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When I first got my hands on Deus Ex: Human Revolution, I split my time pretty evenly between playing the game and madly typing up some first impressions. Now that I've knocked my head against this thing a lot more, it's time for a proper review. Let's get to it.
In any given moment of gameplay, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is four or five games in one. Practically every in-game situation allows you to choose the specific facet of DX:HR with which you want to engage. DX:HR extends a tremendous amount of trust to the player in this respect--there's absolutely zero handholding. Though it anticipates your possible choices, it allows you the full breadth of your vocabulary each time it introduces a challenge. The great thing about DX is that it presents challenges first. I feel like a lot of other games present the solution (e.g. kill this dude to get to the next level) and rely on the player's skill level, or lack thereof, to provide the challenge. Central to the DX:HR experience is a more esoteric assessment of challenge and achievement: It's much more apt to say, "get past this dude," or "get into this room," or even "figure out what the hell's going on," than "kill this dude." Notably, the bosses I encountered didn't come with health bars--which led to one spectacularly close call toward the end of the game's first act.
Part of this is due to DX's clever adoption of modern design trends that have been further refined in the years since the original Deus Ex. Most important is the game's careful use of the "sandbox" or "open world" structure--urban settings serve as hub worlds from which separate missions can be launched. Hitting the streets of a Chinese techno-metropolis in search of a fleeting lead is an extremely liberating and empowering experience. Where do you go first? Who can you trust to provide you with the critical intel? You're not going to get a neon sign or a glowing light trail pointing you unerringly toward the right choice. You're not going to simply fast travel to the quest location, cap some baddies and have done with it. Instead, you've got to act on your intuition and the information at your disposal. That's true of both the mechanics and the story, which unfolds with a classic, serpentine Deus Ex sensibility.
Tellingly, many of DX:HR's augmentations increase the player's access to information, rather than upgrading game statistics like accuracy, damage, and hit points. The best augments expand capacity, not ability; you find yourself making better-informed choices, rather than simply insisting on the same old moves with augmented force. Even upgrades with a more immediately useful application--cloaking, say--subtly transform the ground between you and your target into (for example) a frantic relay race of energy recharges and takedowns. The enduring appeal of Deus Ex: Human Revolution isn't that it lets you play the character you want to play--plenty of games, and roleplaying games especially, already allow for that. The key to DX's success is that it allows you to play the game you want to play.
My prior thoughts still stand, so let me reiterate:
Love Deus Ex, and it will love you right back. 9/10.
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