REVIEW: Deus Ex:Human Revolution OUT 26 AUG

After an attack at Sarif Industries kills everyone and leaves you for dead, the only way to save your life is with military grade augments.

Augmented against your will you set out to find out who was behind the attack.

After the game starts and you get to walk around the city, you will be amazed by the attention to detail in the black and gold Cyber-Renaissance Blade Runner style design and immerse audio soundtrack.

Although the game follows closely to the original there are a number of different ways to play the game through Combat, Stealth, Hacking and Social or a mixture of all.

I started to play the game in a more ‘traditional FPS style, but ended up getting killed at every corner. I found out the hard way you can’t play Deux Ex like Call of Duty or Halo, so take it slow, take cover often and check out the situation first. There is always another way round the enemy.

If your a fan of the stealth approach then your choice of weapons, paths and augmentations upgrades will be different from someone that chooses a combat path as you will be climbing over roof tops, through ventilation ducks and using tranquiliser darts to silently take-down the enemy.

Upgrading your augments is done through a limited number of Praxis points so you wont be able to max out your character in a play-through, making you think more carefully how you progress through the game and what upgrades to buy from LIMB clinics.

You gain you Praxis points by gaining XP and completing certain objectives withing the game.

Beside all the action and sneaking around there is a great compelling story that changes depending on the choices and paths you take throughout the game. No two games will be the same.

There are plenty of side missions to keep you busy and listening into civilians conversations may just reveal a tiny tidbit of information to help you progress through a mission.

Both the Stealth, Combat and Gears style cover system play is solid and boss fights are a good challenge.

The conversation wheel (similar to Fallout 3) allows you shift the conversation around and with social enhancements you can really get the answer your looking for when talking to characters.

The only downside to the game is the tedious ‘hacking’ mini game. Although hacking is a large and useful part of the game which allows you to open locked doors, read emails on secure computers and turn off security cameras, the mini-game takes the flow out of the game. You can upgrade your hacking skills to make this easier but an auto hack function would make life a lot easier.

Loading time can also take some time, even after being installed to the hard disk.

Before writing this I’ve only managed to see one of the multiple endings of the game so my next play-though will be more true to the original game and be completely stealthily, sneaking around in dark corners and over roof-tops, silently killing from the shadows, hiding enemies bodies from view and making different choices to see what else awaits Jenson and Sarif Industries.

There a a few minor niggles but Deus Ex: Human Revolutions will definitely be up there for game of the year.