Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (previously Deus Ex 3) will be the third game in the Deus Ex first-person role-playing video game series, and a prequel to the original game.[8] It is being developed by Eidos Montreal.
Contents [hide]
1 Gameplay
2 Setting
3 Themes
4 Development
5 Reception
6 References
7 External links
[edit]Gameplay



Screenshot of protagonist Adam Jensen in the "Picus TV" newsroom
In the Deus Ex games, augmentations are body modifications that allow the user superhuman abilities. While augmentations in the first two games were nanotech, Human Revolution is set prior to both and instead features mechanical augmentations. These will be divided into four types: Combat, Stealth, Technology and Social.[9] Using social skills, social augmentations and stealth a player is able to play through the whole game killing only the bosses.[10]
Every enemy squad will have an identifiable squad leader who will direct the team's actions. If the leader is killed, the squad falls into disarray. Enemies will also react to subtle player decisions, such as a change in behaviour or weapons, etc.[9]
Unlike in Invisible War, weapons will fire distinct ammunition types instead of depleting a unified pool. They can also be upgraded to better suit the player.[8]
Deviating from previous titles in the series, Human Revolution will use a regenerating health model. This change was made because the developers didn't want players to get into a situation where they were unable to progress due to low health, and would be forced to "scrounge for med packs."[8] They see this scrounging behavior as breaking the flow of the game when one retreats to search the entire level for medical supplies. They believe their regenerating health model will still encourage tactical and strategy forming retreats, but not to the extent where the tension and flow of the game is disrupted.[11] Despite using a regenerating health model, the game will still include health restoring consumables, such as food.
Another major change seen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the highlighting of objects a player can interact with. This feature can be seen in the game play preview released in March of 2011.[12]
Human Revolution is primarily a first person game, but will feature a contextual third person viewpoint when using the cover system, certain augmentations, or closeup instant-kill moves.[13]
[edit]Setting

The game takes place during the year 2027, 25 years before Deus Ex. Nanotechnological augmentations have yet to be developed and biomechanical augmentations are the current state of the art. The main protagonist, Adam Jensen, is a private security officer with Sarif Industries, a leading company that specializes in human augmentations. After he witnesses a chilling attack on his company which leaves him horrifically injured and forced to undergo augmentation to survive, "the conspiracy begins."[8] The visuals are a combination of cyberpunk and Renaissance aesthetics,[14] resulting in a futuristic-looking Baroque world. Adam Jensen will be voiced by Elias Toufexis.
The player will visit five cities over the course of the game, including Detroit, Shanghai and Montreal.[6] In addition, the protagonist will have his own apartment where he may store his secrets and collected information. The events in the game will lead to the formation of UNATCO from the original game.[9]
[edit]Themes

Human Revolution deals with the ethics of transhumanism, and carries an overarching message of humanity's reach exceeding its grasp. "Mankind is using mechanical augmentations," director Jean-Francois Dugas said before the game's release, "but there is still much to be determined in terms of their effect on society and the ultimate direction it will lead us in."[6] The Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus appears in Adam Jensen's dreams as an allegory to this thought, and also—given that both Daedalus and Icarus were the names of artificial intelligences in Deus Ex—an intellectual bridge to the original game.
The pace of technological development is reflected visually by a Renaissance theme.[14] Characters who support the advances of human augmentation dress themselves and decorate their homes in reinterpreted late-medieval Italian style, and the game as a whole has a sepia-tinted colour palette reminiscent of historic manuscripts. In contrast, characters who oppose or are of neutral opinion to augmentations wear clothing that is more or less current-day.[citation needed]
As was the case in Deus Ex, conspiracy theories and immensely powerful corporations feature strongly,[6] but nothing is currently known about them.
[edit]Development

Deus Ex 3 was announced on May 17, 2007, in an interview with Patrick Melchior, the director of Eidos France, on the French-Canadian television show M. Net.[15]
An initial teaser trailer was released on November 26, 2007,[16] and around one year later PC Zone Magazine ran a first preview which detailed some of the game's mechanics and setting and provided the first true artwork and screenshots.[8] Several of the design decisions mentioned, most notably the introduction of regenerating health, precipitated an initial backlash amongst many fans of the original Deus Ex.[17]
In November 2009 it was announced that Square Enix was to publish the game, and that the CGI sequences were to be created at its Japanese Visual Works studio with direction from Goldtooth Creative in Canada. The results of this international partnership were first seen in the teaser trailer shown at the 2010 Game Developers Conference (by which point the game's subtitle had changed to Human Revolution and its release pushed back to "early 2011"), which was expanded to a three-minute trailer at E3 2010. E3 2010 also saw a second major preview of the game, this time in PC Gamer UK, which provided engine-rendered screenshots and gameplay details.[13]
At Gamescom 2010 [18], producer David Anfossi told VG247 he was creating DLC for the game, which it says is "an extension of Deus Ex: Human Revolution."
On December 16, 2010, Square Enix announced that the game had been pushed back to their next fiscal year, which begins April 6, 2011[19].
At the Penny Arcade Expo East in March 2011, it was announced that the game was being released on August 23, 2011 in North America and August 26, 2011 in Europe.
[edit]Reception

Previews of the game have been very positive so far. Most reviewers who had access to the game in February 2011 praised the open-ended experience of the game, similar to the first Deus Ex,[20][21] the importance of conversations in the missions,[22] and also the depth of the storyline.[23]