In this week’s Game Freak, I wanted to get back to my roots and bring your attention to the best video game this year will offer, “Deus Ex: Human Revolution.”
Haven’t heard of it? Not surprising, since the series hasn’t had a game since 2003. Back at the turn of the millennia when the first game in the series, “Deus Ex,” was released, it was hailed as one of the best games on the market for its ability to blend genres and offer multiple ways to play.
“Human Revolution” is no different, and that’s what makes it great. In it, players have four main ways they can play the game, all of which can be blended together to create whatever experience you want.
Fans of first-person shooters like “Call of Duty” will like the way played can go through missions guns blazing, with choices between more than half a dozen well-developed weapons.
Fans of stealthy action games like “Assassin’s Creed” will appreciate the ability to play without ever having to face an enemy.
Fans of less confrontational games will like being able to talk their way out of a good deal of fights, if they know the right thing to say, and others will like turning their opponents’ technology on them, letting robots do the dirty work while they reap the rewards.
In the world of “Human Revolution,” humanity has discovered a way to graft mechanical limbs and attachments onto their body as a form of controlled evolution. The catch is, the body eventually rejects these augmentations, and so in order to stay alive, people need addictive drugs to survive — and companies who sell them then have a great deal of control over the world.
The play style is determined by what kind of mechanical augmentations the player chooses, with each granting different abilities. Besides looking awesome, these augmentations also act as a story centerpiece.
The series has always been known for plots involving deep conspiracies carried by corporations and groups trying to bring about a new world order, so this is nothing new for returning players. But since “Human Revolution” is a prequel to the other two “Deus Ex” games, it sets all them up in a very delicate way while telling a separate story all its own so that new fans aren’t lost.
On the eve of Adam Jensen’s first big job working for the augmentation pioneer, Sarif Industries, the research lab is attacked by an elite hit team that targets the lead researchers. In the middle of the attack, Jensen is beaten nearly to death by an augmented human and is forced to get augmentations himself just to survive.
It takes him six months to recover from turning almost his entire body into a machine, and he continues to struggle with questions of humanity and who these mysterious attackers were. In the process, he has to make a single choice that will influence the future of the entire world, giving the player a great deal to think about.
That’s probably one of the best things about “Human Revolution,” the way it makes the player think.
While the ability to customize gameplay and the story itself is all well and good, the best part of “Human Revolution” is its occasional difficulty. Whether starting fire fights Rambo-style or sneaking past everyone, the odds are stacked and one bad move means a swift death.
What’s even better are the three boss fights in the story, which are hard enough to induce headaches. Difficulty is a rare commodity in video games these days. Back in the day, everything took multiple tries, and that was what made them so rewarding. Despite how frustrating it sounds — or is — fighting these bosses over and over and over ends up being fun as players discover the tricks needed to win.
“Deus Ex: Human Revolution” is a complete game in every sense, with the occasional oddly rendered character model as its only fault. Considering its one problem is aesthetic, there’s no reason not to run out and buy this game.
This game is sure to win multiple awards, if not best game of the year.
— Jason Krell is a junior studying creative writing and Italian. He can be reached at arts@wildcat.arizona.edu.
