Deus Ex: Human Revolution Hands-On Preview

[SyphonX]

Well said, someone present this person with a medal.

If it's even anywhere close to the original is a definite buy, and definite awesome.

I also accept cash prizes, and copies of the Deus Ex Augmented Edition, if you are so able. Thank you.

 

[Moeez]

After our time with the demo was over, everyone at the event gathered around to compare notes - what we had tried, what'd we'd found, what had worked, what hadn't, what quests we'd unearthed, and what secrets we thought we knew.

Does that mean other gaming journalists, or sharing notes with the developers? Is that a usual thing to do in preview events?

In this case, both. And it's certainly not unusual to share impressions with each other, but this was a little bit different. We weren't discussing the game as professionals, we were doing it as players, if that makes any sense to you.

If the developers are allowing talks about certain things with you journalists, that must mean the game isn't gold and they still have time to fix stuff?

 

[Susan Arendt]

After our time with the demo was over, everyone at the event gathered around to compare notes - what we had tried, what'd we'd found, what had worked, what hadn't, what quests we'd unearthed, and what secrets we thought we knew.

Does that mean other gaming journalists, or sharing notes with the developers? Is that a usual thing to do in preview events?

In this case, both. And it's certainly not unusual to share impressions with each other, but this was a little bit different. We weren't discussing the game as professionals, we were doing it as players, if that makes any sense to you.

If the developers are allowing talks about certain things with you journalists, that must mean the game isn't gold and they still have time to fix stuff?

Oh, yeah, we're still quite a ways out from release, so there's plenty of time to fix and tweak.

 

[Moeez]

After our time with the demo was over, everyone at the event gathered around to compare notes - what we had tried, what'd we'd found, what had worked, what hadn't, what quests we'd unearthed, and what secrets we thought we knew.

Does that mean other gaming journalists, or sharing notes with the developers? Is that a usual thing to do in preview events?

In this case, both. And it's certainly not unusual to share impressions with each other, but this was a little bit different. We weren't discussing the game as professionals, we were doing it as players, if that makes any sense to you.

If the developers are allowing talks about certain things with you journalists, that must mean the game isn't gold and they still have time to fix stuff?

Oh, yeah, we're still quite a ways out from release, so there's plenty of time to fix and tweak.

Any word or estimate on a release date? May-August, since that's Q2?

 

[StriderShinryu]

Here you're running on tracks especially if you don't run-and-gun around.

Bear in mind that this is pretty much the beginning of the game. It's possible that once you get beyond this tutorial like phase things will open up more.

 

[ramboondiea]

iv seen and heard quite a bit about this game, and from what you said it does sound pretty interested.
however iv never played any of the others, so i know nothing about the mythos of the series so i dont know if id give it a go or not, i may make a decision after more info comes out,
i really liked your balance approach to the description tho

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - this game reminds me of the Ghost in the Shell movies. And that's a good thing. The atmosphere looks amazing. I love dystopian, cyberpunk futures.

 

[rapidoud]

I'm very pleased that I haven't seen any cries of "consolisation, dumbing down rant rant rant" in this thread unlike some of the other ones I have seen for this. Get over it, Deus Ex wasn't all that great and this WILL be better in every way.

Oh the maps are smaller boohoo, yeah well Deus Ex had very empty maps with like 2-3 things to do besides the objectives. If I wanted large maps with nothing to do I'd go play Crysis kthx.
Oh takedowns make me want to /wrists. Maybe you shouldn't cry about optionals features then, methinks.
Oh Deus Ex was good as it had skills and augs and you found aug canisters. Suck it up princess this system is more streamlined and the augs in this are lightyears ahead and better in every way.
Oh the game was about choices choices choices you can go anywhere! Please relook at the maps sometime, there is like 2-3 doors to the same location and all you can do is brute force/stealth the majority of the game whilst this has social as well and has 2-3 ways in as well.

Although this game isn't as hyped up as I'd like it to be but I guess SE are being cautious after how unpleasable the elitist idiots are being.

 

[duchaked]

I gotta say I'm pretty impressed and interested. Okay so not having played the first one might make this a fresher newer experience but still...

Looking back, the Mass Effect convos weren't as robust as I initially expected. This game could make it interesting...but I've learned to only play these committing games over break or summer.

 

[Irriduccibilli]

I'm glad to hear that the game may be really promising. I feared that the game was going to be a flop, but this proves it wrong... at least for the first few hours.

 

[Jams]

Snip...

I think that's the first time I've ever seen someone rant because they are 'pleased' that nobody has posted a rant they disagree with.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

[image src="http://www.jdray.net/photos2/var/albums/lolcat/skeptical_cat.jpg?m=1283375646"]

The original Deus Ex rocked so hard it burned me out of video games for months afterward.

I played it easily 10 hours a day for a month.

I'm not holding my breath that a modern game can have those kinds of sensibilities, and I'm really skeptical that any game can be played on both the PC and console with the same interface.

 

[erfour]

My biggest complaint is the lack of stealth. And with this I don't refer to this "pseudo"-stealth system where everything is preprogrammed (you can stealth-kill/knockout only HERE). What made Deus-Ex 1 great is the freedom you had. Here you're running on tracks especially if you don't run-and-gun around. That said there is a chance they fix it until the release but I'm still burned from DX:IW so I won't hold my breath. So far TNM is the real Deus-Ex 3 for me. Only reason I see right now to get DX3 is if the modding is up on par. This way the game is most probably crap but high class mods can save it (and mods are nowadays usually more interesting than the original game).

I couldn't bear the fear of this being the blow that would kill the franchise forever. I loved it too much, so I did some "first hand investigation" before pre-ordering the game. Guess what? Stealth works exactly as in DX1. The only context-dependant thing are takedowns; they depend on the enemy's awareness of the player and their position (obviously).

The rest of the stuff is good old Deus Ex. Crawling behind stuff, under stuff, above stuff, anxiously approaching an enemy from their back while crouching, dropping from a crate a few meters behind the enemy with the crouch key firmly pressed, hoping they won't hear you, managing to sneak past a camera just in time before the cloak aug runs out of juice, tricking them into my conveniently placed mines... It felt exactly like like Deus Ex, with more polished AI. In fact I ended up using the same engagement tactics I have perfected in DX1 over the years, without even realising. I loved it.

There is an added thing. Here you can jump from cover to cover in certain situations just by tapping a key. But this isn't, strictly speaking, "stealth", as the enemies will hear you as expected in each case. More of a standard cover thing. You can perfectly play without doing this at all, if you don't like it. Very convenient to move fast and avoid being seen when they are far though.

I could go on about the life-like atmosphere, hints to a crazy deep plot (I didn't want to spoil it, so I didn't play much further once I was convinced), the ridiculously detailed NPC chatter also present in the original, etc. You get the idea.

Seriously, they did an amazing job with this game. At some point they stated they were playing the original thoroughly so they could deliver a true Deus Ex experience. For some reason I can't actually believe it, but they did it. Forget Invisible Wars, THIS is Deus Ex.

Oh, and the music... They nailed it.

 

[erfour]

EDIT: Somehow I managed to double-post. My bad.

 

[Odjin]

EDIT: Quote button failed to work... again <.=.<

 

[Odjin]

My biggest complaint is the lack of stealth. And with this I don't refer to this "pseudo"-stealth system where everything is preprogrammed (you can stealth-kill/knockout only HERE). What made Deus-Ex 1 great is the freedom you had. Here you're running on tracks especially if you don't run-and-gun around. That said there is a chance they fix it until the release but I'm still burned from DX:IW so I won't hold my breath. So far TNM is the real Deus-Ex 3 for me. Only reason I see right now to get DX3 is if the modding is up on par. This way the game is most probably crap but high class mods can save it (and mods are nowadays usually more interesting than the original game).

I couldn't bear the fear of this being the blow that would kill the franchise forever. I loved it too much, so I did some "first hand investigation" before pre-ordering the game. Guess what? Stealth works exactly as in DX1. The only context-dependant thing are takedowns; they depend on the enemy's awareness of the player and their position (obviously).

The rest of the stuff is good old Deus Ex. Crawling behind stuff, under stuff, above stuff, anxiously approaching an enemy from their back while crouching, dropping from a crate a few meters behind the enemy with the crouch key firmly pressed, hoping they won't hear you, managing to sneak past a camera just in time before the cloak aug runs out of juice, tricking them into my conveniently placed mines... It felt exactly like like Deus Ex, with more polished AI. In fact I ended up using the same engagement tactics I have perfected in DX1 over the years, without even realising. I loved it.

There is an added thing. Here you can jump from cover to cover in certain situations just by tapping a key. But this isn't, strictly speaking, "stealth", as the enemies will hear you as expected in each case. More of a standard cover thing. You can perfectly play without doing this at all, if you don't like it. Very convenient to move fast and avoid being seen when they are far though.

I could go on about the life-like atmosphere, hints to a crazy deep plot (I didn't want to spoil it, so I didn't play much further once I was convinced), the ridiculously detailed NPC chatter also present in the original, etc. You get the idea.

Seriously, they did an amazing job with this game. At some point they stated they were playing the original thoroughly so they could deliver a true Deus Ex experience. For some reason I can't actually believe it, but they did it. Forget Invisible Wars, THIS is Deus Ex.

Oh, and the music... They nailed it.

Don't know what DX:HR or DX you played but the too have not much in common. You have no "tools" you can use in creative ways. You can only do what "limited" crap they came up with for the augs. Wall-kill or auto-take-downs are one of the best examples why DX:HR sucks totally compared to DX. They said they played DX but they totally failed at getting what DX is really about and what made it great. Furthermore they said they "put on blinders to not have to listen to fans". How can such a game be any good? It can't and it isn't as the leak showed already. If you really loved DX for what it is you can't possible like DX:HR as it is miles off target with them trying too hard to retro-fit crap into it to pretend it's deus-ex... which it simply isn't.

 

[erfour]

I admit I was a little hyped-up when I wrote that post. It's true, they've taken a lot of stuff out, and they've added other stuff. So far the only tool I've seen are these "leeches" that fry electronic locks and open them for you. There are not melee weapons either.

Still, I liked most of the new stuff, although I missed melee weapons a lot. In any case it felt like I was playing Deus Ex. In 2011, but Deus Ex.

I think this game has a lot to offer to a Deus Ex fan. In my particular case, I loved the original mostly because of the plot and the atmosphere (gameplay was not its strong point), and I think this one is up to par in that aspect, plus better music and graphics. The "social" aspect is way better than in the original. The mechanics may be a little different, but in my opinion not worse at all, and not different enough as to say they "failed at getting what DX is really about".

If you stop comparing DX to DX:HR as if you could only love one of them, and not both in different ways, you will find it is a great game.

I don't know if this may be your case, but a lot of people (myself included) longed for DX:HR to be a game that would make them feel as DX1 made them feel back then. I was around 15 when I played DX1, and I've come to realise most of the love I feel for it is because it was a first love. There's no love like the first one, but that doesn't mean you have to be alone for the rest of your life.

Sorry if I squeezed some weird grammar in there, I'm not native.