E3 2010: Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Xbox 360) Preview
Posted by Adam Larck on 06.24.2010
First look: Can Deus Ex recapture the glory the game had years ago? Find out inside.
When the first Deus Ex released years ago, I was a fan of its stealth option and customization of characters. However, the sequel never did grab me like the first game did. So, how does the third game in the series seem to be stacking up?
So far, even in the pre-alpha build, the game is looking impressive. The demo we saw started six hours into the game, and showed Adam Jenson going through a city trying to find a cyber-hacker. Like in previous games, citizens react when you point a gun at them, and all non-enemy NPCs will be able to be talked to, with quite a few offering quests.
Also back is the variety of ways to accomplish a goal. During our first section of gameplay shown Jenson tried to get info on the hacker. To do so he tried to persuade a bartender into talking to the boss and, upon failing that, overheard two guards talking about a back way and crawled through the air duct to overhear a conversation.
Along the way, the developer showed off the instant KO feature when behind enemies, and that their bodies can still be dragged away to hide them. The data pads are also back that give various codes that can be used on doors, computers and more.
The second part of the demo we saw dealt more with actually fighting and some of the various augmentations Jenson can have. The strength augmentation will let players lift heavy objects, while stealth augmentations will let the player go invisible to sneak around enemies.
Another thing we were shown off was quite a few takedowns. Players will be able to take down a person lethally, with a knife through the back or going through a wall to snap their neck, or non-lethally, such as a punch that just knocks them out. There are also dual takedowns that will let players take two enemies out in close vicinity at once.
We were told that players can go through the game killing no one except for bosses. However, for players that like the violent approach, guns such as the crossbow and launcher. All the weapons will be able to be upgraded and will get new features when upgraded, such as a heat seeking rocket for the launchers.
The game is coming along nicely, and looks to bring the game back to the great time that the original Deus Ex offered. There were a few minor clipping issues I saw with guns going a bit through the floor, but there's still plenty of time to fix these problems before the game's 2011 release. If the team can keep up the great job seen in the game so far, look for this to be one of the standout titles next year.
