game as the weapon selection isn't spectacular and the shooting mechanics aren't on the same level as a modern day Call of Duty title. It's more of a role playing game that allows you to shoot things rather than a shooter that allows you to role play. Then there is the ending... I won't spoil it, but lets just say I appreciated the journey more than the destination. The destination was worth the journey, make no mistake, and I understand why they ended it the way that they did, but I just expected more given the gravity of everything that brought us to that point and what was at stake now that all the cards were on the table.

As already stated, what Deus Ex Human Revolution does well it does really well. If you enjoy games that do stealth well and if you enjoy a good story then I highly recommend Deus Ex: Human Revolution. In my mind it stands head and shoulders above other 2011 titles.