Deus Ex: Human Revolution Preview - E3 2010

Undoubtedly, Deus Ex: Human Revolution was one of the hottest games to see at this year’s E3. With screenings only held behind closed doors, we had a chance to catch one of the game’s private showings while covering the show. Human Revolution is the third game in the action role-playing Deus Ex series, and a prequel to the original game. By many, the original is considered to be a classic and a defining game for both the genre and the PC as a platform. The sequel was released years later, but was heavily criticized for being simplified because of the multiplatform release, and never achieved the status of the original. With yet another developer in Eidos this time around, could the third time be the charm for the series in capturing audiences across all platforms?

The live gameplay demo that we saw was being hosted by a lead writer from the game, while a level designer was on the controls of the PS3. Human Revolution is an action RPG that is based on 4 pillars of gameplay – stealth, social gameplay, hacking and combat. The developers have decided to create the whole experience based on these pillars. Every mission in the game offers a multipath, multi-solution approach that emphasizes player choices. Players take on the role of Adam Jensen, a cybernetically enhanced private security contractor that works for a company that specializes in artificial human enhancement procedures and development. Adam witnesses an attack on his company, which leaves him horribly injured and forced to undergo augmentation to survive. Now, he must unravel the conspiracy of why his company was attacked, and he discovers that not everything is what it seems with his employer.

The demo took place relatively early in the game, as Adam investigates a possible leak in the company. A hacker has been identified as a person of interest, and the player sets off to locate him on an island that resembles New York City. For the sake of the presentation, all limitations on ammo and special abilities were removed, along with the HUD, to give the demo a more realistic feel. When we first enter the city, the game’s style shines through as cyberpunk architecture and yellow color palette dominate. The game’s visuals are still a work in progress, as low resolution textures were seen throughout. Still, the lighting was very effective and characters looked believable. It was noted that all NPCs in the game go on living their own lives – the player can talk to anyone in the game, and possibly learn vital information about alternate roots or additional details for their current objective.

As we approached an entrance to the club where the hacker might be hiding, the doorman confronted us and demanded payment. We gave up the money, though it was noted by the developers that there are many other ways to get into the club. Once inside, we made our way through the crowd to the second floor to speak with a man who apparently may have the information we need. Here, the conversation system took over and we watched the dialogue unfold in third person. The conversation system had a few standard questions and responses for the player to choose from, depending on the situation. It’s certainly nothing RPG players haven’t seen before. Having failed to convince the bartender to give up information, we headed back downstairs – but on the way, overheard two security guards talk about a lost keycard in the bathroom. Of course, we went to the restroom and found the card, then used it to access the basement. There was a guard on patrol down there. Carefully sticking into cover, the camera switched to third person view and we were able to ambush the guard as he came around the corner. We dragged his body into a dark room, and then opened the vent and proceeded inside. In the vent, we got to the private room and overheard a conversation about our person of interest – he will be at the docks tonight.

At this point, the second part of the demo began. This part was all about the action, stealth and augmentation skills. The level began with the player infiltrating the perimeter by climbing out of a sewer – camera switches to third person when climbing ladders, providing a wider view. Patrolling the gates was a single guard. The player took cover, sticking to the cement roadblock, and once again the camera panned into third person view, as it would with any cover-based game. Using a button to leap from cover to cover, we made our way to a guard booth. Using a strength augmentation, we moved a box that blocked a hidden path underneath the booth, crawled through and made our way into the booth. An unsuspecting guard was sitting at a desk, watching security cameras. Here, Adam executed a takedown by stabbing the poor fellow with a huge blade that appeared out of our hand. The takedowns throughout the game are contextual, and therefore differ every time. It was also noted that the player has the choice for either lethal or non-lethal takedowns through the whole game, except for bosses.

With the guard dead and cameras disabled, we used the door to make our way outside, where a guard was still patrolling. After getting into a good position by using the invisibility augmentation, we took him out non-lethally. Using the strength once again, the player made some huge jumps across containers to eventually reach the roof of a warehouse. Below, enemies were converged in a circle, chatting about their daily life. Breaking through the glass above, Adam gracefully landed right in the middle of the enemy group, and in slow motion (and in third person camera) executed some kind of special attack – small bombs flew out in all directions, exploding moments later. With the large group of enemies down, Adam began a firefight with the remaining soldiers in the warehouse.

Quickly switching between invisibility, strength and speed, Adam took out the enemies with relative ease. However, a robot has appeared, which was not as easily taken down. Using cover and blind-firing, Adam was able to distract the robot enough to pick up a rocket launcher and destroy the metal machine. It looked at this point as though the weapon inventory is not limited – though this could just have been an adjustment for the demo, similar to infinite ammo and augmentation powers. Having destroyed the robot, a human boss character appeared, swiping Adam aside rather easily. However, this is where the demo ended.

The fans surely have a lot of expectations from this prequel. Eidos have set the bar fairly high for themselves, and so far the game looks great. It was difficult to tell Deus Ex apart from something like a cover-based version of Crysis with some Mass Effect 2 thrown in for good measure. Though with unlimited abilities and no HUD, it is too early to make any reasonable comparisons. The style of the game certainly shines through and the atmosphere is already well executed. We really hope to hear and see more about the game in the coming months, but for now, what we saw was huge potential. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is scheduled to release some time in 2011 on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.