The 2027 A.D. is a lovely year to live in. In the midst of the explosion of transhumanism and the resulting social and economic conflicts, there is a world to be discovered, in which to intervene to influence the fate of entire cities and massive corporations worth billions. This is the main objective of Adam Jensen, head of security at the Sarif Industries and at the centre of a plot involving industrial espionage and transhumanist philosophy.
Deus Ex Human Revolution (DEHR) is a delightful addition to the cyberpunk canon. It picks up for narrative and purpose from a lot of the genre milestones such as the novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, mixing apparently anachronistic themes with the consequences of an ultra-technological world where the boundary between organic and machine life becomes thinner and thinner. In the case of DEHR, this union is presented as a visual and thematic Cyberpunk Renaissance, with the setting being a futuristic ambient but the fashion, arts and the sense of grandeur from the majestic times of the XV century.
The era the game is set is lends itself to describe the contradiction of a technology that does not cease to evolve and move forward, contrasting with the part of humanity scared by the moral consequences that this advancement means. DEHR is often thought of as a curious hybrid of stealth and RPG because, beyond the exploratory and infiltration part that constitutes the first genre, the players will be led to answer moral questions related to the issues of technological development, influencing with their decisions the outcome of missions, destinies of people and the conclusion of the game itself.
In addition to this, the roleplaying component can be also observed in the wide variety of personalization that Jensen may receive by obtaining experience points. The player can aim to improve his hacking skills to ensure quieter and more precise infiltrations or decide to increase stamina and physical strength for a more "brutal" and direct approach.
Despite how enthralling the narrative of the title is, the gem of the game is certainly the stealth gameplay: offering the player immense but perfectly connected, contained and full of secrets maps to explore, DEHR offers a vast experience suitable for any style of approach to achieve certain goals, even if they are, more often than not, simply "go from point A to point B" or "get some data from computer C". The presence of side missions, some presented to the player, others hidden between the urban layers, increases even more the sense of greatness of the plot and world-building.
Years ago, at launch, the game could be blamed for, despite the ability to play without ever triggering an alarm or ever facing an enemy, some unavoidable boss fights, which were both mandatory and made futile to customize the character as a non-lethal spectrum. The Director's Cut, however, has masterfully solved this problem, magnifying different aspects of the basic game as well as the arenas of the bosses, expanding them from simple and bare rings to larger puzzles which lend themselves to the most different approaches for solution.
The Missing Link DLC can also be seen in a slightly negative way, as it blocks the narrative right in the middle for several hours and forces the player into an obligatory scenario that adds little to nothing to the main storyline.
DEHR works very well on every level it tries to explore: as stealth it presents claustrophobic, dirty, ultra-technological and rich in possibilities environments, among the pinnacles that the genre has to offer; as an RPG it is dictated by customization, immersion, a very strong narrative and a system of choices and consequences which brings some really interesting questions to light, especially for the modern context we live in. The relative simplicity of the title, even at the highest difficulty levels, allows anyone who wants to give a chance to something new to feel welcomed in this exciting and thrilling cyberpunk world.
Deus Ex Human Revolution (DEHR) is a delightful addition to the cyberpunk canon. It picks up for narrative and purpose from a lot of the genre milestones such as the novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, mixing apparently anachronistic themes with the consequences of an ultra-technological world where the boundary between organic and machine life becomes thinner and thinner. In the case of DEHR, this union is presented as a visual and thematic Cyberpunk Renaissance, with the setting being a futuristic ambient but the fashion, arts and the sense of grandeur from the majestic times of the XV century.
The era the game is set is lends itself to describe the contradiction of a technology that does not cease to evolve and move forward, contrasting with the part of humanity scared by the moral consequences that this advancement means. DEHR is often thought of as a curious hybrid of stealth and RPG because, beyond the exploratory and infiltration part that constitutes the first genre, the players will be led to answer moral questions related to the issues of technological development, influencing with their decisions the outcome of missions, destinies of people and the conclusion of the game itself.
In addition to this, the roleplaying component can be also observed in the wide variety of personalization that Jensen may receive by obtaining experience points. The player can aim to improve his hacking skills to ensure quieter and more precise infiltrations or decide to increase stamina and physical strength for a more "brutal" and direct approach.
Despite how enthralling the narrative of the title is, the gem of the game is certainly the stealth gameplay: offering the player immense but perfectly connected, contained and full of secrets maps to explore, DEHR offers a vast experience suitable for any style of approach to achieve certain goals, even if they are, more often than not, simply "go from point A to point B" or "get some data from computer C". The presence of side missions, some presented to the player, others hidden between the urban layers, increases even more the sense of greatness of the plot and world-building.
Years ago, at launch, the game could be blamed for, despite the ability to play without ever triggering an alarm or ever facing an enemy, some unavoidable boss fights, which were both mandatory and made futile to customize the character as a non-lethal spectrum. The Director's Cut, however, has masterfully solved this problem, magnifying different aspects of the basic game as well as the arenas of the bosses, expanding them from simple and bare rings to larger puzzles which lend themselves to the most different approaches for solution.
The Missing Link DLC can also be seen in a slightly negative way, as it blocks the narrative right in the middle for several hours and forces the player into an obligatory scenario that adds little to nothing to the main storyline.
DEHR works very well on every level it tries to explore: as stealth it presents claustrophobic, dirty, ultra-technological and rich in possibilities environments, among the pinnacles that the genre has to offer; as an RPG it is dictated by customization, immersion, a very strong narrative and a system of choices and consequences which brings some really interesting questions to light, especially for the modern context we live in. The relative simplicity of the title, even at the highest difficulty levels, allows anyone who wants to give a chance to something new to feel welcomed in this exciting and thrilling cyberpunk world.