So, since I've started playing this game, I've already managed to put an impressive 20+ hours into it, and I am still not at the end of the game yet. Now, if Achievements are any indication, odds are I'll likely be seeing that end within the next 5-10 hours of gameplay. With that having been said, let's just go right into this thing.
Having been a huge fan of the original Deus Ex, I've been using that as my meter stick of comparison, and for those of us who have played it, the number of parallels are astonishing - both protagonists have a similar detached attitude, both have similar character designs including shades, and both work for a powerful organization in which they both have offices that can be maintained. In fact, one could even go so far as to suggest that Human Revolution may be nothing more than a simple reskin of the original game - lord knows they probably wouldn't be that far off the truth. But there are some things that seem to strike me as strange, and I guess I'll start to address that now.
I'm one of those guys who loves to explore the game, and this is one of those gems that really tries to reward you for doing it, both in the form of usually giving you something to find but also giving you EXP every time you find or do something. But if there's one thing that aggravates me so far, it's the cities. On the one hand, looking at the map the cities feel rather small - everything is so crammed together, it's difficult to get a good bead on much of anything. On the other hand, though, it's still possible to get lost in these places - god knows I've run around in circles in Detroit for an hour trying to figure out where I was making a wrong turn, or mistakenly walking past where I wanted to be, or hell, even forgetting where that stupid manhole cover I wanted to jump down was.
But much like the original, these places feel *alive*, and that is one thing I think Human Revolution has gotten really right. The thing that struck me as soon as the game started was the amount of *stuff* that's everywhere. No, it doesn't do anything, but it really helps to set the mood to make you feel like "holy crap, this is a place where people eat/work/live". It's not pristine niceness that we see so often in games, and it's not the assorted 'random clutter' that we see in Fallout - all of it has a purpose and makes sense for the areas in which they reside. The laboratories look fantastic, and walking through them was a real treat.
The level design in this game is absolutely outstanding as well. Though I feel that because some of these areas may not be large enough there aren't enough options, I still find myself looking around and realizing "huh, there was another way to do this? Neat." Options are always abound, and this is not a game with a single 'right' path - it's a game that says "here is your goal, and here's everything between, put it together yourself."
Implants are rather well done too, though I must say I am rather disappointed in their execution. Praxis points are required to upgrade your Implants, which I'm okay with, but when you start out there are only a select few abilities that are available to you, and you must prioritize which are the most important upgrades. Add in that while XP is not hard to come by, but the large amounts you need to quickly obtain the next Praxis is, you've got yourself an aggravating early game - because there's sometimes no way to really achieve your goal until you've unlocked that one augment that lets you do what you need.
The other disappointment stems from the fact that only a couple of them really feel necessary - the rest, while neat and certainly useful in their own right, aren't really needed. I feel that I can take on the rest of the game as I am now, without needing to upgrade further - and I'd probably wind up with about 8-10 Praxis I hadn't spent, if not more. The only augment I've found important to max out is the Hacking Stealth implant - otherwise, Hacking anything becomes a tedious nightmare.
Which brings me to my next complaint - the Hacking system is rather obtuse at first, and while they pretty much explained everything you need to know, it doesn't really tell you all the rules around it - like not being limited to interacting with a single node at a time - for example, you can be hacking three nodes and working on fortifying five all at the same time, with no real penalty - the only limitation is how quickly you can click the right options.
Then there's the character models. I love the character modeling, don't get me wrong. It's absolutely amazing. The animation, however, is a little jarring at times - some characters just flat out will *not* stop moving their damned heads or keep waving their arms in the exact same pattern for minutes on end while they are talking with you. Once in awhile, I can see this just being a character quirk for an individual or two. But with several key named NPCs? That's just aggravating, and I really wish they had paid a little more attention to that, considering that you are looking at those characters for practically the entire conversation.
The social mod only seems to come in handy in a few instances so far, which is a little disappointing, but considering how few named NPCs there are in the game, I suppose it is hardly surprising. What is surprising, however, is that there are no more ATMs in the world! I remember back in the days of Deus Ex that a great way to get money in a pinch was to hack an ATM machine, and hope nobody caught you. Which actually brings me to my next gripe...
Nobody in the world seems to give a shit. Say what you will about the economy, but you would think that someone would be a little bit angry if you broke into their home, stole all their beer, and took all the money that was sitting right beside them. You'd think, wouldn't you? But no, literally you can be hacking terminals right in front of people, and unless you are hostile to them, they won't care at all. Including the police.
Not to mention that failing a hack (unless you're in a secure facility) no longer causes alarms to go off. I remember going to Shanghai in the original, and those guys would be on you like white on rice if you so much as looked like you were going to hack something.
So to wrap all of this up: Overall I am very pleased with Human Revolution. They've done a number of amazing things, and managed to pretty much recreate the atmosphere of the original, while even adding a 'side quest' distraction to help flesh out some extra gameplay. Unfortunately, this extra gameplay only extends a little bit, and there's only something around 8 total side quests to do - which makes things a little boring when you realize there isn't that much to do in the city aside from find things and punch thugs in the face.
I'm pleased with it, and looking forward to at least trying one more playthrough, possibly where I shoot people in the face as opposed to all of this not killing anyone thing. The game itself doesn't clearly explain all of the rules when you first start playing - but with a little experimentation, and several retries from doing the wrong thing, you find out what the limitations of the game are, and how to pretty much abuse the ever living crap out of the game to reach your objectives. This is not a complaint, however, but I feel it helps add to the atmosphere and central theme of the game itself, which is one of taking advantage of a situation.
If you liked the original, go play this. Or at least rent it. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the end product - I know I am.
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