Can't say i liked the boss battles, but i love the game. As i did the other two games, yes even Invisible War, so fuck you!.

Great article. I love these in depth looks at the industry

Deus Ex: HR is my favorite game of the year as well. It was the worthy successor to Deus Ex that I've wanted for nearly a decade.

Is it without flaw? Not exactly, but we're basically talking about a fresh start. It's not a true sequel in the sense that they have the opportunity to build significantly on technological and gameplay decisions already made. They needed to modernize the game just enough not to trivialize the core elements. They accomplished, if not the impossible, at least the improbable. What were the odds?

Full faith in the sequel. I'd preorder it as soon as they offered them, and I never do that.

"If you weren't a combat-heavy character, the game's boss battles were a jarring change."

nope

Man, I feel like I should play this game now.

@Jimbo said:

I haven't played enough of it to pass judgement on the whole game (lost my save, not feeling much urge to rush back to it and start over), but I found how heavily it leans on you to go stealth to be really off-putting. I felt like I was playing that way because the game obviously wanted me to play that way, rather than because I was choosing to play that way. Given how important player agency was to DX, I found that disappointing.

I just started a second run of HR as a guns blazing type of character after completing it as a stealthy pacifist. I've only gone through the first mission in the factory, but I still earned plenty of experience just killing every last punk I saw, and after looting their corpses, I ended the mission with significantly more credits than I did in my stealth run.

Don't know if this follows through to the rest of the game, but there seems to be a subtle balance: stealthy characters earn more experience, as they are more dependent on augs, whereas Rambo characters end up with more credits to afford more firepower.

After Deus Ex I can't wait to see how Thief 4 turns out.

I find it hard to believe for example the boss fight in the water didn't raise some very basic gameplay issues. That being unless you took a specific perk ahead of time, that fight was by a wide margin the most diffcult part of the game. I ended up beating that boss in a way I'm sure the developers didn't intend.

But then how exactly do you have a boos fight that a stealthy dude and an assault spec can both take on. It's a challenge to not make it the same thing over and over.

The game was good though. I'd totally be on board for another sequel. I like the world they set up; just let me explore more of it...

I'd be happy with less world locations... if you just let me explore more of Hong Kong for example. But all the levels were awesome.

@mutha3 said:

I sort of disagree with the logic behind the ending spoken of in the article.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

If you consider one man unable to make a decision for all of mankind -- then the Darrow ending is the one to pick , since it actually sends out the truth to the masses. By blowing up the structure, you are suppressing the truth and you give free reign to the powers that be to spin the entire thing.

The suicide ending is just kind of dumb.

I had pretty big issues with the game's story(mostly its paper-thin characters), but the gameplay was rock solid. Its been a while since I had a good stealth experience. Am looking forward to playing future games from this dev team.

Well, but

I think the game has some pretty tremendous writing, personally, outside of a few key instances of plotitis affecting Adam's brain.

All the boss battles really needed was a pacifist solution. I liked them just fine in my gunner playthrough, they just don't adapt to a stealthy pacifist run. A simple hackable turret in the room or way to run away would solve the issue, which is exactly what the original Deus Ex did.

As for the rest I thought the game was aces. It needed one more city hub and a bit less air duct crawling, but overall a stellar gameplay experience that lives up to its name more than any other revival I can think of.

I'm worried about this becoming their cash-cow, but HR stayed fairly true to the original.

Great story Patrick. DXHR is currently on my short list of GOTY nominees. I couldn't tell you if it will stay there once Uncharted 3, and Skyrim come out but the fact that it's within ear shot of those games is very telling of how much Eidos Montreal got right.

Can't wait for The Missing Link DLC.

Still love Human Revolution but after getting into Alpha Protocol.. the decision making shit, the "choose a side in a conversation", role playing, puts everything in HR and every Bioware game since KOTOR to shame.

Sega needs to allow a second AP to be made, and this time let the game be tested and made fun to play and functional before rolling it out.

Great interview. Were it not for Skyrim, this would be a shoe-in for my GOTY.

Also, I have to disagree with the general reaction to the boss battles. I actually LIKE that Adam is faced with situations that aren't perfectly tailored to every play style. It means that your choice of specialization comes with real consequences. Like a hard dose of reality, you have to face the fact that all those points in stealth and hacking aren't going to get you past every obstacle in the world, because the world doesn't revolve around you.

One of your best works, Patrick! Keep it up!

Great read, and thank you for the spoiler tag.

Nice article, Patrick. It's good to hear Dugas' explanation of the boss battle 'outsourcing'. I enjoyed DX:HR and look forward to what Eidos Montreal has planned for this franchise and other properties.

'"As I get older," he said, "I'm more compelled to more meaningful stuff, than just the purely entertaining stuff."'

Never has a truer word been said.

Good read. I think the boss battles were a bit jarring but I didn't find them frustrating. I spec'd stealth and I was able to figure out a way to succeed after a few trys. Felt like a normal boss fight to me which I like. I like having showdowns like that. They weren't great. They were like mediocre Metal Gear bosses.

Anyway, I enjoyed the hell out of this game. I'll probably play through it again soon. Also, really looking forward to the DLC.

I'm definitely interested to see how Eidos Montreal progresses. I wonder what they could do with their own IP.

Patrick, there aren't many articles I sit and read, and thoroughly enjoy, the whole way through, your writing style has a naturally organic approach and keeps me WANTING to read.

Most articles I tend to just read a bit at the top, scan the middle and then the last paragraph and move on. So I hope this shows you something Mr. Klepeck.

"The confused reaction is not what surprised Dugas but the outright frustration. Dugas claimed internal playtesting, which he credits improving many aspects of Human Revolution, didn't raise a red flag here."

Seriously? The boss battles are so frustrating for me that I haven't even been able to get through the game because I'm stuck at the second boss, and always get too angry to keep trying. For a non-combat oriented player, they're nearly impossible

#CHAN

@spilledmilkfactory: There are non-gun solutions to every boss, and basically any piece of equipment you are carrying will be effective. Most notably the stun gun, which is extremely overpowered and can be chained repeatedly to defeat bosses without any challenge at all.

Ideally there would have been a way to defeat those bosses in at least one other fashion. For example, if you had been hacking and reading an extensive amount of email, there would be some kind of solution to the fight requiring the player to make a logical leap based on things they'd read about the bosses. Like maybe if you read about Boss No. 2's damaged psychology you could get her to have a psychological meltdown and make the boss fight easier. I don't know, I'm not the one designing the game...

And for that reason it was an incredibly stupid decision to farm out the boss fights. If there was connective tissue with the rest of Deus Ex then they could have been sublime experiences. For example, what if the boss encounter read your character sheet and fucking...tailored itself to you, at least a little bit? Most of the game can't be like like that, nor should it be, but like Yahtzee said a boss is when the skills you've been developing are tested. Deus Ex was an intelligent game and deserved intelligent bosses.

"The confused reaction is not what surprised Dugas but the outright frustration. Dugas claimed internal playtesting, which he credits improving many aspects of Human Revolution, didn't raise a red flag here."

Seriously? The boss battles are so frustrating for me that I haven't even been able to get through the game because I'm stuck at the second boss, and always get too angry to keep trying. For a non-combat oriented player, they're nearly impossible

@mutha3 said:

I sort of disagree with the logic behind the ending spoken of in the article.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

If you consider one man unable to make a decision for all of mankind -- then the Darrow ending is the one to pick , since it actually sends out the truth to the masses. By blowing up the structure, you are suppressing the truth and you give free reign to the powers that be to spin the entire thing.

The suicide ending is just kind of dumb.

I had pretty big issues with the game's story(mostly its paper-thin characters), but the gameplay was rock solid. Its been a while since I had a good stealth experience. Am looking forward to playing future games from this dev team.

Well, but

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

by sending out the "truth" you're just sending out a speech that Darrow gave. He does reveal the Illuminati and the conspiracy and all that, but he also uses it as his personal soapbox to decry augmentation and technology. By choosing to send out his message, you're not actively manipulating the information, like with the other choices, but you're still validating him. Blowing everything up is the only option that takes everyone's manipulations out of the equation.

I think the game has some pretty tremendous writing, personally, outside of a few key instances of plotitis affecting Adam's brain.

Great read. Rarely do I ever bother to read an entire interview.

One of the best games I have played all year. What a fascinating read! Great work, Patrick.

DX: Human Revolution

Sucky RPG, fun action/stealth game.

@spilledmilkfactory said:

"The confused reaction is not what surprised Dugas but the outright frustration. Dugas claimed internal playtesting, which he credits improving many aspects of Human Revolution, didn't raise a red flag here."

Seriously? The boss battles are so frustrating for me that I haven't even been able to get through the game because I'm stuck at the second boss, and always get too angry to keep trying. For a non-combat oriented player, they're nearly impossible

 

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Anti-electricity man. Anti-electricity. Honestly, I'm not sure how they expect you to beat that boss on your first playthrough without it (unless you know exactly what to do because you've seen Kessler's DE:HR videos). That is part of what made me hate the bosses. Every other spot in the game you can "figure it out", but with those bosses, (well, maybe not the first one), if you chose poorly, you're boned. This is even more true for the third one, although that one does it in a special way that, although I hated the result in practice, I can still respect and appreciate it.

Great read as always.

Considering how much they had to live up to, this turned out quite nice.

Excellent article Patrick ... And I truly appreciate the way you handled the spoiler at the end.

@mutha3: I thought that this was not entirely the case.

I mean, didn't Eliza say that she would edit out the whole Illuminati thing? Or was that someone else's paranoid theory? I'm not sure anymore, but if she did factor the tape then Darrow's Ending was not so truthful after all.

@mutha3: I thought that this was not entirely the case.

I mean, didn't Eliza say that she would edit out the whole Illuminati thing? Or was that someone else's paranoid theory? I'm not sure anymore, but if she did factor the tape then Darrow's Ending was not so truthful after all.

Not sure what to think about this. Loved the first but... I don't know cannot see this being good from all i've seen. Will try ASAP.

On the mobile version of the site it seems to show the first comments rather than the latest i wonder if there is a way to go back to my usual setting?

@LoktarOgar: It's not so bad. More stealth spec boss tactics:

Or, again, if you have a stun gun, just do that.. Mines are also pretty strong because of how predictable their movement is. Lethal stealth also probably has a pistol on hand which is a great weapon.

In any case, there's always a strategy that basically beats the boss for you, the problem is that they are way harder to figure out than they need to be. I played a stealth character on hard my first run and I didn't really use ANY of them. Huge pain in the ass.

My favourite game of the year thus far. And I say this after thinking that they'd never get it right and thinking it'd probably be garbage. Could have done without those boss fights, but they were never that bad, not to me anyway. Great write up, as always Patrick!

@spilledmilkfactory: I played a stealth build too. It wasn't frustrating for me. As much of a challenge as a regular boss.

Here's a tip. Save throughout the boss battle. Deal some damage, find a safe place, regen health and save. That way you're always making some progress in the battle even when you die.

Not as good as the original.

Great stuff. Loved this piece.

@mutha3 said:

@Olivaw said:

@mutha3 said:

I sort of disagree with the logic behind the ending spoken of in the article.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

If you consider one man unable to make a decision for all of mankind -- then the Darrow ending is the one to pick , since it actually sends out the truth to the masses. By blowing up the structure, you are suppressing the truth and you give free reign to the powers that be to spin the entire thing.

The suicide ending is just kind of dumb.

I had pretty big issues with the game's story(mostly its paper-thin characters), but the gameplay was rock solid. Its been a while since I had a good stealth experience. Am looking forward to playing future games from this dev team.

Well, but

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

by sending out the "truth" you're just sending out a speech that Darrow gave. He does reveal the Illuminati and the conspiracy and all that, but he also uses it as his personal soapbox to decry augmentation and technology. By choosing to send out his message, you're not actively manipulating the information, like with the other choices, but you're still validating him. Blowing everything up is the only option that takes everyone's manipulations out of the equation.

I think the game has some pretty tremendous writing, personally, outside of a few key instances of plotitis affecting Adam's brain.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

He does so without telling a single lie, though. if the message is "let humanity decide themselves", I think "show humanity the full truth, despite having a senile old man using it as an argument " is better than "Bury the truth forever".

Besides, blowing yourself up along with hundreds of innocent people, doesn't mean the illuminati is suddenly out of the picture. They will give whatever spin fits them best to the news network(which they have full control over) and there will be no one around to resist them anymore.(David and Adam were their only enemies we knew of)

Its really just kind of stupid when you think about it. Also, the notion that humanity would collectively become tree-hugging hippies if Darrow's message got out is kind of hilarious in the worst way possible.

I think you are rationalizing!

They're all valid choices and valid philosophies, with numerous rationalizations and arguments to support and decry each other, but some are just a bit harder to digest than the rest.

And that is so rare in video games!

Man, I haven't talked about a game this much in years.

@Satori said:

Not sure what to think about this. Loved the first but... I don't know cannot see this being good from all i've seen. Will try ASAP.

It's not perfect by any means, but it's worth buying. I got it for $40 off Amazon, and it's worth that.

Thief 4! This gets better and better!

Good stuff Klepek

I'm actually now excited for how they do the boss fights in the new DLC to fit with the rest of the game. I think the very last boss fight against Zhao was going towards that where my hacking skills + Cloak helped a lot against the turrets.

I have yet to get this game... and it seriously hurts my ballz to know I'm not playing it right this fucking minute.