Forbes Picks Deus Ex: Human Revolution Over Skyrim For GotY

Forbes has published two separate articles (here and here) explaining their decision not to choose Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as their Game of the Year, but instead give the prestigious nod to Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  A sampling from each:

There is a sense of wonder to be able to just purely adventure, something that most games will rarely let you do, wanting to keep you on a pretty tight leash to experience the story. Skyrim will have you tripping over new stories left and right, and through exploration be rewarded by finding secrets and powerful items you would have missed if you stuck to the script.

But what does it matter really, if in a thousand quests, there isn’t one truly excellent storyline among them? Though the game makes a point of fleshing out almost every single NPC you talk to, and giving them a problem that they need your help solving, the individual plotlines of the game are all somewhat.lacking.

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The game is not perfect, and honestly does have more overt flaws than say, Portal 2. The boss battles were terribly conceived as they usually amounted to standing in a room with a powerful enemy unloading guns in your face. With nowhere to hide, all that stealth gameplay went straight out a window. And as much I loved the plot, there was much, much more that could be done with Adam Jensen’s morally conflicted character. I had to laugh when he gave a speech in the ending cut scene that stated he had resisted the temptation to abuse the power of his augments. Yeah, tell that to the five hundred butchered guards strewn all around the world.

But the fact is, Deus Ex is a phenomenal game that combines good storytelling, expert level building, a haunting and visually stunning atmosphere, a brilliant soundtrack and creative and diverse gameplay. I said it before, it’s the total package, and I stand by it as my Game of the Year.