E3 2011 Deus Ex Hands On

Deus Ex: Human Revolution will be out soon and it is under an enormous amount of pressure. The original remains one of the most acclaimed PC games of all time, while the second remains one of the biggest disappointments. The third will either be a climb back to the top, or a seal on the series's unfortunate fate.

While the game shows promise, diehard fans of the original will be disappointed. While still an FPS, the game draws heavily from titles like Mass Effect 2, using a third person camera for its cover system, as well as wheel based conversation trees. A welcome addition to the dialogue system is the ability to preview the exact words your character will speak, so there aren't anymore surprises resulting from the sometimes too abbreviated subjects.

The famous flexible gameplay decisions that are the staple of the series are very emphasized. In the opening dialogue you declare your intention; lethal or non-lethal, and close or far range. These seem to be the two major distinctions in the combat of the game.

Combat was no picnic, either. I chose a short range taser gun and augmented myself for silent movement, but the stealth was no joke. I was almost immediately seen as I crawled onto a catwalk far above the heads of the guards in a large room, and once seen I was defenseless with only my taser. I played on medium mode, but died more times than I'm comfortable admitting.

You can still pick up weapons and a myriad of helpful items from dead guards and change your tactics on the fly. You can upgrade augmentations at any time using experience earned in combat. Experience can also be found or bought as an item.

The tiny sliver of story that I experienced seemed deep and thought out, but the dark, gritty and apocalyptic tone of the first game seems to have given way to a more fantastic and melancholy story seen in Japanese influenced games. Only the full game will reveal for sure if the ingenious futurist writing is still intact.