So how is Deus Ex: Human Revolution?

[Ascarus]

I'm curious about buying the game, but it's either this or Red Orchestra 2, so I want to know from the average gamer and not a reviewer how they think of the game. What do you think of it so far?

not too far in but so far i am greatly enjoying it.

two gripes:

1. enemies seem exceedingly adept at seeing you when you leave cover prematurely.
2. the animations used to take down enemies "stealthily", while being very cool, i believe will get tiresome as the game progresses.

 

[Stall]

You actually do get points for completing an objective without being seen. Its called a "Ghost" bonus. Several hundred points (300), I think. There is also "Smooth Operator" for not setting off any alarms.

I know. I did point out the ghost bonus in the post you quoted, after all. You seem to have misunderstood what I was trying to say, and for that I must apologize. I was referring to not getting any XP for letting enemies continue to breath. There's no bonus for the number of enemies who you didn't incapacitate or kill is what I am getting at; so, the game does have a way to force into violence when you can do what you need to do perfectly fine without bothering anyone. It's disappointing really. Why am I penalized for being able to sneak through the entire mission without having to lay a mere hand (or bullet) on anyone?

Basically, it thinks the only show of skill is killing or knocking everyone out... not sneaking by unnoticed with everyone still conscious (or alive). You can kill or knock everyone out in the mission and still get the ghost bonus... you get even more xp if you do that, actually.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

I know. I did point out the ghost bonus in the post you quoted, after all. You seem to have misunderstood what I was trying to say, and for that I must apologize. I was referring to not getting any XP for letting enemies continue to breath. There's no bonus for the number of enemies who you didn't incapacitate or kill is what I am getting at; so, the game does have a way to force into violence when you can do what you need to do perfectly fine without bothering anyone. It's disappointing really. Why am I penalized for being able to sneak through the entire mission without having to lay a mere hand (or bullet) on anyone?

Basically, it thinks the only show of skill is killing or knocking everyone out... not sneaking by unnoticed with everyone still conscious (or alive). You can kill or knock everyone out in the mission and still get the ghost bonus... you get even more xp if you do that, actually.

It really depends on what kind of stealth you like. Arguably, both sides of the spectrum have their pros and cons. Being completely sneaky, never touching an enemy is arguably faster. All you have to do is watch enemy patrols and move when they aren't looking. Simple. Heck, the game has routes that let you do completely safe stealth runs by going through vents and such. There is little to no risk unless you intend to stealth straight through a pile of enemies. The game is also keen on giving traveler bonuses to people who seek out alternate routes for stealth purposes. Plus, there are plenty of augment options that make exploration and sneaking easier, while few that actually improve the part where you take down the baddies.

Taking them all out, on the other hand, is slower. More methodical. You can't just pop them and be on your way, you have to also hide the body, make sure there are no witnesses, etc. You have to do it all fairly quickly, as enemies don't stop patrolling while you do it. If they find the body, you'll get an alarm and they'll wake the guy up if it was non-lethal. You also have to deal with limited ammo and energy, and the fact that thanks to armor and sound its VERY easy to screw up a takedown and get spotted.

Its all a matter of preference, both have up and downsides and places where its better to use one over the other. If you are in a place that getting through unnoticed will be tricky, you'd be better off taking them out as you go so you don't have to deal with them later. On the other hand, a smallish place with a straightforward or timed objective might be better to sneak through, as taking enemies out might take too long and put you at unnecessary risk. Does the game reward taking out enemies? Of course. But it offers BIGGER rewards for exploring and finding a way around them.

 

[MartialArc]

I've been playing it all day, and yeah... it's pretty damn good. Almost every approach to a situation is viable, the story is quite engrossing, characters likable, and the dialogue is quite compelling. The augmentations are all cool, and it becomes quite difficult to decide what you want. Each playthrough seems to be about 14-18 hours each, so there is plenty of fun to be had.

The game certainly has flaws though. As others have said, the mouse controls on the menu can be a little fidgety at times, though this only really becomes frustrating when hacking. Some people have complained about the default controls, but that really isn't a big deal (I think its fine). I have encountered one bug that made an objective to one of the early side missions impossible to complete. Worse of all, however, is that despite the fact that every approach is viable, going in guns blazing is definitely the easiest, and the game does little to discourage such behavior. Worse yet, it has a way of forcing you into combat that really sucks.

Are you playing it on "Give me Deus Ex"? The combat is fairly difficult there, one shotgun blast kills you from full health anyway, but tbh I've only dabbled in actual fighting, I'm going for the pacifist playthrough.

I don't really see the "shoot their faces off" approach being easiest as a problem, its only really the case half the time or so anyway. Sometimes the stealth solution is really easy, like a handy dandy air vent that lets you bypass everyone and its not even well hidden. It kind of gives scaling difficulty that you set on your own, you can just shoot off a bunch of faces or spend an hour ninja'ing the place up. Mr. Sterling did a nice piece on that a few weeks ago.

Honestly my only complaint is that the load times are long, and if your trying to sneak through every encounter like I am sometimes that means lots of loading, and that 45 seconds feels like an eternity if its your fifth time trying to get through a room.

 

[MartialArc]

It's pretty darn focused on being stealthy. That kills a lot of the fun.
When I buy an RPG, I expect to be able to play it my way, but you get significantly more EXP for being stealthy, and your health is so pitiful that stealth is pretty much the entire option.
As scientists have pointed out for years:
Stealth =/= Fun.

What game are you playing? Certainly not Deus Ex, since I haven't noticed getting any rewards for bypassing enemies. You only get xp if you kill or subdue enemies. Are you talking about getting a whole WHOPPING 30 more xp for using a takedown instead of shooting them with a gun? Besides, the guns blazing option is the easiest and quickest in DE:HR anyways. This isn't Serious Sam you know... you can't stand in the middle of a room circle-strafing and expect to live. The few gunfights I have gotten into aren't difficult: you just have to know how to use cover effectively, and keep moving. Seriously man... what game are you playing? I'd really like to know. Or are you talking about the ghost BONUS? Because that's just a... bonus. I really don't think you are playing the same Deus Ex as everyone else...

That's actually another problem I have. I haven't noticed getting a reward for bypassing enemies. Apparently DE thinks that the real show of skill isn't slipping by your foe unnoticed, but having to smack them in the head before you do. It's really disappointing... even Alpha Protocol gave you a little bit of xp for being able to bypass your enemy.

You actually do get points for completing an objective without being seen. Its called a "Ghost" bonus. Several hundred points (300), I think. There is also "Smooth Operator" for not setting off any alarms.

500 points per objective for ghost. If you want to maximize points playing stealthily, non-lethal take-down as many enemies as possible. Stunning/tranq darting/manual takedowns don't ruin your ghost if you don't get spotted.

Its like 20xp to just shoot a guy isn't it? So you'd have to shoot 25 between each objective to make up the ghost points, usually there aren't that many guards so you won't be making up for losing the ghost. So going by unnoticed generally will give a comparable if not more amount of points as shooting them all. If you smack them all on the head without getting seen you get quite a bit of bonus XP for that. It kind of makes sense though doesn't it?

Easiest option >> shoot them in the face >> least points
Medium option >> sneak by them all >> medium points
Hardest option >> knock everyone out without getting spotted >> maximum points

Sometimes there's a lone guard in a hallway or something that's easier to take out than leave be but generally fishing the guys out of the middle of the room one by one is pretty hard. Anyway I hope that doesn't ruin the game for you, because that would be sad.

 

[Weaver]

You actually do get points for completing an objective without being seen. Its called a "Ghost" bonus. Several hundred points (300), I think. There is also "Smooth Operator" for not setting off any alarms.

I know. I did point out the ghost bonus in the post you quoted, after all. You seem to have misunderstood what I was trying to say, and for that I must apologize. I was referring to not getting any XP for letting enemies continue to breath. There's no bonus for the number of enemies who you didn't incapacitate or kill is what I am getting at; so, the game does have a way to force into violence when you can do what you need to do perfectly fine without bothering anyone. It's disappointing really. Why am I penalized for being able to sneak through the entire mission without having to lay a mere hand (or bullet) on anyone?

Basically, it thinks the only show of skill is killing or knocking everyone out... not sneaking by unnoticed with everyone still conscious (or alive). You can kill or knock everyone out in the mission and still get the ghost bonus... you get even more xp if you do that, actually.

I'm kind of with you on this one. In one instance early on I found a "hidden vent" (which happened to be behind the only kind of box you can move) that let me bypass a bunch of enemies. However, I felt like I was just missing out on experience points by not incapacitating them.

Deus Ex 1 did not give you XP for killing enemies, it gave you XP for finding hidden stuff and unique solutions to problems, and it did it for this very reason: you were just assigned to complete your objectives, how you want to do it is up to you. I've decided that I'll do the pacifist run on a later playthrough because if you never plan on killing anyone a lot of the content of the game is now pointless. Why do you need to upgrade guns if you're never going to fire it?

IMO it's just frustrating that the game is entirely about choice, but one choice (stealth, ghost, smooth operator, knock out everyone) is far better than all the other choices, making them not really choices at all. Furthermore, I find it frustrating that knocking out enemies gives more XP than killing them. Yes, knocking them out is the "good guy" thing to do, but this goes against the spirit of Deus Ex in my opinion.

The first game did a fantastic job of not passing judgement on what you chose to do. Whatever happened, happened. It did not reward you more for doing "good things" as opposed to doing "bad things" it just rewarded you for doing "smart things". I feel this is a place where they really dropped the ball.

 

[McNinja]

A bit too stealthy to be called great, but it's pretty good.

You don't have to stealth through the game. You can go around guns blazing, although some places require stealth.

It has some of the smoothest controls ever. Buy this game.

 

[Jazoni89]

Their hasn't been many games this gen that have lived up to the hype, but I can say for certain, that Human Revolution certainly has.

It's a Brilliant game, and a true successor to the original.

 

[k7avenger]

Its a very good game until you hit a boss fight. Seriously, they ruin the game.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Its a very good game until you hit a boss fight. Seriously, they ruin the game.

QFT. My Jensen was built up as an infiltrator (Hacker/Stealth). To that effect, he was mostly armed with the 10mm pistol, a Stun Gun, and the Tranq rifle. Then I hit the first boss.

After that, I carried a grenade launcher, laser rifle, and plasma rifle with me wherever I went despite those three guns taking up almost all of my inventory space by themselves.

 

[k7avenger]

Its a very good game until you hit a boss fight. Seriously, they ruin the game.

QFT. My Jensen was built up as an infiltrator (Hacker/Stealth). To that effect, he was mostly armed with the 10mm pistol, a Stun Gun, and the Tranq rifle. Then I hit the first boss.

After that, I carried a grenade launcher, laser rifle, and plasma rifle with me wherever I went despite those three guns taking up almost all of my inventory space by themselves.

Just wait for the 2nd fight with a super aug. You are not prepared. Oddly enough, the 3rd and last ones aren't too bad compared to the 2nd.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Its a very good game until you hit a boss fight. Seriously, they ruin the game.

QFT. My Jensen was built up as an infiltrator (Hacker/Stealth). To that effect, he was mostly armed with the 10mm pistol, a Stun Gun, and the Tranq rifle. Then I hit the first boss.

After that, I carried a grenade launcher, laser rifle, and plasma rifle with me wherever I went despite those three guns taking up almost all of my inventory space by themselves.

Just wait for the 2nd fight with a super aug. You are not prepared.

I've already beaten the game. But it was interesting how the second boss was able to tank 200+ Heavy Rifle rounds to the face after I dumped a ton of upgrades into it. Especially because the second boss looks very...squishy.

The third boss went down in one EMP grenade and four GL shots though. SO HA.

 

[Morbissus]

Lets just say "This is how you bring a franchise back". I had to force myself to stop playing. Thank you Eidos... mmm... Thief 4...

 

[k7avenger]

Its a very good game until you hit a boss fight. Seriously, they ruin the game.

Really? so far I managed to beat the first boss with two or three shots and a couple of barrels.

Yea, one emp grenade and some shotgun shells got me through the first boss easy enough. But wait till you get to the 2nd boss. She has stealth, if you get up close to her, she blows up killing you, if you shoot at her far away, she'll shoot you dead, if she blows up in the wrong place, you'll be electrocuted, AND she can take more shots than a herd of frat boys. Seriously, its like trying to fight the Terminator with a BB gun.

 

[Kopikatsu]

It's pretty darn focused on being stealthy. That kills a lot of the fun.
When I buy an RPG, I expect to be able to play it my way, but you get significantly more EXP for being stealthy, and your health is so pitiful that stealth is pretty much the entire option.
As scientists have pointed out for years:
Stealth =/= Fun.

What game are you playing? Certainly not Deus Ex, since I haven't noticed getting any rewards for bypassing enemies. You only get xp if you kill or subdue enemies. Are you talking about getting a whole WHOPPING 30 more xp for using a takedown instead of shooting them with a gun? Besides, the guns blazing option is the easiest and quickest in DE:HR anyways. This isn't Serious Sam you know... you can't stand in the middle of a room circle-strafing and expect to live. The few gunfights I have gotten into aren't difficult: you just have to know how to use cover effectively, and keep moving. Seriously man... what game are you playing? I'd really like to know. Or are you talking about the ghost BONUS? Because that's just a... bonus. I really don't think you are playing the same Deus Ex as everyone else...

That's actually another problem I have. I haven't noticed getting a reward for bypassing enemies. Apparently DE thinks that the real show of skill isn't slipping by your foe unnoticed, but having to smack them in the head before you do. It's really disappointing... even Alpha Protocol gave you a little bit of xp for being able to bypass your enemy.

You actually do get points for completing an objective without being seen. Its called a "Ghost" bonus. Several hundred points (300), I think. There is also "Smooth Operator" for not setting off any alarms.

500 points per objective for ghost. If you want to maximize points playing stealthily, non-lethal take-down as many enemies as possible. Stunning/tranq darting/manual takedowns don't ruin your ghost if you don't get spotted.

Its like 20xp to just shoot a guy isn't it? So you'd have to shoot 25 between each objective to make up the ghost points, usually there aren't that many guards so you won't be making up for losing the ghost. So going by unnoticed generally will give a comparable if not more amount of points as shooting them all. If you smack them all on the head without getting seen you get quite a bit of bonus XP for that. It kind of makes sense though doesn't it?

Easiest option >> shoot them in the face >> least points
Medium option >> sneak by them all >> medium points
Hardest option >> knock everyone out without getting spotted >> maximum points

Sometimes there's a lone guard in a hallway or something that's easier to take out than leave be but generally fishing the guys out of the middle of the room one by one is pretty hard. Anyway I hope that doesn't ruin the game for you, because that would be sad.

10xp for 'Man Down'. You get another 10 for getting a headshot. So, only 20xp per kill if you have good aim. Otherwise 10.

Your chart is a bit inaccurate, though. Shooting everyone is actually harder than running around spamming takedowns. (You'll need a few upgrades before you can do that, though.)

I actually ended up with 300-1500ish ammo for each gun just because I never actually used my guns. Just ran up and punched people in the face. There is a flaw with the point system though. There is literally no situation where you should use a lethal takedown instead of a non-lethal one. They're practically the same, but you get more points for non-lethal and it's quieter so you don't have five guards up your ass for doing it.

The only two times in the game when you should use lethal takedowns is if you've already gotten a non-lethal kill on the person and someone woke them up (You only get the points once per person), or on the 'zombies' near the end of the game...but they're the exact same as non-lethal on the zombies anyway.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Its a very good game until you hit a boss fight. Seriously, they ruin the game.

Really? so far I managed to beat the first boss with two or three shots and a couple of barrels.

Yea, one emp grenade and some shotgun shells got me through the first boss easy enough. But wait till you get to the 2nd boss. She has stealth, if you get up close to her, she blows up killing you, if you shoot at her far away, she'll shoot you dead, if she blows up in the wrong place, you'll be electrocuted, AND she can take more shots than a herd of frat boys. Seriously, its like trying to fight the Terminator with a BB gun.

I'll see if I can find a not so lethal way of taking her out then. It would be a pity if the game forces me to change my non lethal stealthy ways just because it's a "boss fight".

They do. It's technically possible to beat the first boss non-lethally (Although he still dies in the cutscene), but the other bosses must be killed. And they have a shitload of health.

Unless you keep one anti-boss gun and NEVER use it for anything other than bosses ('Cause bosses eat up ammo like you can't even believe, and you don't even get that much ammo beforehand), plan on having every boss after the first one destroy you

 

[Radoh]

Well, the negatives I can see are the loading times, and the fact it sort of pigeon holes you into making a hacker character.
Also Jensen's voice is just silly sometimes.

Beyond that it is absolutely fantastic.