Deus Ex: Human Revolution Reviews, Interview and Performance Analysis

We have a fair bit of new coverage for Eidos Montreal’s prequel to Deus Ex, starting with a new batch of, yet again mostly positive, reviews for the FPS/RPG hybrid.

GamePro, 4/5.

Despite the flaws I found with the game, Deus Ex: Human Evolution is overall a really great experience for those who like a bit more from their shooters. The consistent mental challenge of tackling each mission is what makes it so captivating, relying on strategy over spectacle. That’s not what everyone is looking for in their games, but those who are will find it in droves in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Ten Ton Hammer, 87/100.

Deus Ex : Human Revolution is a wonderful step forward for cyberpunk RPG enthusiasts. This is RPG perfection! The world feels vivid, the options in combat are numerous and varied, and you can come up with multiple ways to ‘˜solve’ a situation typically. You have every reason to explore and try things in Human Revolution, and what’s more, you’re actually rewarded for doing so rather than feeling like you wasted your time. Other developers, take note, this is a wonderful feeling to have in games!

Videogame Talk, 3.5/5.

If I sound overly harsh, it’s because Deus Ex was a real revolution in gaming in 2000, and it disappoints me that in 2011 I’m playing essentially the same game. I know the developers had certain expectations to live up to (and perhaps the less than enthusiastic reaction for Invisible War, which took more chances than Human Revolution does, made the developers cautious), but I think the series’ fans would have embraced a new take. I’m not saying we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater, because there’s still plenty of good in the formula, but I wish the developers had looked at what some of the other studios were doing, so they could top it.

That being said, Deux Ex: Human Revolution is an enjoyable experience that in this case may work better as art than it does as a game. And I’ll always find room in my heart for a game that strives for more, even if its reach ultimately exceeds its grasp.

AusGamers, 9.2/10.

Is Deus Ex awesome? Absolutely. Is it a giant leap in design? No, and how could it be? With other games offering multiple story paths and upgradeable characters Deus Ex no longer stands alone in its field, and it’s not perfect by any means. But, with the mix of different choices, multiple paths and wholly addictive game play mechanics it’s hard to put down.

EDGE offers an interview with lead game designer Frank Lapikas on choices & consequences:

It’s quite an achievement that Jensen feels so versatile at every point of the game given that you have a skill-tree. How did you go about balancing the skill tree to prevent players from overspecialising?

I think the main point in balancing the augmentations was that we decided to give the player all the basic abilities. We don’t force the player to buy back his basic powers, we give you everything you normally have in an FPS, and then all you buy are upgrades – abilities that give you something more. At the basic level, there’s a way to go through the whole game without upgrading yourself. But by buying these powers you going to unlock new ways to go through combat or navigate the level. Without having that we would have had more instances where the player was blocked.

(…)

The only points at which choice is really curtailed are during the boss battles, when you are thrust into combat and have to kill. What was the thinking behind the design there?

It’s a narrative decision, essentially.

Well, sure. But it could have played out in a large number of different ways. Was there a reason why you chose to do it via a face-to-face confrontation?

The whole game is story-driven so if we gave all these opportunities to get through the bosses it created some headaches for us to get the narrative to work, so we had to make that decision.

And finally, Tom’s Hardware offers a performance analysis for the PC version of the title, here’s a snippet:

Let’s start by saying that Deus Ex: Human Revolution is an impressive accomplishment that offers unique and satisfying game play. While the overall framework of this title is reminiscent of Mass Effect 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a more intimate experience. For me, the way the story is weaved and the player’s dialogue choices are better executed in Deus Ex. On the down side, combat is hindered by unimpressive enemy AI. Admittedly this is a subjective analysis, but no matter how you slice it Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a game that many folks will find rewarding to play.

Let’s move on to graphics card performance. At low (but attractive) settings using DirectX 9, the game runs smoothly on a GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 or Radeon HD 6570 at 1680×1050. Maximum detail at 1920×1080 with AA enabled requires only a Radeon HD 5770 or GeForce GTX 550 Ti for a minimum frame rate above 35 FPS. This is outstanding, as the game necessitates a relatively small cash investment in graphics for excellent frame rates.

On the other hand, this release requires a decent CPU. And if you’re still rocking a dual-core processor, you’ll want something in the range of Intel’s Sandy Bridge-based Core i3 with Hyper-Threading. One of AMD’s triple-core processors will also do the job, but make sure it’s running at at least 2.5 GHz.