I’m back folks. It’s been a hella long summer with far too much going on and even less time to play games. Sorry it’s been so quiet around these parts lately but that silence is going to end in a hurry.

It’s now been 11 years since the Deus Ex first franchise launched and 4yrs since the last title none of which, have I played for various reason. This game was completely off my radar until about a year ago when new details began to emerge and I immediately took notice. The videos looked sharp and the premise sounded like it could be really fun. Needless to say, I needed to play this game. I picked up the title on a beautiful August day and raced home to play it only to find that I was needed elsewhere. I’ve only just recently had the chance to play this game which is why this is coming out so much later than the game’s initial launch.

I purposely avoided reading reviews but paid close attention to the game’s MetaScore and was more than a little excited learn that Deus Ex was garnering some very strong praise. I wish I didn’t know what everyone was ranking the title. I’m actually feeling rather let down by the game.

Deus Ex Human Revolution is an action RPG made by Eidos Montreal that puts the player in the shoes of Adam Jensen, a security chief for the wealthy and powerful corporation, Sarif Industries. After an attack on Sarif HQ, Jensen confronts a powerful mercenary with various augmentations and is savagely beaten and shot in the head. Adam survives the attack thanks in part to Sarif who spends a great deal of money on augmentations to Adams body. Remarkably, Adam is back on his feet just 6 months after the events of the Prologue and is thrust into a story of corporate conspiracy and espionage.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution uses multiple facets of gameplay that include Hacking, Exploration, Combat and Stealth. All of which have their strong and weak points. The hacking aspect of the game is actually quite fun and depending on your hacking ability can really handcuff progression. If you allow yourself to be traced when hacking a system, it will trigger an alarm to the security forces causing you to flee or fight. I tried both and found that fleeing to a safe location and fighting from there was always the best way but it can be extremely time consuming.

While progressing through the game, the player earns XP – once enough points are gained, the user can then level up a variety of augmentations that cater to the above mentions “Pillars of gameplay” to accommodate each players specific style of play.

The graphics look nice but slightly dated when compared to other titles and some of the locales are sharp but the level layouts were confusing and the HUD Map system didn’t help matters.It’s nothing more than a Letter and number designation with the distance displayed beneath (ie: Main mission = M1,2,3 etc Secondary = S1,2 3, etc). I often found myself wandering around trying to follow the HUD only to end up in a dead end and needing to turn all the way around.

Overall I found Deus Ex: Human Revolution to be a decent game but it’s anything but a great title. It’s hard to find anything that stood out as a great feature of Human Revolution. Something felt unfulfilled for me with this game and I can’t quite put my finger on it – but it helped to bridge the gap between the slow period of the summer to the balls to the walls fall release schedule that’s sure to have my bank account crying for mercy. I’d strongly recommend it as a rental only.

Feed Your Console gives Deus Ex:Human Revolution a 6.5 out of 10

Pros:

  • A good distraction when nothing else is available

Cons:

  • run and gun game is less than run and gun