Deus Ex: Human Revolution Hands-On

Earlier today, once E3 officially opened up, I actually had a chance to meet-up with the guys at Square Enix and got a little face time with the game which I have been interested in for quite some time now – Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The game is very smooth, the graphics are very rich, and the controls are pretty straight forward (once you get to know them). The interface that has been built for this game is very futuristic and works very well especially since this game takes place in the year 2027. There are a few different control options so it can be a little confusing when you first start out which button does what. However, they seem to get easier as you spend more time with the game.

When I started this E3 demo, I was able to select from 3 difficulty options. I decided to go with the medium setting as I was told that the hardest option would make the game pretty “insane”. This was followed by a brief intro and some cut-scenes, giving me a run-down of what was happening and what to expect. Here I was presented with a few choice options: going in lethal with guns blazing, or chose the non-lethal way and stealth your way in. Each style presents the player with a different type of gameplay, so it’s up to you which one you choose.

The mission starts off by giving you a few points to spend on different augmentations. Each augmentation has a few different levels so you have to select what best suits you, and your style of play. Think of selecting your augmentations as making the best rounded character that you can, since your going to be left with these choices until you start a new game.

Once I was done with my selection I was able to talk to someone of the friendly security guards around to gain some more intel on what was going on and who I was going to deal with. You don’t have to talk to anyone, and can get right into the action, but it’s a good idea as you can obtain at least some info on what you’ll be facing before going in.

As I continued on my mission I came up to my first enemy and decided to start shooting first and asking questions later. Boy was this a dumb idea, as I alerted everyone else to the scene and started to panic. I was firing at everyone I could and quickly ran out of ammo. This was my end as the enemy quickly overwhelmed me. Going in guns blazing, might not be the best option all of the time.

Once I died, I was able to do a quick restart to a save checkpoint. This time I decided to do things the right way, I enabled my stealth augmentation that I selected earlier and sneaked up on a few baddies without any issues. Again, it’s important to pay attention and always know what you are doing. At one point, I moved way too fast and the enemy heard me. Since at that point I used up all my power, I didn’t have enough to do a lethal take down, so once again I resorted to lethal action and blew the guys’ brains out, alerting everyone else in the area of my presence.

This time I didn’t die though, I took cover and peaked around the corner taking everyone out without taking on too much damage. When you do eventually run out of ammo, or want to get some weapons, its pretty easy to search the dead bodies and get some supplies as well as money.

One thing you’ll quickly notice while playing Deus Ex is that there are a number of ways to go about your mission. There are different routes you can take within the game, some more stealthy, others packed with enemies waiting for you to come around. How you play is completely up to you. Playing as an “invisible” stealth assassin can be quite difficult, but if you enjoy a challenge you can actually make it through the mission without killing anyone. There are plenty of small environmental puzzles to solve which give you a good opportunity to find some unique ways to sneak around your enemies and get to your destination.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is shaping up quite nicely, I liked what I saw during my hands-on demo. Look for this game to release on August 23rd.