Deus Ex: Human Revolution Designer Talks Invisible War

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Deus Ex: Human Revolution Designer Talks Invisible War


The lead designer of Deus Ex: Human Revolution [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=%22deus+ex%3A+human+revolution%22&x=0&y=0] says the previous game in the series, Invisible War, was "fun to play" but "too futuristic" to resonate like the original.

There's a well-known Deus Ex demotivational poster [http://www.myconfinedspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/duex-ex-mention.jpg] that's been around for awhile featuring a panoramic nighttime view of the New York City skyline and, in the foreground, the game's most iconic image: The decapitated Statue of Liberty. Underneath lies the words, "Deus Ex: Every time you mention it, someone will reinstall it." It's amusing, in part because it's also not really an exaggeration. In spite of its many flaws, once it's sunk its claws into a gamer, it never entirely lets go.

That's not really the case for the follow-up, Deus Ex: Human Revolution [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=%22deus+ex%3A+invisible+war%22&x=0&y=0], isn't oblivious to its shortcomings.

Invisible War had a "good level of multi-path, multi-solution, and was actually fun to play", he said in an interview with PC Gamer [http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/13/new-deus-ex-designer-criticises-invisible-war/]. "What didn't help was that at the start of the game you don't know who you are, what your background is, or what you're doing in the world. It takes hours before you can make sense of your identity. I think it was maybe too hard to absorb and immerse in that world because it took so many hours."

"It was more futuristic and less grounded in a reality that we can relate to. I'm not talking about universal ammo - that's a whole different debate - it's more about the broader appeal," he continued. "In the first Deus Ex [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_Ex_%28video_game%29] you have an identity already clear in your head. You're a super-soldier, you work for UNATCO, a branch of the UN. It's the near future, and you immediately see the Statue of Liberty with its head on the ground. There's something strong that you can relate to that Invisible War lacked."

And how about that much-debated universal ammo that showed up in Invisible War? "We don't have universal ammo," Dugas said.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is scheduled for release in early 2011 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.


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Jared

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Jul 14, 2009
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That actually hits the pont why I pretty much skipped second one. Really got alot of hope on this though!
 

Xerosch

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Apr 19, 2008
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I played through both games and experienced them as totally different. 'Invisible War' isn't really that bad but vastly inferior to it's predecessor.

It's the same with 'Condemned' and 'Condemned 2': I hold the first one as a prime example of how to make a psychologically frightening game, the second one isn't bad either but got rid of every component the first game used to create a downward spiral into madness.
 

GruntOwner

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Feb 22, 2009
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I suppose I never really noticed the "too futuristic" aspect. I was too fixated with its other flaws. As wonderful as it is to hear that he's learnt from IW's mistake, I'll still not get it until it's in the bargain bin. Some of the things mentioned in a PCG (Or maybe PCZ) article last year made the whole thing seem like they'd lost their connection to reality.
 

mad825

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Mar 28, 2010
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I'm still not convinced that this game is going to be good, until they show that people wont be wearing leotards throughout the damn game, I'm remaining pessimistic
 

Doug

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Apr 23, 2008
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He's...saying...the right...things...No...NOO...NOOOO. I won't be tricked again! No hype for you DE '3' until I see gameplay or a demo!
 

Hiphophippo

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Nov 5, 2009
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Exactly! I've said it for years: Invisible War is by no means a bad game, it's only by association that it becomes subpar.

Every bit of worth playing.
 

Woodsey

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Aug 9, 2009
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Here's the list of games I want to be able to play in their finished state right now:

1. Mafia 2
2. Deus Ex 3

And I haven't even seen any of Deus Ex's gameplay yet.

mad825 said:
I'm still not convinced that this game is going to be good, until they show that people wont be wearing leotards throughout the damn game, I'm remaining pessimistic
Err... What?

There are screenshots out you know - I have no idea what the leotard thing is about though.
 

mad825

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Mar 28, 2010
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Woodsey said:
mad825 said:
I'm still not convinced that this game is going to be good, until they show that people wont be wearing leotards throughout the damn game, I'm remaining pessimistic
Err... What?

There are screenshots out you know - I have no idea what the leotard thing is about though.
yea, I would like to say that every time look at those screen shots this song sticks in mind:
WARNING!!, THIS SONG WILL DAMAGE YOUR TESTOSTERONE LEVELS......and you ears
 

Atmos Duality

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Mar 3, 2010
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Being aware of previous mistakes and correcting them sounds the same on paper, but in practice can be entirely different.

Last time I bought into hype, I purchased a shiny turd. I do not intend to repeat my mistakes.
 

Denamic

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Aug 19, 2009
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Actually reinstalled it last week.
Again. For the nth time.
I actually even bought it on steam again even though I already own a hard copy.
Much easier to just decide to download it and have it ready to play in 10 minutes rather than having to look for the disc.

If you remove the 'Deus Ex' part of Deus Ex: Invisible War and pretend it's unrelated to the original, it's actually a decent game.
If you don't, it's a big pile of steaming... disappointment.

I have big hopes for Human Revolution.
 

DaxStrife

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Nov 29, 2007
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Andy Chalk said:
Invisible War had a "good level of multi-path, multi-solution, and was actually fun to play", he said in an interview with PC Gamer [http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/13/new-deus-ex-designer-criticises-invisible-war/].
Multi-path, multi-solution? BULL! If by "multi" you mean "two:" go in the front and shoot everyone, or sneak in the back and shoot everyone.
All the choices you're supposedly allowed to make are an illusion: you can shoot up everybody in one faction at the start of the game, but you can still join them at the end (though they'll constantly complain at you for not doing the jobs you never agreed to do).
And need I mention it had one of the most painful HUDs ever conceived? Having your stats and inventory curved around the center of the screen gave this pseudo-tunnel-vision feel, and whenever a character messaged you it filled up the center of the screen (which usually happened in the middle of a firefight).

Sorry, but IW was an unforgivable failure of a game. I just pray they've learned their lesson this time around... if they make a crappy Deus Ex 3 set in my town of Detroit, I'll punch anyone from the dev team if I ever meet them.
 

BenzSmoke

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Nov 1, 2009
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The trailer looks good. But I have one complaint: Why is everything brown?

Seriously, why is the city brown? The original games weren't brown.
 

ChromeAlchemist

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Aug 21, 2008
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Oh for...

First, the first one was "too slow" with "not enough memorable moments" and now this one is "too futuristic"? Your first mistake was to speak anything that wasn't praise of the first one. Your second and third? Regenerating health and cover system.

I don't touch this until I see 10s or close to it across the board. IW was trash in comparison to 1 though IMO, it got dumbed down something rotten.
 

thenamelessloser

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Jan 15, 2010
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DaxStrife said:
Andy Chalk said:
Invisible War had a "good level of multi-path, multi-solution, and was actually fun to play", he said in an interview with PC Gamer [http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/13/new-deus-ex-designer-criticises-invisible-war/].
Multi-path, multi-solution? BULL! If by "multi" you mean "two:" go in the front and shoot everyone, or sneak in the back and shoot everyone.
All the choices you're supposedly allowed to make are an illusion: you can shoot up everybody in one faction at the start of the game, but you can still join them at the end (though they'll constantly complain at you for not doing the jobs you never agreed to do).
And need I mention it had one of the most painful HUDs ever conceived? Having your stats and inventory curved around the center of the screen gave this pseudo-tunnel-vision feel, and whenever a character messaged you it filled up the center of the screen (which usually happened in the middle of a firefight).

Sorry, but IW was an unforgivable failure of a game. I just pray they've learned their lesson this time around... if they make a crappy Deus Ex 3 set in my town of Detroit, I'll punch anyone from the dev team if I ever meet them.
What FPS/RPG hybrid does freedom on how you do a level better than Deus Ex:Invisible War besides the first Deus Ex? The Thief games? Bioshocks? Well maybe System Shock 2? (which I unfortunately never played) I mean, seriously, Deus Ex 2 has it long share of flaws but it was still way better than most games that have ever came out.
 

Rigs83

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Feb 10, 2009
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I hated universal ammo in Deus Ex 2 as well as the fact I could shout someone in the head at point blank range and they live and take ten more rounds to drop. I know it's an RPG but as someone who beat Halo on Legendary that just rubbed me wrong.
 

snave

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Nov 10, 2009
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Yeah, the indentity confusion hits the nail on the head. But it wasn't just the futuristic nature. The confusion goes further.

I disliked the ammo not because it was silly but because it was condusing at first. In fact, the whole console dumbed-down interface was just disorienting. You'd be surprised how much more intuitive a more complex UI where everything is labelled with its use-key is vs. the guesswork hungry-hungry-hobo gibberish in games like Deus Ex 2 or Bioshock. With a few basic mods taking the interface back to Deus Ex 1 style, the game would actually be quite playable from the first minute.
 

Dectilon

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Sep 20, 2007
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The only really bad thing I've heard about IW from friends is that the game needed to load too often and for too long.