Deus Ex: Human Revolution First Impressions

Since Square Enix acquired Eidos and Crystal Dynamics, they’ve been hell-bent on bringing back some of the greatest videogame franchises of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, and the Deus Ex franchise is no exception.  This is the third installment of the series and the first to grace a console with its presence since 2003, this highly anticipated prequel is due to hit stores this August.  However, we got a firsthand look at the game in a private meeting with Eidos Montreal’s Jonathan Jacques Belletete, art director for Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

For those of you who don’t know, Deus Ex: Human Revolution takes place 25 years before the original game.  The story follows Adam Jensen, a security officer at Sarif Industries, who is forced to undergo a human augmentation after an attack on the company leaves him fatally injured.  As Adam returns to duty, he finds himself in the middle of a greater conspiracy.

Our demo started us in a future version of Shanghai which has become a city on top of a city.  Adam’s mission is to make his way from the maintenance areas below to the central shaft leading up to Sarif Industries laboratories in the city above.  The nature of the game requires a level of stealth.  Instead of shooting your way to the top (which you could do if you wanted, but would make the game exceptionally harder), you use your optical camouflage and an x-ray vision ability (allows you to see through walls) to make your way through restricted areas, hacking terminals along the way to gain access.

Along the way you run into “green zones”:  Areas that are generally public or low security where Adam cannot act too suspiciously, lest he alert security and bad things happen.  It’s in these areas where you can really take in the remarkable craftsmanship behind Human Revolution.   The cities that Eidos has created are truly works of art with stunning vistas and a real dedication to bringing the surreal of cyberpunk to life.

As Adam makes his way through the central tower to the secured levels, he comes across a number of security measures that need to be bypassed.  Security cameras are disabled temporarily by EMP grenades; they could have been simply shot out, as that would alert security according to our host.  Laser tripwires in other rooms are bypassed by Adam’s optical camouflage.  And finally he comes to his objective: a terminal that must be hacked to retrieve the information contained on it.  However, once he breaks into it, security is alerted and floods in through the only exit.  The screen fades as our demonstration ends.

Fortunately we don’t have to wait long to get this hot item in our hands.  Deus Ex: Human Revolution is slated to hit stores on August 23rd.