Deus Ex's story....

[endtherapture]

I just finished DX:HR and generally had a good time despite some annoying gameplay issues.

But the story, it started off so sensationally with the whole conspiracy theory stuff, corporate warfare, pro/anti augmentation politics, and great side quests about Adam's true parentage and origin.

But then in the middle it just devolved into some weird Illuminati/AI stuff. Rescuing Megan was completely anti-climactic and didn't tie up anything at all, I never really found out who the 3 augmented Boss mercs were fighting for, and the whole thing just left me with a somewhat sour taste in my mouth. Also Adam's origin was kinda just dismissed as an afterthought and there was never ever any WOW plot twist/reveal, revelatory moment that I kept going through the game expecting.

Also the choice of endings was...weird.

The story could've potentially been a lot better but gradually just got a lot weaker as the game went on.

What were your thoughts when your played the game?

 

[Nookami]

Play the first game, because it's a lot better.

 

[endtherapture]

The first Deus Ex had a plot that was more sensationalist than good. It involved the Illuminati, the Triads, Area 51 and other such crazy conspiracies. What made it good was the amount of depth invested into the world.

You shouldn't expect Bioshock-level twists out of a Deus Ex plot though.

I was expecting something somewhat Witcher 2 level of plot twist, but it didn't happen.

Bioshock 1 story is somewhat overrated in my opinion.

 

[Genocidicles]

I think it's because a lot of stuff was cut out for some reason.

Watch some of the older trailers. There are so many scenes in them that never happen in the game.

 

[NeutralDrow]

It kinda had to devolve into a weird Illuminati sort of thing, since that's pretty much what the first Deus Ex did (right down to actually having a group called "The Illuminati")...though I admit I played the first game after HR. That may have been a mistake, since that whole issue of control made the motivations of one of the two major villains of HR make more sense.

That said, I enjoyed both, though I liked HR more. The gameplay was more fun, the main character more relatable, the story far easier to get invested in (one of the few games to make me feel guilty almost to the point of nausea), the potential for a pacifist run made me happy (even if I didn't manage, since apparently the prologue mercs count as kills), and I actually really liked the ending. It felt like the game was asking me, "so, now you've seen everything, all sides to this issue. What is your impression?" I'm not used to being engaged like that outside a visual novel, so it actually took me some time to decide.

Probably also helped that the line of reasoning Jensen laid out in my ending monologue matched mine perfectly.

 

[daveman247]

I really enjoyed it. But I agree the overall plot was rather average. I enjoyed the sidequests and sifting through the little stories in the emails and just the general gameplay more. I think the problem is the bosses were never really characterised (even though the prequel book did so a fair amount) and we never got to actually 'see' the issues the game tries to tackle, only told about them. We never really get to see the riots between pure humans and cyborgs for example. Or the "racism" between the two. Or even how augs was helping/ destroying peoples live because of what they could do and what they cost.

 

[The Madman]

It's a shame really, Human Revolution has a brilliant start and did a great job of capturing a lot of the spirit of the original Deus Ex... then it just begins to fall apart around two thirds into the game. Frankly if the rest of the game hadn't been so satisfying I'd have been pretty pissed by the games ending, because next to Mass Effect 3 that games really got to have one of the most silly and anticlimactic endings in recent gaming history.

Still really like the game though, just wish it had managed to keep the same momentum going from beginning to end.

 

[endtherapture]

I just finished DX:HR and generally had a good time despite some annoying gameplay issues.

But the story, it started off so sensationally with the whole conspiracy theory stuff, corporate warfare, pro/anti augmentation politics, and great side quests about Adam's true parentage and origin.

But then in the middle it just devolved into some weird Illuminati/AI stuff. Rescuing Megan was completely anti-climactic and didn't tie up anything at all, I never really found out who the 3 augmented Boss mercs were fighting for, and the whole thing just left me with a somewhat sour taste in my mouth. Also Adam's origin was kinda just dismissed as an afterthought and there was never ever any WOW plot twist/reveal, revelatory moment that I kept going through the game expecting.

Also the choice of endings was...weird.

The story could've potentially been a lot better but gradually just got a lot weaker as the game went on.

What were your thoughts when your played the game?

Did you play the very first Deus Ex? It was all about the illuminati, and AIs.

There is no "wow" because we know how it all ends. We know what happens. Deus Ex is an ended franchise. It had its closure, its done.

That and a lot of stuff was cut from the game.

I just really expected something a lot more revelatory about Adam. I mean he found out his true nature and that he was adopted and might have been bred in a lab...but nothing really came of that, Adam didn't get pissed. Megan used Adam for his DNA and worked for the bad guys but they don't even have a confrontation and there's no finality there or anything.

I sort of suspected the Illuminati would always be involved but it's just a shame Darrows and Zhao's motives were so unclear what role they held and why they were doing the things they were doing.

What I did like was how the game made you feel utterly betrayed because of Megan, and the great relationships with Malik and Pritchard.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well the grand story was about the same as the first DE but I agree that the presentation in HR was all over the place, plot points and wild new theories just sprung out of nowhere, even the protagonist pulled them out of his ass sometimes.
That just isn't how a proper story works, you either make shit relevant to the world or leave it be.

 

[Zhukov]

I thought it was... okay?

It was just so damn dry.

I agree that the whole Illuminati conspiracy business didn't do the game any favours. They kind of crippled themselves by clinging to the ankles of the original. They were clearly scared that if they did anything else people would go nuts.

 

[Radox Redux]

For God's sake. It's amazing that so many people don't get this. *ahem. Reverb voice on* DEUS EX'S STORY IS NEITHER ABOUT AUGMENTATION OR CONSPIRACIES. IT IS ABOUT WHERE THOSE TWO THINGS MEET: THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWER.

In particularly, DX1 is about what happens when one man (Bob Page) using all the technology and authority available to him, is able to centralise it to enact a plan of transcendence, effectively turning him into a god. Everything in the story, from augmentation to conspiracies factors into this. DX3 basically had a pre-emptive version of this story, but Bob is replaced by Zhao and the Aquinus Hub/Nanomachines are replaced with the Hyron Project.

Also: Just because a story involves conspiracies it doesn't mean it 'devolves', just because you personally don't like the idea, especially when they are inseparably woven into the tapestry of the game's story and world. If they ever did a Deus Ex game solely about augmentation or conspiracies, it would be thematically half-assed (which in a series as dependent on philosophies as Deus Ex would be crippling).

 

[endtherapture]

I think your first mistake was expecting DXHR to have a not-shit story to go with its absolute shit gameplay

HR has shit gameplay? Really?

I played that game for its gameplay. I quite liked the story in Detroit. I would've been happy playing Robo PI for the entire game. I didn't like the whole Illuminati bullshit.

The boss battles were arguably shite and the time you're left in a hangar with 2 robots to disable and if you dont have enough ammo/the right hacking augs you are absolutely fucked.

Corporate warfare and espionage > Illuminati bullshit.

 

[Mr Dizazta]

I felt that if Deus Ex: Human Revolution should have been a straight reboot to the series. I mean the previous entry to the series(Invisible War) isn't really well received by most fans. So a straight reboot instead of a prequel could have been a better choice. Also the boss fights were complete and utter bullshit.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

They were clearly scared that if they did anything else people would go nuts.

I'm pretty sure that fear is completely unwarranted. Gamers are well known for their tolerance towards lore changes, especially when it's for the sake of a titles independent quality.

Oh shit, I posted in the wrong universe, discount that.

OT: Deus Ex is Pulp Sci-fi. I love the games, but whoever fed you this idea that it was some sort of amazing narrative experience was most certainly deluded. It's hammy, cheesy and incredibly goofy... but I find it works. The original game wore its goofiness a little more overtly though, which is probably why there is such a disconnect with HR which plays it straight (and woefully deadpan).

Still, I'd rank HR as one of my most favourite of sequels (prequel, you know what I mean) since I felt it captured the spirit of its iconic predecessor and modernised it in a way that really worked for it (to a degree)... unlike Invisible War.

It's still fun uncovering details of the motivations and influences of the various conspirators especially when one has foreknowledge of the inevitable conclusion.

 

[endtherapture]

I love the games, but whoever fed you this idea that it was some sort of amazing narrative experience was most certainly deluded.

The Guardian: "Story-wise, Human Revolution is unimpeachable"

 

[Ragsnstitches]

I love the games, but whoever fed you this idea that it was some sort of amazing narrative experience was most certainly deluded.

The Guardian: "Story-wise, Human Revolution is unimpeachable"

My point still stands?

Enjoying the story and praising it for being enjoyable, that's fine and a good basis for a review.

But...

Stating that it's "Unimpeachable" is just pure hyperbole. It reeks of someone having an incredibly poor pool of experience to draw that conclusion from. And that word should NEVER be used in review either. It's completely vapid without a standardised, objective metric to make that call on and that simply doesn't exist.

Lesson, I guess, is on you to filter the words that have no real meaning in the context of review. A breakdown of what works and doesn't work, based on opinion more often then not, is a review to take in since its closer to an objective breakdown. Expressions that are clearly pumped up by an emotional attachment shouldn't be taken quite so seriously. It spoils the experience for the reader, since they will go in expecting something similar to that deeply personal reaction the author had, and that just isn't possible (our experiences are our own, it can't be replicated). This is what results in "Hype" having a damaging affect on a person first reception, since they go in expecting one thing but receive something different and that doesn't jive for many.

To be honest, I thought you might have picked it up based on the crap people say on forums or by a friend who doesn't know how to moderate his emotional attachment. The fact that it's a reputable news source is kind of surprising and very disappointing.

 

[endtherapture]

snip

Well I picked the game up cheap in a Steam sale.

All I knew was that Deus Ex was a story based game back in 2000, with a very high score, back when games weren't as story based. HR had a difficulty mode saying "tell me a story", implying the story is a good feature since people might want to make the gameplay easy to experience it, similar to Mass Effect (where the story IS the draw of the seiries. What with the dialogue battles, and reviews praising it's story like that, I came into the game expecting a decent story which I think is a fair assumption.

 

[Thedutchjelle]

I thought it was fairly well done. I'm a big fan of the original Deus Ex, so maybe that helps as I could see all the references and connections between DX and DXHR. All the little snippets of story told in the environment and emails also helped quite a bit.

Darrow's motive? I believe he

Spoiler

didn't want the TY Medical/Illuminati to use the augmentations to control humanity and rather had it all destroyed in the end than allow the Illuminati to succeed

.

If you watch the begin cinematic again after a first playthrough and you remember the scene after the credits, you'll realize that

Spoiler

the whole chain of events was masterminded by Bob Page to get Reed to work on the Gray Death

.

The first Deus Ex had a plot that was more sensationalist than good. It involved the Illuminati, the Triads, Area 51 and other such crazy conspiracies. What made it good was the amount of depth invested into the world.

You shouldn't expect Bioshock-level twists out of a Deus Ex plot though.

I disagree, the first time I played the original Deus Ex I was quite shocked to see UNATCO worked for the MJ12 and that the NSF are the good guys.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

snip

Well I picked the game up cheap in a Steam sale.

All I knew was that Deus Ex was a story based game back in 2000, with a very high score, back when games weren't as story based. HR had a difficulty mode saying "tell me a story", implying the story is a good feature since people might want to make the gameplay easy to experience it, similar to Mass Effect (where the story IS the draw of the seiries. What with the dialogue battles, and reviews praising it's story like that, I came into the game expecting a decent story which I think is a fair assumption.

But, it is a good story, quite unanimously (edit: hyperbole... so easy to write). It's not the pinnacle of storytelling or "unimpeachable" but it IS a good story... It's just your standards that don't match what it offers.

Subjectivity works like that.

 

[5-0]

Let's be honest, the vast majority of games out there have terrible stories. So you have to salute any game which at least attempts to go beyond that. I think DE: HR made a valid attempt and, like many said, succeeded for the first two thirds or so. It certainly stood out for me as one of the best story-based games I played that year. Not a patch on the original though, but considering I class that as one of the greatest games of all time, it would be an impossible standard to reach.