Zero Punctuation: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

*faceplam*

He. Did. Not. Say. It. Was. A. Bad. Game.
He actually liked it, if you paid attention. He just magnified all of the flaws like he ALWAYS does.
If your not going to buy it because a game like this is your type, thats fine. HOWEVER, if it sounded interesting then buy it, its a great game and you won't find an experience like it on the modern market. Sorry if I seem like a dick, but it is REALLY annoying to see people decide its a bad game because of a yatzhee review. Its his job to critique games and find flaws in them, so you really shouldn't be using his reviews to decide if your going to buy a game or not. Watch the escapist's review on the game if you want to make a decision.

OT: Great review, had me on the floor through most of it xD

I hear you, every time someone says he/she/it won't buy a game for a ZP episode, I feel sorry for the poor soul that cries for freedom of choice inside them. I mean, he's usually right about most things he says, but whatever he says, if someone likes a game, what he says is irrelevant. You don't need ZP to know Kane & Lynch 2 sucks, or SR2 is mindless fun; I understand people who agreed on what he thinks, but submitting your choice to what you think he says is... well, something I might get warned for if I say so, so let's leave it like that.
Hell, I laughed at the Saboteur review, and even when I agreed with all the criticism, I still love that game. Back to Kane & Lynch 2, I didn't liked the 2nd, but I sort of liked the first, enough to go through the full game, which is more than I can say for its sequel.
I also enjoyed Metroid Other M, flaws and everything, it was an ok game for me, not the best of the saga, but not all that bad either, and yet, I enjoyed ZP's episodes of Other M and Top and Bottom 5.

Anyways, I didn't mean to bash everywhere with my rant, my bad...

 

[Vault101]

30 hours is long? Oh right, by today's standards, I guess.

Well, a game kind of wears out after all that time. There's only so much you can do with the mechanics to make them interesting.

Really? I usually sink like 60 or more in a good game.

There aren't many games over the 35-40 hours that I liked until the very end. I don't like short singleplayer either though- Unless there's literally no way for you to develop the gameplay further, 7 hours of singleplayer is pathetic.

7 hours is indeed pathetic.

How long is the original Deus Ex exactly? From what I read about online it's about the Same as DX:HR.

Depends how much of a dick you are and how much you explore.

It better be longer than 7 hours....(plese no spoilers) though I was surprised at how fast people were finishing it

 

[Dr_Steve_Brule]

30 hours is long? Oh right, by today's standards, I guess.

Well, a game kind of wears out after all that time. There's only so much you can do with the mechanics to make them interesting.

Really? I usually sink like 60 or more in a good game.

There aren't many games over the 35-40 hours that I liked until the very end. I don't like short singleplayer either though- Unless there's literally no way for you to develop the gameplay further, 7 hours of singleplayer is pathetic.

7 hours is indeed pathetic.

How long is the original Deus Ex exactly? From what I read about online it's about the Same as DX:HR.

Depends how much of a dick you are and how much you explore.

It better be longer than 7 hours....(plese no spoilers) though I was surprised at how fast people were finishing it

From what i've read on forums so far, people took about 27-35 hours to complete DX:HR on the first playthrough.

 

[Vault101]

30 hours is long? Oh right, by today's standards, I guess.

Well, a game kind of wears out after all that time. There's only so much you can do with the mechanics to make them interesting.

Really? I usually sink like 60 or more in a good game.

There aren't many games over the 35-40 hours that I liked until the very end. I don't like short singleplayer either though- Unless there's literally no way for you to develop the gameplay further, 7 hours of singleplayer is pathetic.

7 hours is indeed pathetic.

How long is the original Deus Ex exactly? From what I read about online it's about the Same as DX:HR.

Depends how much of a dick you are and how much you explore.

It better be longer than 7 hours....(plese no spoilers) though I was surprised at how fast people were finishing it

From what i've read on forums so far, people took about 27-35 hours to complete DX:HR on the first playthrough.

ah well thats acceptible then

I know its not a spoiler per se but its kinda off putting when somone (yahtzee alot of the time) says "the endings shit"

 

[VladG]

The game starts off great, a worthy successor to Deus Ex but gradually it starts falling apart. It's still miles ahead of most games out there, and maybe except Portal 2 it's without a doubt the best game out this year, but it's very clear that the budget was running out long before they intended it to. Frankly the ending was just crap and up untill the very last button phase I was " I'm not worried, the game can't end here, there are still so many loose end to tie up, I'm sure there's plenty left to...oh... It's over. Crap" Even the final choices for the ending seemed McWeaksauce compared to the original game.

As for the bossfights. I. FUCKING. HATED. THE. BOSSFIGHTS. I started playing on the hardest difficulty, and I never found the game particularly challenging, but the fucking boss fights are just fucked up. Period. Exercises in quick-loading frustration. Oh, and if you're going to make the pistol "Ignore armor and dermal plating", have it FUCKING IGNORE ARMOR AND DERMAL PLATING. What are the bosses made of, adamantium??

 

[imperialreign]

From what i've read on forums so far, people took about 27-35 hours to complete DX:HR on the first playthrough.

About right for most players, from what I've seen and from friends I've spoken with on Steam. I personally took about 42 hours - but, I spent a lot of time exploring all the nooks and crannies of the maps, studying patrols to determine best course of action to take, listening to NPC conversations and speaking with NPCs, and all that other good nonsense. I think it'll depend more on someone's play style, and the difficulty they choose.

But, to be fair, towards the end of the game, it does start feeling like a cake-walk due to your augs and weapon upgrades. NPC enemies don't really become too much more difficult, should you decide to go with an assault route; and if stealth is your thing, the augs available make it way too easy for those experienced in stealth tactics (i.e. die-hard fans of Thief, Splinter Cell, etc.).

I can't complain, though - HR is one of the first AAA titles I've actually been really happy with. Sure, it has it's flaws (which, it seems the PC community is being the nit-pickest about); but the attention to detail the devs put in is astounding. Besides, it's not everyday we're gifted with a game that lasts longer than 15 hours . . . let alone 30; and I'm sure people will miss a lot the first time through, offering some decent replayability. I started a second go, and even after my 40+hr experience, I'm running into things I missed the first time through.

 

[Random berk]

I never have, and probably never will.

So, between the last two reviews, the supposed 'best pc game ever' really doesn't sound very appealing to me.'

That said, Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect 1 and 2 didn't really get sparkling reviews from Yahtzee either, so maybe I'm jumping to conclusions.

The point of Zero Punctuation is to create outlandishly negative reviews, but still seat some "what's done right" and "what could be done better" to be constructive about it. So never base your opinion on ONLY Yahtzee.

I never have. As I said, he gave RDR and Mass Effect fairly mediocre reviews, and those are two of my favourite games post- Shadow of the Colossus.I may try out the original Deus Ex at some point, just to give it a fair trial. I do worry about it a bit though, since the last old game that I tried which was supposedly one of the best games ever was Half Life 2, and I was not impressed.

 

[rapidoud]

Ben, did you even play the bloody game? Your reviews of late have been tripe, you just seem to be spouting PC elitist things to keep your fanbase happy, 'ooh this game's consolised these things that are fun for the majority of people are tumours!!!'

 

[jmarquiso]

Man, Yahtzee's even dumber than I thought. Can't believe he would actually go for them bionic augmentations.

He was more implying - "Don't disagree with the people with guns attatched to their arms"

 

[jmarquiso]

Ben, did you even play the bloody game? Your reviews of late have been tripe, you just seem to be spouting PC elitist things to keep your fanbase happy, 'ooh this game's consolised these things that are fun for the majority of people are tumours!!!'

He admitted recently that he prefers not to game on PC due to the low power of his laptop. So there.

 

[jmarquiso]

I never have, and probably never will.

So, between the last two reviews, the supposed 'best pc game ever' really doesn't sound very appealing to me.'

That said, Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect 1 and 2 didn't really get sparkling reviews from Yahtzee either, so maybe I'm jumping to conclusions.

The point of Zero Punctuation is to create outlandishly negative reviews, but still seat some "what's done right" and "what could be done better" to be constructive about it. So never base your opinion on ONLY Yahtzee.

I never have. As I said, he gave RDR and Mass Effect fairly mediocre reviews, and those are two of my favourite games post- Shadow of the Colossus.I may try out the original Deus Ex at some point, just to give it a fair trial. I do worry about it a bit though, since the last old game that I tried which was supposedly one of the best games ever was Half Life 2, and I was not impressed.

The trick with old games is to pay attention to the gameplay. They're usually more difficult as gaming has become more streamlined (hit x to do everything) as time went on. There's a reason the hardest difficulty is "Give me Deus Ex". When I was a kid I would have spent more time with Deus Ex, but I was in college in 1999-2000 when it came out. I enjoyed it immensely, but it was incredibly difficult as I was also overwhelmed with choice in how you handle a level. I much preferred "Thief", as the objectives were clearer.

If you pay attention to Yahtzee's criticism of both RDR and Mass Effect, it was a valid gameplay point. You give the player a lot of creative license in how they play, but in ways that allow them to play inconsistently with the railroaded story. I.e., John Marsden is a badass, but he's busy picking flowers. Or Mass Effect where Shepard will get angry at looters, and then proceeds to loot the same houses. He finds character consistency important, especially player character consistency.

That said, Mass Effect 2 was my favorite game last year. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is tied for my favorite this year, but lets wait until I get to the end. Yahtzee loved games like Infamous and Just Cause 2 because they fit the "Open World" design better, and character was consistent with gameplay. Motivation for Rico Rodriguez in Just Cause 2 is to cause chaos to destablize the region while getting in good as a mercenary for all factions in the game (Fistful of Dollars/Yojimbo style).

In the case of DX:HR, Yahtzee's criticisms are valid, but it's still a really good game. I thought he'd focus on cutscenes and knee-high cover, as he always does, but he gave those a pass. Instead he focused on the boss battles, which is definitely a concern. However, in listening to other reviewers discuss the game, it's interesting that they had varied approaches to the boss battles, but still felt railroaded into locked doors. His other valid criticism is that Boss Battles are final exams - culminations of what you've learned so far. So if you spend all your time sneaking undetected, then by rights you should be able to hide from the boss until you could pull off whatever you need to pull off to deal with them (it should be noted that every boss apparently has an environment kill, which I didn't find myself).

So, while I agree with his review, I definitely like this game a lot, even as a fan of the original.

If you'd try out the original Deus Ex, do. Pick it up on a Gamersgate or Steam sale. It'll be cheap, and worth the attempt to at least TRY it.

 

[Mydnyght]

Yo Yahtzee, I have two fillings in my teeth. Does that make me a cyborg too? (Please say yes!) ^_^

Also, the Crane Game featuring a dead Imp with a robot arm.... Who wouldn't want to play that?

 

[AssassinFisH]

Awesome review! I couldn't agree more, the Endotron was a huge dissapointment after such a great story.

 

[cmdrmonkey]

Yahtzee echoed my sentiments almost exactly. I had a lot of fun with the game, and it was a great homage to the original Deus Ex in many respects; but the boss fights sucked and felt totally out of character compared to the rest of the game, and it was way too short. Something is wrong when I can finish a Deus Ex game in a few nights without even trying. Perhaps it was so short for me because I almost never used stealth. I just never felt like the incentive was there. The AI wasn't that great, and playing it on the PC with mouse control almost felt like cheating it made the combat so easy.

 

[DanHibiki]

One thing that struck me as rather odd is the fact that there's only one side mission arc per level. That's just strange for an RPG.

Also stealing shit is so damn easy, no one cares.

Although I did forget myself and got in to a gun fight after walking in to an apartment and smashing a wall open in front of the tenant. I imagine his rage was equaled by his disbelief.

 

[Daemonate]

To people who missed Yahtzee's point:

No, this isn't a 'mediocre' fucking game. It's an EXCELLENT game, one of the best titles to be made in the last ten years, certainly the best cross-platform game *ever*. Buy it and play it.

But is it as good as the game who shares its name? You know, that game whom many pundits consider to be one of, or in fact THE best game ever made? Well, not quite. But if you expected that, I think gaming in the modern age must be a long tortuous string of bitter disappointments

Apart from that, I agree with pretty most of what Yahtzee said except for a few things:

1) He should have played it on PC. The combat is really quite bit more smooth and fun with a mouse and keyboard. And it looks way prettier (I played it quite a bit on my girlfriend's xbox too to compare).

2) The boss fights should really have had multiple solutions and more characterisation - true. But from a gameplay perspective they were NOT a problem. Playing through 99.9% pacifist route, and taking no combat-related augs of any kind (including even cloak) on "Give me Deus Ex" difficulty...the boss were a complete joke.

Why? Because I never fired my gun in anger except at the boss fights, I was ridiculously well equipped when I encountered them. The first boss I had a stash of EMP grenades, 200 health, 3 rockets and armour piercing souped-up guns to kill him in about 10 seconds with.
The next boss I had about 10 rockets and double that number of grenades and assorted mines. All bosses were a smear on the carpet after a few seconds of combat.

3) No, he's just flat wrong about it being a shooter with RPG elements rather than an RPG shooter hybrid. I remember one small encounter where I had saved 3 augment points. I was showing a friend the different approaches I could take and by taking an augment, reloading and taking another, I showed him five totally different approaches to it- some of which I had never done in my playthrough to that point.

(if you're interested - I was on a rooftop behind a bunch of guards. I first took dermal armour and tried a frontal assault, then too icarus drop with stun and assaulted from the middle, then took reflex booster and after dropping behind them multi-killed them with melee takedown, then took silent fall and landed behind and just ran off unnoticed, then took cloak, landed near them and ran right through them, then took steady aim and sniped them silently with a crossbow from 500 ft and they couldn't even see me, then just took super jump, got up to a vent and avoided them entirely. This is not a 'shooter' in terms of gameplay.)

 

[SodiumAzide]

As Daemonate said, even on the highest difficulty all the bosses are a joke if you are willing to either spend some points (go go RPGshooter) or spend a little time thinking. I watched seven different youtube videos of boss killing strategies and no two had the same method.

All the bosses seem like they need to be killed by plain shooting but that is a misconception. If you are looking for RPG credits you can spend 3 points and all can be killed by 2-3 hits from the heavy typhoon augment, which gives you invulnerability when you use it and staggers them. In addition each of the bosses have a unique way that they can be killed using their behavior and the environment. The first can be killed no bullets by throwing barrels at him DK style. The second can be suckered into blowing up power relays and electrocuting herself. The third can be either killed by a turrnt or even more hilariously can be OHKO'ed when he mantles the walls.

Finally the complaint about the ending is I think misguided. It may be 4 buttons but the entire game has been an extended argument as to which one you are supposed to pick. Everything from the little details about a man who kills himself because of the pain from badly installed chop shop augs to the dangers of neuropozyne addiction to the widening social injustice that human augmentation will exacerbate feeds into the question of "what future are we to take". Furthermore the whole question of comparison with the original is faulty. The last level of DX1 was just as asinine. The only difference was that the buttons are on opposite sides of a pond filled with alligators instead all together in the same place.

I am actually a bit weirded out that for once Yatzee gets an ending that doesn't boil down to mother teresa or baby eating and then complains. I mean I understand that the "endingtron 2000" is a great joke and it would be hard for any humorist to pass up but it is jarring.

DX:HR has far more profound questions to ask and answer than DX1, the art direction (no not the graphics, the coherent aesthetic theme) is far better and the incidental power of it's background events are much greater. Coming from someone who played the original obsessively this game is in every way a worthy sequel and in many ways a superior creation to it's predecessor. There is a loss of breadth that is unavoidable given graphical limitations but there is as much or more depth.

 

[Griffolion]

Totally agree, though I have to say I really did not mind the boss fights. I admired it for kind of the old school challenge that they presented to me, though I can see how a stealth playthrough would be considerably difficult!

A stealth play through is quite easy, even on hard, and I'm not just saying that to sound like an elitist douche, I'm not that good at games. But just keep a stun gun, tranq gun and PEPs for the grunts and have a fully upgraded combat rifle ready for bosses.

By the way Yahtzee, the first boss can be (and is primarily meant to be) killed by throwing gas canisters and explosive barrels at him. Throw gas first, they hurt and blind him, run somewhere, get an explosive barrel, throw at him for massive damage. Lather, rinse, repeat a further two times and you've won.

 

[Extragorey]

I don't think I'll bother with this then. From the review it seems a bit mediocre. All hype, as usual.

Haha, I see what you did there.

Anyway, I totally predicted he'd pick on the boss fights.

 

[blainemono]

Thinks I didn't like about DXHR:

-Non-lethal takedowns - the way they use up your battery and the overly brutal animations. It makes me feel patently stupid to sit for minutes in some supply closet waiting for some goon's friends to look the other way so I can quietly strangle him, only to watch Adam break the poor guy's elbow and punch his face in. What an immersion-breaking showoff you are, Mr. Jensen.

-The wolverine claw thing that only pops out in cutscenes. If I can't use it when I want to, why is it even there?

-The way tranq darts, shocker cells and energy bars are so scarce - even in shops. Is it some kind of Illuminati-induced non-lethal ammo shortage designed to shape the world economy in subtle yet significant ways? Or is it just annoying?

-The boss fights, naturally. Especially the first one - after evading all the guards, cameras and turrets like an awesome ninja that I am I had to watch Jensen being snuck upon by some huge clanking overarmored asshole who wasn't even trying that hard - and then was forced to kill him by throwing explosive barrels at him? FFFFfuuuuuu....

-The way it all turns into some kind of a left4dead parody at the very end. That's where I said, "to hell with that sweet, sweet non-lethal playthrough achievement", and pulled out the heavy machine gun.

-The way Jensen's face looks like the one of a baffled rodent half of the time.

-The 4 buttons for 4 endings - it's even worse than the way you chose the ending in Invisible War.

-The conspiracy thing is just stupid. Well, the whole plot is, I suppose. The more it lets you on, the dumber it gets. Preachy, pompous crap.

It's still a very good game though.