Life Is Just A Dream™

In 2000, Ion Storm, headed by genius designer Warren Spector, gave the world Deus Ex, a game that was as revolutionary as it was flawed. An RPG that utilised a deep character customisation system and open ended mission structure to create unprecedented narrative freedom.
Hero JC Denton could augment his body in a myriad of different ways, which allowed the player to approach mission objectives as they saw fit.
2003 sequel Deus Ex: Invisible War streamlined certain elements of the first game, which served to hinder the overall quality of the formula, but retained the bleak dystopian setting and conspiracy plotting.
Now, 8 years on, Ubisoft Montreal are hoping to counter the tide of brainless military shooters with Human Revolution, a prequel set in a time when the world is struggling to embrace genetic augmentation.



The game revolves around Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT team member contracted to the security forces of Sarif Industries, a leading manufacturer of genetic implants and augmentations. After an attack on Sarif HQ, Jensen is fatally wounded and receives several bionic upgrades that save his life and turn him into a superhuman badass. Needless to say, becoming the most genetically augmented Detroit cop since Peter Weller walked into that warehouse, is just the beginning.

JOIN THE REVOLUTION
Human Revolution exudes a sense of slick style from the outset, from the moody thrum of the score, to the sleek menus and the achingly cool difficulty options (Easy= Tell Me A Story). Upon entering it's Blade Runneresque metropolis, it's clear that tender loving care has gone into creating this world. The soft amber glow that is the games primary visual motif, is a million miles away from the dull urban greys and murky browns of almost every other game out there. The design of future Detroit is somewhere between Ridley Scott's aforementioned masterpiece (a key visual nod to that film comes when Jensen enters his beautifully realised apartment) and the neon mega-cities of the Mass Effect galaxy.

Early impressions suggest that, much like in the first two games, Jensen will be sent out to tackle missions that are largely made up of corridors filled with goons (which will call upon the awkward, yet ultimately satisfying cover system), before being flown back to a central hub. Of course, this will only be the beginning of his journey.



The most fun part of Deus Ex and an element that will hopefully give it the edge in the ever increasing roster of FPS RPGs, is the augmentation. Players can evolve their character as they see fit, shaping to a chosen methodology, much like in the first game. Don't want to fuss around with terminals and locks? Boost your hacking skills. Want to take an unorthodox route through a level? How about the upgrade that lets Jensen punch through walls. Need that extra help during stealth? Increase Jensen's awareness so he can detect when enemies are no longer looking for him.
It's a skill tree like any other skill tree, but it's one whose rewards aren't some invisible percentage, rather they are a complete physical change in your character.

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT


There are some niggles that hopefully wont make their way into the final game, namely some graphical inconsistencies and the ropey dialogue system, which has an NPC's mood change wildly depending on Jensen's choice of words (one early example has our hero trying to infiltrate a police station, where a disgruntled desk seargent confesses his hate for Jensen before calmly letting him pass). Overall though, Human Revolution looks set to be a solid RPG experience, the art design, score and brilliant augmentation system are unique enough to do the original game in the series justice.