New Deus Ex Not "Dumbed Down" for Consoles

[Logan Westbrook]

New Deus Ex Not "Dumbed Down" for Consoles

All gamers want to feel smart, regardless of platform, says Deus Ex: Human Revolution's lead designer Jean-Francois Dugas.

According to Dugas, Human Revolution's multiplatform design hadn't affected the substance of the game, but it had influence how it had been put together.

Dugas said that Eidos Montreal had looked at the first two games, and tried to preserve the essence of the Deus Ex series, while building a title that would appeal to a modern audience. He said that there wasn't as much difference between consoles and PCs as there had been, and that the team hadn't made the game simpler or taken anything out for console gamers.

Dugas said that his team was specifically trying to capture the feeling from the first game where a player could try different things and forge their own way through the game. "Players like to figure things out by themselves and they like to experiment; I think that's kind of timeless. They want to feel smart about their experience ... The first Deus Ex was one of the first games that really brought that type of choice to gamers, and I think that's something that all gamers want."

He did indicate, however, that the team was aware PC gamers and consoles gamers often approached games in a slightly different way, and so had designed the game to accommodate both. "We can have a very deep experience," he said. "But it's important that if you want to just jump in to it, you can jump in to it. It's not about removing complexity or cutting possibilities: it's about the way the complexity is introduced."

Deus Ex: Human Revolution will be released for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in February 2011.

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=263274]


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[Cherry Cola]

Well, now I'm even more exited. Though I'm going to get it for PC anyway, because that's how I played the first game and that's how I'll play this game.

 

[Jonny49]

I still really need to try out the first Dues Ex, it sounds very, very interesting.

 

[GeneticallyModifiedDucks]

Sounds good to me. Besides the PS2 version of the original Deus Ex wasn't all that bad. Let's hope this is fine as well.

 

[Outright Villainy]

As someone new to Deus Ex and pc gaming in general, I looking forward to this more and more. I've been bereft of complex games for too long!

 

[Woodsey]

I feel so sorry for this man. The amount of *****-fitting that goes into them having a regenerative health system and cover-system is beyond ridiculous.

It's 10 years later.

I dare say that the amount of effort put into whining about such things shows how much supposed fans don't seem to understand; if you think the heart of Deus Ex lays within it's health-system you are sorely mistaken. Deus Ex had a regenerative health augment anyway, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I, for one, cannot wait for this.

 

[Sebenko]

Didn't they say something similar about Borderlands? Remember how that turned out?

 

[Woodsey]

Didn't they say something similar about Borderlands? Remember how that turned out?

I'm missing something I think - what does Borderlands have to do with this?

 

[Ewyx]

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[TheComedown]

He did indicate, however, that the team was aware PC gamers and consoles gamers often approached games in a slightly different way, and so had designed the game to accommodate both.

You cannot accommodate both without losing something somewhere for at least one of the platforms. Look at the other crap that gets spewed out when developers are too busy trying to please everyone.

 

[Valkyrie101]

I feel so sorry for this man. The amount of *****-fitting that goes into them having a regenerative health system and cover-system is beyond ridiculous.

It's 10 years later.

I dare say that the amount of effort put into whining about such things shows how much supposed fans don't seem to understand; if you think the heart of Deus Ex lays within it's health-system you are sorely mistaken. Deus Ex had a regenerative health augment anyway, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I, for one, cannot wait for this.

Well said. After all, who wants progress and systems that make the game more enjoyable, when you could stick with a health bar, medikits and run and gun?

 

[Admiral Stukov]

As long as it doesn't turn out like Invisible war.

Don't get me wrong IW was a pretty good on it's own, but it just wasn't Deus Ex.

You cannot accommodate both without losing something somewhere for at least one of the platforms. Look at the other crap that gets spewed out when developers are too busy trying to please everyone.

Quoted for truth.

 

[Lordmarkus]

The question is not that it will be dumbed down for consoles, the question is if the consoles will dumb down the PC since the latter is more likely to be the case.

But, I guess I'll buy it and enjoy anyway. The coversystem looks really neat.

 

[MarsProbe]

This sounds promising. I just hope these efforts not to have the game "dumbed down" will also permit the inclusion of those interesting conversations the past two DX games have also included:



Potential spoiler warnings on that last one for Invisible War, just to be on the safe side.

 

[Zhukov]

This fellow continues to make all the right noises.

But we all know the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

And this is one pudding I definitely intend to eat.

 

[Sebenko]

Didn't they say something similar about Borderlands? Remember how that turned out?

I'm missing something I think - what does Borderlands have to do with this?

They claimed it was "Built from the ground up for PC", and it ended up a lacklustre console port.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

Well said. After all, who wants progress and systems that make the game more enjoyable, when you could stick with a health bar, medikits and run and gun?

Implying regenerating health is inherently superior? The two health systems can change the feel of a game. Regenerating health can quicken the pace of a game, but you also don't get punished for doing something stupid. Some find that kind of play less 'enjoyable.' Traditional health can make you think a little more, be more careful since health is limited.

 

[Skade]

I don't have a problem with regenerative health and all. Picking up healthpacks that magically heal all your wounds is just as unrealistic. I care for a well flowing game.

The problem is that Deus Ex 2 was a game that really showed the ugly side of "multi-platform". The levels were smaller then in the first one, which killed exploration, mostly due to the limitations of the XBOX. The ammo system was dumbed down because the developers did not want to build a sane inventory system that worked with all controls. Controls on the PC were horrible. In almost every way, Deus Ex 1 was the better game. After stressing so much that DX2 would be a great multi title, it can be forgiven to PC gamers that they hated the second one for that.

Beyond the problematic interface and movement, the game had other problems: The physics were way worse then those shown by games built on the same engine. Enemies did a double somersault when shot in the head with a sniper rifle. You could hide bodies by throwing them on a building (without strength mod). The story had thousands of options but none of them were really engaging because you never caught a glimpse on whats going on. Often, the options didn't seem to have the impact they had in the first game (Like people slightly altering the dialoge if you witnessed them torturing others or not). The environments tried to mimic the real world but totally failed, especially compared to the Statue of Liberty-kind of scale in the first game. It all felt like there was a lot of time invested into things that did not make a better game.

Deus Ex 1 had a lot of problematic elements, the combat was mediocre, the texture work was mediocre, animations were limited and it only had a very limited set of models that all wore different textures. But the story was engaging, mind-tickeling and paid attention to all the small details. The locations were great and you could play for long streches without load times. The character system that rewarded you for exploration as much as for combat was great. It rewarded attentiveness ("hey, that body shouldn't be here..."). All that went away in the second one.

So, sorry that i am cautious: if Deus Ex 3 doesn't pull off something truly spectacular, the Deus Ex series will finally be the Matrix Triology of gaming. I will try it, but I do not wait for it.