Character (Not Quite) Creation Reviews: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

So I got Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and it is absolutely brilliant. It is pretty amazing how free you feel in this game (with one notable exception that I'll get to later). Almost every situation (after the introduction) has multiple ways of resolving it, and even beyond choosing stealth or open combat, you have multiple routes to choose from, different devices you could trigger, tools to use against your enemies, and a wide array of weapons. The game is nicely built so that not only do you have these choices but they all feel valid. You never feel punished for playing combat-oriented, or for playing stealthy, or for being a hacker. Even the sidequests have multiple paths and varying ways of accomplishing the objectives.

In a way, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is one of the purest "creative" game experiences I've had. It goes beyond simply letting you choose character abilities, and lets you play the game in precisely your style. Yes, the Elder Scrolls series (which I adore) also does that to some extent, but there's a grace and ease of adaptation in the implementation of the idea in Deus Ex: Human Revolution that the Elder Scrolls series somewhat lacks. On some level this is easy to understand: Deus Ex:HR is stage-based with smaller open segments between the levels, and the Elder Scrolls games are entirely open, so there's only so much the latter could do to ensure that all options feel "natural." But at the same time...I very much hope that any game that intends to let players decide on various play styles takes a good long look at how this game does it, because there are lessons to be learned. As just one example, one sidequest requires you to get into a back alley that is blocked on one side by electricity-charged water and the other by a high fence. If you have the defense mod that shields you from electricity you can just walk through. If you have the high jump ability you can just hop the fence. If you have super strength you can stack up some dumpsters and then hop the fence. None of those? You can ask around or explore a bit and you'll find some sewers that you can go through to come out in the alley. Sometimes there are better and worse choices in the game, but almost all the time, every option feels valid.

If you go combat-oriented, you're going to feel more like you're playing the Rainbow Six: Vegas series than other first/third-person shooters. Your character, Adam, cannot take a lot of damage at one time even with upgraded armor, so if you're getting shot you want to find cover fast. That said, once you understand that this is still strongly a cover-based shooter and that you can be taken down pretty quickly if you make mistakes, you will still feel very powerful. The controls are great, with some especially excellent implementation of cover and the ability to jump quickly cover-to-cover and also "stick to" cover as you round corners. For a more stealth-based approach, you have some great options and the game is very clear about what will be noisy and what won't (the cover-to-cover system comes in very handy there as well). You have some tools that can aid your stealth, but if you're careful and patient you honestly may not even need them (though the ability to look through walls is very handy). Hacking, as well, is well implemented, with a fun but challenging little minigame where deciding the right approach is very important. The main thing in all approaches, actually, is to be sure to carefully inspect the situation before you make your move...if you do that, you'll find just enough challenge without it becoming overwhelming. If you rush in, you'll probably just die. This is not a game for moving quickly--it is a game for investigating your options and picking the one that will work best.

The only major area of complaint is really in the bosses (and this isn't nearly as bad as some other reviews have made it out to be). The bosses do force you into combat, and you don't have many choices in how to deal with them other than what weapons to use and where to run for cover. They are tough, but not overwhelming, and honestly they're decent enough as boss fights go (and thankfully the game autosaves before you enter a boss fight's room, so you can't get yourself trapped if you go in with poor equipment). No matter which build you picked, Adam is an ex-SWAT officer, so it isn't as though the game is asking you to believe that a random computer programmer can take on combat specialists...Adam is a skilled fighter and even if you haven't boosted his combat capabilities, you'll be able to take on the bosses. That said, in a game that prides itself on giving you so much choice, it is jarring to have that stripped away. It would be nice to see pure stealth and pure hacking approaches to boss fights, or ways to avoid them entirely.

Aside from those, there are two more minor complaints. The inventory system is a bit fiddly (though you can have the game auto-manage it for you), as it uses a grid-based system where different items take up different numbers of grid spaces and have different shapes. This system type works well enough and ensures that you can't carry too much stuff, but it's always a little awkward. The other issue is the energy meter: some of your powers require energy to be used, and it can be difficult to keep the meter charged. You have an automatic recharger, but it only works for the first space...further energy slots are not recharged unless you only drained them partially. This wouldn't be an issue if the food you could use to recharge were more common, but as it is, it makes energy more of a precious commodity (if you're interested in the energy-draining augmentations) than it really should be.

 Now, on to character creation. For appearance...you get nothing. Adam Jensen will look like the developers want and there's nothing you can do about it. The appearance they picked is pretty nice, at least, but after Mass Effect managed the combination of customizable appearance and set character so well, it's a little odd that Deus Ex:HR doesn't do it (even the original Deus Ex at least let you pick from 4 or 5 different skin tone and eye/hair color combos). Part of this is due to the use of prerendered cutscenes, I'm sure. Deus Ex:HR allows you a lot of choices, but appearance isn't one of them, and that is a mark against the game.

For abilities...well, for abilities you have a very good selection. You can honestly craft your character to be a combat specialist, a stealth specialist, a hacker, or a blend of all three, and unlike a lot of games that do that, you never really feel like you have to make a blend. Customization comes in two main forms: weapon choices, and augmentation choices. Your augmentations have the largest effect on the gameplay, as you can choose to give yourself both passive and triggered powers that aid you in various forms. You might choose to see through walls, or perhaps jump from high places without any damage, or lift and throw heavy objects. Maybe you'll give yourself extra energy, or maybe you'll install an internal weapon that fires out explosives around you. Want to hack? Well, you could make yourself better able to fortify against the system's attacks, or perhaps make yourself less detectable by the system. Every build has a variety of choices, and thankfully, you don't have to go looking about for upgrade kits with the aug you want--you just pick from a menu (the game's explanation is that the augs were all installed, but they weren't sure if Adam could handle the stress of all of them at once, so they left most of them turned off until he was ready...which is actually a pretty decent explanation for things). For weapons, you also have a pretty good variety, and unless you've been focusing on upgrading your storage space you won't be able to just take all the gun types. There are lethal and nonlethal guns in various styles: stungun, tranquilizer rifle, sniper rifle, semi-automatic pistol, revolver (yay!), shotgun, combat rifle, machine pistol, and so on. You can even upgrade the guns with upgrade kits you can purchase around the world, which lets you change them subtly to better fit your style (for instance, you can add silencers, extended clips, laser sights, and so on). You will want to have more than one gun, most likely, if you take the combat path, as it is pretty easy to run low on ammo if you're only carrying one type since enemies use a variety of weapons. Pick two, maybe three, that you like best and keep those.

The best compliment, overall, that I can give to Deus Ex: Human Revolution is that it feels like Deus Ex. The game seems like a perfectly natural extension of the gameplay style in the original. It incorporates what it wants to from today's games, improves where necessary, and keeps what worked. It very much feels like the same world, and gives the same freedom to choose your path. This is one of the few games that just plain understands how to give players a choice and make those choices worth pursuing...and unlike many other games that try for a blend of different gameplay styles, it manages to make all the styles work well. With this same system, you could actually have a stealth game, an action game, and a tactical hacking game very easily. Despite its lack of appearance customization, I love and adore this game and I very much hope to see much, much more from the team that made it. (I would love to see what these guys could do by taking this overall system and making a co-op game. Considering how well it handles different styles I could see that being very, very good.)