Dorne Fiction’s Video Game Reviews: Deus Ex: Human Revolution First Impressions

Today marked the release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the latest science fiction styled video game in the Deus Ex franchise of games. The original Deus Ex is oft considered one of the best video games made  since games started becoming a larger scale industry. It was marked by open ended game play, excellent story telling, and the innovative addition of freedom of choice within the game storyline. So how does the latest installment of Deus Ex, from Eidos Montreal and Square Enix stack up in today’s competitive and critical games market?

Story:

In the near future human evolution has turned towards augmenting the human body through science, and human and machine integration has begun. The world is in chaos with people taking sides before and against this controversial topic of body modification. You are Adam Jensen, the head of security for Serif Industries, the bio-tech company spear heading this new phase of human evolution, and soon your company comes under attack, critically injuring you in the process. Six months later you are back, heavily augmented and set on the trail to find those responsible for nearly killing you, and murdering the woman you love. A vast web of intrigue and conspiracy awaits as you seek out those who did this.

Graphics:

So far, as I am only a few hours in, the game is pretty solid. Graphics are quite good within the game play, characters and environments look well detailed and unique. The whole style of the game falls within a neo-noir color scheme over a near future-dystopian backdrop. Everything looks crisp and appropriately dirty or futuristic and goes a long way towards making you feel a part of the environment.

Graphical cons: the only real negative with the graphics are the cut scenes which lose their crisp edge and fall into a somewhat blunted or muted look, almost like a camera lens with Vaseline smeared on it. Other than that the look is excellent.

Game play:

Smooth and easy to use in nearly all aspects, the game play feels naturally suited to the game. Menus, inventory, augmentation upgrades and so on are all easy to use and access. Dialogue uses a straight forward option selection system with good options for different avenues of speech. Combat is a cover based system and while different from traditional shooters in some ways, is easy to pick up and work through efficiently.

Game play Cons: There are some annoying errors that you must deal with depending on your gaming style. Mine personally leans towards stealth options and some issues crop up (such as transitioning from crouched against a wall to engaging in hand to hand combat) that can make the experience occasionally frustrating.

Audio:

Sound is mostly good with a subtle soundtrack playing in the back and mostly solid and appropriate voice work

First Impression:

Aside from the obvious issues that have come up so far the game is pretty cool. Characters, environment, game play and the like are all top notch. I’m hooked. In fact I would like to be playing right now instead of writing this. The world is complete and believable and thoroughly fascinating and I can’t wait to see more. Keep in mind that this is only my first impression and there is much more left to come, but so far I’m into it.

Final verdict coming soon!

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