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Is anyone else as excited for this as I am?

I've played the leaked beta (which I don't feel the least bit bad about, since I've already pre-ordered the special edition of the game), and I am very confident in saying that Eidos has finally done the impossible and surpassed the original game in nearly every respect. The gameplay is completely refined and polished (and so much fun to play, which is somewhat of a new concept for the series), opportunities for player choice completely permeate the game (you can do anything, and as long as you don't die, the game will continue and adapt to your actions), the leveling is completely esoteric and streamlined in a way that makes every single upgrade point define your playing experience, the artistic direction is brilliantly executed, the sound design and voice acting are some of the best I've ever heard, the soundtrack is nearly unmatched in gaming, the storyline has a much stronger basis in near-future technology and reality than the previous entries in the series (and it's much more emotionally charged as a result, though it doesn't lose it's 'web of conspiracy' appeal in the process), and it has an astounding level of detail poured into the most minor aspects of the game which make it seem like a credible world.

Oh, and the marketing campaign is fantastic, as you can see (on par with Hollywood, which I've certainly never seen before).

Shortly put, if you have even the slightest interest in first person shooters or RPGs, or if you value player choice and input to the smallest degree, you need to play this game. Thankfully, it comes out on August 23rd (a day before my birthday). If you have any adoration for the first Deus Ex, this is the game you've been waiting 11 years for. However, if you're a fan of games like Mass Effect 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, The Witcher 2, Far Cry, or anything similar, this should definitely be a pre-order or a day-one purchase for you.

The latest trailer really made it look amazing.

Will likely be buying.

I have been waiting for this game since it was announced. I am absolutely stoked to get this!

Deus Ex was one of those genre defining games for computer gaming that just set the bar so high. It took a look at FPS's (similar to what Half Life did) and said "No, you don't have to have an FPS just be something where you run around and blast people away without a reason or direction, STORY MATTERS!!!" Number 2 unfortunately fell short of its predecessor, but it looks like this will absolutely redeem the series.

The newest gameplay teaser floored me for the 23rd!!!

Looks pretty good, actually substancially better than I expected.
I wasnt the biggest fan of the original two, I felt that there were unpolished, really cool, but unpolished.

Now someone needs to pick system shock up again

What Deus Ex lacked in polish it made up for in detail and intrigue. I have never played a more interesting game, and if DXH can even match that I'll love it. I mean, look at the polish on that!

Deus Ex 2 sucked so hard I wanted to hurt myself.

Everyone on /v/ basically says this is the game that is going to save gaming. No idea what that meant though

Looks quite cool, never played the originals myself but at least it looks nice and pretty without looking too gimickey

The game play is quite solid, with none of the feeling of ineptitude which was so prevalent in the early stages of the first game. Your cyborg super-soldier actually knows how to fire a gun and hit something he happened to be aiming at, for example. Stealth is definitely the focus, though the guns-blazing approach is a legitimate option because this game actually feels like an FPS-RPG rather than an RPG with the mouse bound to attack. There were some issues with sound detection and the AI (it seemed too sensitive in many cases) in the leaked version, but I'm confident they will have been ironed out; though they weren't a huge issue to begin with.

As already stated, the art design is excellent, blending film noire, Mass Effect, and a little AC2/B Renaissance.

It seems to have almost universally good reviews, so I'm looking forward to it a lot, especially when Deus Ex is one of my favourite games.

I've got it preordered for 360 and I'll probably trade it in when I'm done and buy it for the PC.

Arctik_Firangi wrote:What Deus Ex lacked in polish it made up for in detail and intrigue. I have never played a more interesting game, and if DXH can even match that I'll love it. I mean, look at the polish on that!

Deus Ex 2 sucked so hard I wanted to hurt myself.

If detail and intrigue are what you're looking for, Human Revolution delivers in spades. There is a ton of content that serves to make the world feel believable, and it also contributes to the overall storyline in most cases (though you won't realize it at first). Adam's personal quest for vengeance adds more of a driving force to the main storyline (and there's also a lot of emotional and philosophical elements that didn't really exist in the first game), yet the overall storyline retains the classic Deus Ex feel of in-depth conspiracy and grey morality.

Invisible War failed to live up to the first game, but compared to most games of it's time, it was still miles ahead of all of them. The only reason people were disappointed by it was because the original Deus Ex was so thoroughly amazing.

kenshin620 wrote:Everyone on /v/ basically says this is the game that is going to save gaming. No idea what that meant though

I think the most important aspect of Deus Ex is the fact that there are no restrictions on anything (if you want to do something within the limitations of Adam's abilities, you can; the game will never stop you). You can actually use real-world logic to solve any problem (instead of videogame logic), because the developers had the foresight to think of everything the player may end up doing during the game. It's very jarring to realize this, because games generally punish you or prevent you from thinking outside the box (and insult your intelligence in the process), but Deus Ex: Human Revolution fully encourages it, and actually rewards you for it.

It's been 11 years since a game with this much freedom and detail has come out. Unfortunately, all of the ideas driving the first game never really made their way into the mainstream (even though they definitely should have). Hopefully, with as much polish and artistic merit as this game has, it will show developers everywhere that this is how you make a fething videogame.

dogma wrote:The game play is quite solid, with none of the feeling of ineptitude which was so prevalent in the early stages of the first game. Your cyborg super-soldier actually knows how to fire a gun and hit something he happened to be aiming at, for example. Stealth is definitely the focus, though the guns-blazing approach is a legitimate option because this game actually feels like an FPS-RPG rather than an RPG with the mouse bound to attack.

This may sound stupid, but the problem with Adam being so competent is that it no longer encourages resourcefulness or experimentation. Even though it's still entirely possible to use any means necessary to defeat your enemies (and this experimentation is still just as fun as ever), most people accustomed to traditional shooters may just play through the whole game guns blazing because they won't realize there's so much more to it than that. However, it is a testament to the game's design that you can now play through the entire game as an action FPS (and it still ends up being more enjoyable than most games that focus on this entirely).

I do notice that they hardly give you any ammo (just like the first game), though, so players may have to use their ingenuity to squeeze their way out of a tight spot quite a few times during the game, and then the possibilities will really open up to them once they realize what they can do.

dogma wrote:As already stated, the art design is excellent, blending film noire, Mass Effect, and a little AC2/B Renaissance.

The only problem I have with the art design is that it's a bit incogruous with the first game (the technology seems way more advanced in most cases, though a lot of this can be attributed to the difficulty of presenting detail with the original Unreal Engine). However, I saw an interview with the lead art designer that explained that there will be a sort of collapse during the game that will plunge the world into the darkness found in the first game. I'm satisfied with this.

Not to say that the art design of the original game was anywhere near this brilliant, I just need something to tie the two games together artistically. Progression seems a little backwards, is all.

Chrysaor686 wrote:
This may sound stupid, but the problem with Adam being so competent is that it no longer encourages resourcefulness or experimentation. Even though it's still entirely possible to use any means necessary to defeat your enemies (and this experimentation is still just as fun as ever), most people accustomed to traditional shooters may just play through the whole game guns blazing because they won't realize there's so much more to it than that. However, it is a testament to the game's design that you can now play through the entire game as an action FPS (and it still ends up being more enjoyable than most games that focus on this entirely).

If experimentation and resourcefulness are good things, then why do they need to be encouraged? Sure, games generally are better when they force trial and error situations, but in the real world experimentation is generally not all that useful when death is the consequence, and resourcefulness tends to be a matter of finding the one thing that will work given the absence of obvious alternatives. The real world encourages the use of tried-and-true solutions, and generally rewards resourcefulness only situations where the challenge is either novel, or desperate. This is fine because the real world is almost always engaging due to the inability of most people to escape it without suffering (few people want to die), but games are easy to escape; we just turn them off. This isn't a huge deal if the game doesn't need to be immersive, but most people will tell you that they prefer games which grab them, and pull them into the world as presented (at least games that have stories). This presents a problem for game designers, as they are being asked to create a form of entertainment which is both immersive, essentially believable, and which fundamentally works against the reward system we have come to expect from reality.

I actually rather like DEH's approach to the problem solving issue in that they don't shy away from any particular solution, and instead present them all as equally viable, which leaves the choice of capacity up the whim of the player. In essence, it asks you to set your own hard limits, and then lets you go about your business with a sliding difficulty scale.

dogma wrote:If experimentation and resourcefulness are good things, then why do they need to be encouraged? Sure, games generally are better when they force trial and error situations, but in the real world experimentation is generally not all that useful when death is the consequence, and resourcefulness tends to be a matter of finding the one thing that will work given the absence of obvious alternatives. The real world encourages the use of tried-and-true solutions, and generally rewards resourcefulness only situations where the challenge is either novel, or desperate. This is fine because the real world is almost always engaging due to the inability of most people to escape it without suffering (few people want to die), but games are easy to escape; we just turn them off. This isn't a huge deal if the game doesn't need to be immersive, but most people will tell you that they prefer games which grab them, and pull them into the world as presented (at least games that have stories). This presents a problem for game designers, as they are being asked to create a form of entertainment which is both immersive, essentially believable, and which fundamentally works against the reward system we have come to expect from reality.

I actually rather like DEH's approach to the problem solving issue in that they don't shy away from any particular solution, and instead present them all as equally viable, which leaves the choice of capacity up the whim of the player. In essence, it asks you to set your own hard limits, and then lets you go about your business with a sliding difficulty scale.

While this is a good point, the original Deus Ex was filled with moments of desperation. You really had to use your intelligence to formulate a strategy and use the environment to your advantage during split-second life-or-death decisions. By the time you were actually competent at combat, you had learned to apply this sort of ingenuity to every facet of the game (including actions that could profoundly change the storyline).

I foresee a lot of people who weren't fans of the original will just play this as a standard cover shooter (or even a standard stealth game), and then they will denounce it as average because they're never really expected to test the limits of what they can do in order to survive. Essentially, a lot of people could mistake failure with 'Oh, I just need to shoot better', instead of 'Hm...what can I use for a different approach this time?' While that's certainly still viable, a lot of the genius of this game will fly right over people's heads, instead of presenting itself front-and-center.

Thankfully, the enemy AI is really, really good, and it's really difficult to take on numerous enemies all swarming towards you at once with how easily Adam can die and how light his ammo reserve usually is (this can also lead to desperation), so I guess we'll see how most people end up receiving the game.

The fact that Jensen is a mechanically augmented cyborg is all most people need to suspend their disbelief, and the fact that it's a videogame means that the penalty isn't very high if you decide to try something new and die in the process. When your split-second planning rewards you with victory, it is immensely satisfying.

Chrysaor686 wrote:
While this is a good point, the original Deus Ex was filled with moments of desperation. You really had to use your intelligence to formulate a strategy and use the environment to your advantage during split-second life-or-death decisions. By the time you were actually competent at combat, you had learned to apply this sort of ingenuity to every facet of the game (including actions that could profoundly change the storyline).

See, I never experienced that. When I played the game I found that it heavily encouraged stealth, to the point of combat being impossible in the early game. I've always felt that, in gaming, placing an emphasis on stealth is mistaken for freedom of choice, and that Deus Ex was a prime example of this. In fact, were it not for the terrible map design, I would say IW offered the player more choice in terms of problem solving.

Keep in mind that using cover and shooting enemies is a form of problem solving.

Chrysaor686 wrote:
I foresee a lot of people who weren't fans of the original will just play this as a standard cover shooter (or even a standard stealth game), and then they will denounce it as average because they're never really expected to test the limits of what they can do in order to survive. Essentially, a lot of people could mistake failure with 'Oh, I just need to shoot better', instead of 'Hm...what can I use for a different approach this time?' While that's certainly still viable, a lot of the genius of this game will fly right over people's heads, instead of presenting itself front-and-center.

See, I feel like Deus Ex did the same thing, but instead sold itself as a stealth/action game instead of as a cover shooter. I think it got away with this because the lack of stealth/action games, and cyber-punk title to a lesser extent, made people think critically about it. IW tried to rectify this, but ended up failing because it is really, really hard to create a game that is, for lack of a phrase, a "comprehensive first-person experience" and neither the developers, nor the producers, really seemed to understand that. It was a case of being overambitious. DEH is probably a little overambitious, and will fail in some respects, you're pointing out one of them, but its much, much larger budget will cover many flaws.

Chrysaor686 wrote:
Thankfully, the enemy AI is really, really good, and it's really difficult to take on numerous enemies all swarming towards you at once with how easily Adam can die and how light his ammo reserve usually is (this can also lead to desperation), so I guess we'll see how most people end up receiving the game.

See, I didn't experience that either. However, without patting myself on the back too much, I've found that I'm better than average at FPS games in general, and cover shooters in particular (a life of sports has lead to good reflexes and hand-eye coordination, its why so many frat boys are good at Halo); so I'm not necessarily the best judge.

Chrysaor686 wrote:
The fact that Jensen is a mechanically augmented cyborg is all most people need to suspend their disbelief, and the fact that it's a videogame means that the penalty isn't very high if you decide to try something new and die in the process. When your split-second planning rewards you with victory, it is immensely satisfying.

No doubt, its why I used to love Tribes, and why I'm excited for Tribes: Ascend.

I wonder if there is a third person zoom out cam for it , you know like those that they put on Fallout newer series and the Elder Scroll. I am okay with FPS though

dogma wrote:See, I never experienced that. When I played the game I found that it heavily encouraged stealth, to the point of combat being impossible in the early game. I've always felt that, in gaming, placing an emphasis on stealth is mistaken for freedom of choice, and that Deus Ex was a prime example of this. In fact, were it not for the terrible map design, I would say IW offered the player more choice in terms of problem solving.

Keep in mind that using cover and shooting enemies is a form of problem solving.

It's not so much the fact that it was a stealth game (Hell, go Advanced in Pistols and take the GEP gun and you'll be kicking ass and taking names at the very start, with little need for stealth at all; if you saw it as simply a stealth-centric game, then that's just the way you chose to play). It's the fact that it gave you a lot of different ways to approach your objective, and a lot of the objects in the game world and your inventory could have a profound effect on how the game played out. The longer you played, the more options you had, due to your growing inventory and augmentations. No other game really had enough detail to reward creativity like Deus Ex did, and even recent games are lacking this amount of player input.

However, player choice wasn't constricted to level design and character builds. If you only played the game once, chances are that you only heard about 25% of the dialogue (most of which is mandatory). There are a lot of different ways to affect the storyline and the way that characters react to you (Ion Storm covered every possibility, and there was literally nothing that the game prevented you from doing, though you were always given a consequence for even your most minor decisions). You see a result for nearly every one of your actions, and people are still discovering new options within the game to this day. Deus Ex is the pinnacle of interactive storytelling, and none of your choices are irrelevant. There is a very good reason why this is still the favorite game of thousands of people. You can no longer chalk it up to a lack of stealth-centric games or similar settings.

The only games that come close to being nearly as interactive as Deus Ex are text adventures, and you can hardly call those games in this day and age.

I don't expect Human Revolution to have quite this much dynamic storyline content, but it would be nice to be able to make at least a few pivotal decisions that aren't just constricted to two branching options (I have seen a few so far, which is good, but I'm hoping there are some which I didn't even notice). One of the cool things about the decisions in Deus Ex is that a lot of the time, you ddn't even realize you were making them until you played through the game again and tried to deviate from your previous playthrough (your options were never really layed out before you, and were often defined through real-time gameplay). I definitely want more of that.

dogma wrote:See, I didn't experience that either. However, without patting myself on the back too much, I've found that I'm better than average at FPS games in general, and cover shooters in particular (a life of sports has lead to good reflexes and hand-eye coordination, its why so many frat boys are good at Halo); so I'm not necessarily the best judge.

Good for you. If I were using a mouse and keyboard setup, I would be much better at headshotting the opposition, but I prefer a 360 controller for all of the other controls (though I've never been that good at crosshair movement with a controller). I also like the little bit of extra challenge, because it forces me to think instead of just shoot.

However, if you didn't notice how much better the AI was than most other triple-a titles out there, you must be blind. There's always 'Deus Ex' difficulty if you feel the need for it.

Retrias wrote:I wonder if there is a third person zoom out cam for it , you know like those that they put on Fallout newer series and the Elder Scroll. I am okay with FPS though

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a hybrid FPS/3PS, but there is not a function that allows you to play the whole game in third person. You zoom out to third person during dialogue, while performing takedowns on an enemy, and while hiding behind cover. It seems jarring when you watch someone else play it, but it's actually really natural when you pick it up and play it yourself. It doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.

That trailer gave me fething goosebumps. I watched a few other youtube videos and they, combined with the cinematic and the comments from this thread, have been enough to convince me to pre-order the limited edition. Thanks for the find Chrysaor, can't believe I haven't seen this game yet.

Chrysaor686 wrote:
You can no longer chalk it up to a lack of stealth-centric games or similar settings.

Sure I can, nostalgia is a powerful force. There's a reason many critics, of all types, regularly name their favorite things as those which were experienced in childhood. I think this has caused the game to be overrated.

Not that I'm immune to this, I overrate my own childhood gaming experiences.

Well, I've never seen this game series before. Looks like a cyborg Neo to me. Which is very attractive.

Do want.

dogma wrote:See, I never experienced that. When I played the game I found that it heavily encouraged stealth, to the point of combat being impossible in the early game. I've always felt that, in gaming, placing an emphasis on stealth is mistaken for freedom of choice, and that Deus Ex was a prime example of this. In fact, were it not for the terrible map design, I would say IW offered the player more choice in terms of problem solving.

Your problem was in the original game(s) the upgrade paths were not intuative and rifles were intruduced way before you could be skilled in them, so you really wanted to use bigger weapons but really you were better off blasting your pistol skill into orbit first. That and the stealth skills/paths were really skill-less meaning you can do them no matter how you were built, and they were the best way of getting through any area with more items/health/ect. was pretty stealth encouraging.

but yeah, you could go through as a meathead, just you had to play towards the system where the stealth portions of the game were intuiative. If you climb through this vent, you can avoid the fight, as opposed to "well I wish i had bought that rifle mod 4 hours ago so i could use this thing"

I had no problem with the original game, it was good. I'm merely stating that good game design doesn't really revolve around actual freedom of choice.

Just pre-ordered my copy, can't wait till the 23rd. I'm still a little nervous that it's been dumbed down for the console players.

Preordered augmented edition, I had some spare cash and everyone is raving about it

Plus the TF2 items is a nice touch! (man this is one CRAZY summer for TF2)

*Looks at TF2 items, then looks at the Xbox.*

I was a huge fan of the original Deus Ex, will definitely pick this up. I liked the storyline a lot, and I found the feeling of becoming post-human really authentic with all the game changing augs you could get access to. It was FUN!

This thread =

Chrysaor686 wrote: LOOK AT ME I GOT THE GAME EARLY TRALALALAALALALA

Judging from the gametrailers review it looks quite 'clunky'. The graphics are perfectly servicable but the animation (besides the 'canned' mocap stuff which doesnt count) in both the movement and facial/expression departments looks distinctly last gen. A further kick in the teeth is according to GT the story isnt great, If an internet 'journalist' says this it meansit will be TERRIBLE.

Positives/reasons i will probs still get it. I liked the previous games. Though repetitive the game seems to give you alot of 'choice' (i.e. ventilation ducts ). I think the soundtrack could be good. Theres nothing else to play till late september. Oh and the hacking looks cool.

Perkustin wrote:This thread =

Chrysaor686 wrote: LOOK AT ME I GOT THE GAME EARLY TRALALALAALALALA

Judging from the gametrailers review it looks quite 'clunky'. The graphics are perfectly servicable but the animation (besides the 'canned' mocap stuff which doesnt count) in both the movement and facial/expression departments looks distinctly last gen. A further kick in the teeth is according to GT the story isnt great, If an internet 'journalist' says this it meansit will be TERRIBLE.

Positives/reasons i will probs still get it. I liked the previous games. Though repetitive the game seems to give you alot of 'choice' (i.e. ventilation ducts ). I think the soundtrack could be good. Theres nothing else to play till late september. Oh and the hacking looks cool.

I think dear fellow that you have forgotten about Space Marine

On topic, if I get a sudden windfall then I will possibly buy this (and by windfall I mean my parents realising that my A level results were actually quite good)

Just started it this morning and got an hour or so in before work.

I have a feeling this is going to be a great game.

I can't wait to clock out today and go put some real time into it!!!

It looks absolutely beautiful on my machine too!

Hopefully will get mine sometime today!

I got mine a few hours ago. So far so good. I have been waiting on this one for years.

This, space marine and skyrim... what to choose between?

Why pick? They are nicely staggered for walllet-conservation (or the illusion thereof).