Deus Ex: Human Revolution Retrospective | A Dramatic Return to Form
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- After the dreadful Invisible War, Deus Ex: Human Revolution captures most of what I loved about the original game.
Buy Human Revolution on GOG at: www.gog.com/game/deus_ex_huma... (aff link)
Deus Ex Retrospective - • Deus Ex is Still (Most...
Deus Ex: Invisible War Retrospective - • How NOT to Make a Sequ...
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Intro - 0:00
Making of - 1:16
Return to form - 8:42
Story - 30:22
Side quests - 44:56
Spin-off media - 46:41
Missing Link DLC - 51:32
Conclusion - 56:03
#DeusExHumanRevolution #HumanRevolution #DeusEx #EidosMontreal #ImmersiveSim - Hry
Here are some timestamps: Intro - 0:00
Making of - 1:16
Return to form - 8:42
Story - 30:22
Side quests - 44:56
Spin-off media - 46:41
Missing Link DLC - 51:32
Conclusion - 56:03
You didn't rescue Malik! How could you sir? :)
sucks that they did woke sjw kamala khan simulator marvel avengers game instead of making a third deus ex game
Good man.
Great job, Man. Please do mankind divided next
Sensible Chuckle Weekly - 21:57
I soooo hope Deus Ex comes back, after the abysmal failure of Avengers. This is a valuable series, with so much to offer.
Yes square said it's only paused due to the team working on avengers, 3rd game will come.
Oh man that's a relief!
@@PurposelessRabbitholes, wouldn't hope much...
DXMD was well received in critique and players after the mess settled down, but it's reported as a "flop", as sales weren't as great as it was with HR....
The Avengers game nuclear flop MAY have given DX franchise some hope, but i don't know WHERE it could go after MD (either the Juggernaut collective ends destroyed and we see Jensen's Manchurian agent status be the main reason as we play him, or it could be Jensen once more causing the Illuminati and the in the making MJ12 to suffer more spanner in the works as he sets the gears for entire events for when DX plot happens)...
@@andrehashimoto8056 Well, since Jensen's story was set to be a trilogy since the start and since MD's story was reportedly cut in half, they have already some scenario ideas for the next episode (it it is ever published...). Same for the locations (example: They made concept arts for the augmented city Rabiah). How Page took over... and why not a possible "ascension" of Jensen with Eliza. So I wouldn't worry about the story... if they ever decide to ever make the 3rd and final episode of the trilogy...
@@andrehashimoto8056 My guess on the Jensen clone is that they were going to do something like the original Deus Ex - Where JC Denton works for the Illuminati until he realizes what is going on and then goes rogue.
After cyberpunk we need the king to return.
in general: ALL THIS CYBER/FUTURE STYLE! And not just small indie games - BIG GAMES!
Currently, I really enjoy Cyberpunk (the general style, feeling, experience! Story is alright, bugs & optimization.. yeah..), I nejoy it veyr mugh and it makes me very happy... and sad! THe last time I felt this good was with the Mass Effect trilogy and Andromeda was my hope to get this feeling back - and ofc, it was a big dissapointment..
I hope more such titles prosper and are released in near future, I soo miss them - Mass Effect, Deus-ex... heck, Dead Space was such a great vibe!
@@Hriskataaa OH MY! I also miss Mass Effect franchise, the trilogy I mean, and Deus Ex Human Revolution and Mankind Devided, those are amazing games that should have sequels!
Give Cyberpunk a year or so it and may become the new king
All hail king Adam! 🙌
@@JGD185 let's give Cyberpunk fifty years to see if it becomes the king
It took me many, MANY reloads, but I did save Malek while doing a ghost run and it was goddamn satisfying.
Same. I was also completing a Pacifist play through and had to reload my save every time I found that one dead enemy.............I regret nothing.
In my first playthrough I raced to the VTOL to break in and free Malek, but the ship blew up in such a way that I thought my approach had triggered a scripted event. Least to say when I infiltrated the Harvester lair soon after I made a rather unsettling discovery when I walked into _that_ room.
@@AnonEMus-cp2mn
After I saw that room during my first play-through, I went back through that area and made my displeasure known to the Harvesters.
Just needed a few energy bars and double knocked out everyone.
@@kato1kalin The main problem is not having the robot blow up.If you're quick and prevent this, you're golden.
This is a game that I can play forever. Every time I replay it, I discover something new.
Immersive sims are really my favourite genre. Shame they aren't more popular :(
Yep, the attention to details is amazing. For example, by using the "See through walls" augmentation in the Detroit appartements building, you can see characters in the rooms located behind some of the unbreakable and unopenable doors. And if you have the laser rifle, it's even funnier. There are a lots of little things like that in the game. It's a nice touch.
They are popular with the players but not for companies: add "multiplayer" and microtransactions and you make a ton of money with little content. Developing an immersive game however takes a lot of time and risk and you only get payed once when the game sells. no stupid skins or weapons or other items to sell to continue revenue streams
czcams.com/video/1e0PKWcjFqw/video.html
Inspired by the Ambient Track of Deus Ex 1, ( enemy within), check this out and help me please to help and save our world - JcD Helios Mo11.01.2021
Too bad, such games aren"t popular enough, thought...
arkane studios bro..
DX HR was one of my first "complex" games. As in more than just walking, fighting and solving puzzles.
Ghosting this game is one of the most satisfying things I've experienced in games.
Wish I could say the same about ghosting irl
The game is trully excellent but the gameplay is a little bit too unbalanced, especially because of unfair xp rewards. When it comes to this (and gameplay in general), Mankind Divided is way better, minus the (half) story, of course.
@@grognougnou I agree. Stealth is favored heavily in HR.
@@hemangchauhan2864 Which I personally didn't really mind, as this game made me a fan of the stealth genre because it does stealth so well
@@hemangchauhan2864 To be fair - the Deus Ex series has always been a fan of stealth over brute force as far as ease of gameplay, and non-lethal choices.
12:13 'So you can't carry five or six guns for every eventuality'
*Currently on screen, Jensen holding 5 guns with different roles*
Mankind Divided Jansen: I have armaments on both my arms.
Human revolution: Weapons are your tools.
Mankind Divided: ", You're a walking tool... Wink."
And nothing else really. With maximum inventory limits.
Yea. Good luck.
@@misterkentury Jansen sounds like a gender-swapped name.
My recent playthrough:
• Stun Gun
• 10 min Pistol
• Revolver
• Submachine Gun
• Tranquilizer Rifle
• Sniper Rifle
And hundreds upon hundreds of rounds of ammo. I think I had 440 SMG runs, and nearly 200 10 mm runs.
Perhaps Cyerpunk 2077's massive (and disastrous) launch will renew interest in a Deus Ex sequel and other "bladerunner-esque" open world RPGs.
I bet sucker punch could do a really good cyberpunk game
LMAO. They sold 13 million copies in one day (counting refunds), and most adults loved it.
You're a liar AND stupid.
Maybe this will scare microsoft enough because infinite could be the next 2077.
@@kato1kalin A massive succsess? I doubt it.
@@WilkesBarreWrestling yeah but now all us adults are no longer in cp2077s honey moon phase, there is ALOT promised still still left to br desired in that game. In fact only over the last few days have I personally reflected on the experience and I bought it day 1 as did so many others and for god sake I wish I took that refund. I hope cyberpunk is a lesson to every dev to stop promising the world to gamers and stop announcing games almost a decade before they release
this game probably has 1/5 of the budget and 1/3 the development time compared to cp2077 and they deliver a better gameplay experience.
Even a better role playing experience and abilities and story I like cyberpunk but it's definitely a step back from Witcher
DXHR and its piss yellow filter will always be my favorite game. Everything's tight, augments are meaningful (and cooler) and the gameplay is more akin to a proper RPG than CP2077 is.
czcams.com/video/1e0PKWcjFqw/video.html
Inspired by the Ambient Track of Deus Ex 1, ( enemy within), check this out and help me please to help and save our world - JcD Helios Mo11.01.2021
Probably way less than 1/5 of the budget actually, considering CP 2077 dev budget was apparently over 200 million. For reference Nier Automata was 14 million.
Rent free
Probably my favorite piece of environmental storytelling in the game is the broken mirror in Jensen's apartment. There's a little note from a repair guy stuck in it, impling that Adam broke it.
Also Malik's side story is explored in a free e-book released before the game. Too bad she didn't come back for Mankind Divided.
They did add in a little easter egg involving a model of her helicopter and a note c:
If you hack the computer in the lobby you can read where that backordered replacement mirror has been.
Turns out the landlord was spinning (her?) Wheels and never got it from the warehouse it was stored in. Its been there for like 4 weeks or something so that mirror has been broke a while.
In one of the pre-release trailers there was a scene where Adam is in his apartment after just getting his augs and it shows him breaking the mirror.
HR/MD are in my top 5 games ever. Unbelievably good games.
I can't decide which one is better. I love HR and I think it's superior to MD in some ways.
But I also love MD and I think it's better than HR in other regards and Prague is so fun and unique setting.
Too bad MD was half baked
@@deniskasperovich8251 Human Revolution has the better story, but MD has so much player choice in terms of Augs, level design, & especially the ending.
Your favorite games are just dumbed down versions of a better game?
El Diablo, I love how you comment with purpose seemingly only to be a dismissive dick. Why are you bothered that people like things you dont? What kind of prick wants gets angry at other peoples joy?
I love how at 2:30 he gets the merciful soul bonus for non lethal takedowns, yet one of the guys is slipping into the sewer so they're definitely gonna down 🤣
@blackrave404 I actually did that all the time on my first playthrough back on Xbox 360 🤣
@blackrave404 I've heard a lot about invisible war, but I haven't played the first few. I started with Human Revolution and haven't tried the earlier games yet.
The real cyber punk
czcams.com/video/1e0PKWcjFqw/video.html
Inspired by the Ambient Track of Deus Ex 1, ( enemy within), check this out and help me please to help and save our world - JcD Helios Mo11.01.2021
A King of Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk makes this like the best game ever
21:56 "to quote my wife when we first started dating; its not the smallest but Its far from the biggest"
*lmao*
and it really shoudn't have this kind of performance problems..
This was great dude LOL
lol, i bet his wife cheats on him... sad...
@@classicgamingtimes6505 woah, big stretch there
God it's such a chad move for something so not Chad to say that I'm broken inside. So I'll give him the biggest of madlads.
Honestly Human Rev is among my favourite games of all time.
I met a pair of the devs at an airport a few years ago and they were super nice and excited to meat a fan aha
how did you recognize them?
also i think Mankind Divided is superior
@@whodatninja439 mankinded divided is frustrating. The gameplay and level design are absolutely incredible, but i really feel like they didnt commit hard enough to the themes. The example i always point to is the security checkpoints. I think it was a good idea to have separate aug and nonaug paths, but it was too easy to get through the aug line. They should have made it so that both options suck. Going the aug line should take a long time but be safer, but going the nonaug line should be dangerous. It would sell the world more
@@whodatninja439 I really bounced off of MD pretty fast. Everything about it is boring and underwhelming - the story, the locale, the progression, the shitty pay to win dlc, etc.
HR is one of my all-time favorite games. The Directors Cut is damn near flawless.
"..and they were super excited to meat a fan" oh. Were they now? ;)
I totally asked for this
This game also did the whole first person to third person cover transition pretty well.
Similar controls to Ranbow Six Vegas, kind of why i liked it
@@chandlerkoskela3320 Yeah, and while I like both HR and MD games, I must say I vastly prefer HR's control for cover system more. Somehow I found MD's cover system kind of clunky? I got a feeling MD went that route after seeing Splinter Cell Conviction's cover system (it was either that one or Blacklist) and decied to adapt that method instead.
I remember going through the helicopter crash bit on my 1st playthrough. I was doing a non lethal run, and after 2 hours of retrying I took saved Malik and felt like a KING, until I realized too late that 1 guy died after an emp took out a mech and him ruining the non lethal run. Feels bad man.
36:46 because Darrow himself is either incapable of receiving augmentations because of his DNA not being compatible or is allergic to Neuropozyn (can't remember the exact reasons) and he's jealous.
If I can remember corectlly Darrows body is as you said Incapable of receiving augmentations, its like a syndrome of some kind, it even has its own medical name in a world of the game.
Whats more depressing? The fact the world is increasingly becoming a parallel of Deus Ex, and the fact we will probably never see a conclusion to the tragic tale of Adam Jensen?
Fucking Square Enix, chopping the 2nd game into 3 parts and never releasing the other two...
Arguably, the key to saving Malik when playing stealthily is pickng up the Armor Piercing mod for your pistol. That thing becomes extremely OP once you can take out armored enemies with a single headshot (something you can't do with the silenced sniper rifle, which I carried as backup on my first playthrough and which turned out to be completely insufficient in that encounter). Combine the AP pistol with some EMP grenades to take care of the bots and that section becomes relatively easy.
It's way more difficult (though still possible) to do it non-lethally, but I never tried it because protecting Malik becomes a priority for me during that sequence.
I personally prefer this over Cyberpunk 2077. Deus Ex HR is one of my all time favorites. Also it has more impactful cybernetics and augments.
Yeah same I kinda wish cyberpunk blown deus ex out of the water but sadly AAA games nowadays are shit.
-Also it has more impactful cybernetics and augments.
THIS...can't empathize how literal it is.
like the fact that you can literally overclock and cook Jensen on the inside by unlocking the experimental augs in MKD is way ahead of its time and gives the player a sense of caution which aug to pick and what not to for the first few hours of the game.
@@jaysanj152 ikr they where soo ahead of time with there lvl design and character progression. The story was ok imo
I said this to my friend..and now he hates me lel.. *CDPR fanboy
After playing CP2077, I really wish CDPR limited the scale of the game and focused on making smaller but more meaningful hubs like HR did rather than the large (and beautiful) but ultimately empty Night City. Plus the augments in HR actually allowed for specialization and were more meaningful than the looter shooter stat fest that CP2077's gameplay ended up becoming. While I personally liked CP2077, its hard not to feel like there was so much potential that was lost due to CDPR's feature creep problem.
The timing of this video for me was insane.
Just yesterday, I saw a steam sale, and noticed the Deus Ex games on sale, and decided to look into them.
I was slightly disappointed to see there wasn't too much content talking about the game.
I just woke up with this in my inbox. What the fuck
He knows...
Maybe I might be out of my mind, but I usually prefer the original's filter haha
Nope! It is awesome!
Yours not alone, the filter enhanced the games ambience and golden age aesthetic
So do I. You’re not alone.
How hard is it for people to understand ambiance?
Same!
Grew up in sight of the stadium... Montreal represent! Plus this was one of my first "let's not kill everyone" type of gaming experience, so that was neat!
one of the most underrated seris ever it should be played by every single rpg fan
I want a third game so bad to complete Adam's story and lead into the original Deus Ex.
13:24 “the ones who were sent to stand in the corner like misbehaving children with a death wish” - that is one true masterpiece of a comparison, my congratulations. Honestly.
21:55 Savage self burn right there.
Much appreciated my guy, love the content. This comment will appease our lord CZcams
Human Revolution is the old school rpg brought to a modern field.
And we love it. Well, I do.
It's barely even an RPG. By the time you get through the game you're basically an expert at everything.
@@yourgameisstupid this
@@yourgameisstupid but until you get to that point your choice in augmentations dramatically affects how you play the game just because you become a master of everything at the end does not make it any less of an RPG LOL
@@eziospaghettiauditore8369 Disagree. You can keep your skills high enough in most relevant areas to still play the game as a generalist: e.g. most high hacking requirements only appear late in game, so you never need to become a specialist hacker.
HR was the closest the AAA industry was ever going to get to the original, and I was so surprised that they actually achieved it.
21:56 made me laugh, well done.
I love this game, and I'm glad to hear you talk about it.
SpyboyXFlygirl for life.
Same here :D Great video
The most interesting thing about this game is that the end credits hits at Meghan being responsible for the gray death or nano augmentation (I don't remeber which) but I know Bob paige made an appearance as well
ohhh man the saving Malik bit on non-lethal.
I did it, took a tranq rifle, stungun. loads of energy for both, loads of biocells, fully upgraded non-lethal takedowns, and fully upgraded sprinting. Picked off all the heavies with tranqs, ran in, stunned anyone slightly further away right before double-takedowns up close. Replenish biocell, spam takedown button again. Rinse, repeat.
worth it tho, wasn’t it ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I too did it and it was one of the biggest and best gaming challenges I ever took on.
@@everythingiseconomics9742 I got such a sense of pride & accomplishment it was almost like opening an EA surprise mechanic.
@@InnuendoXP try surpassing it by saving Paul Denton on the original Deus Ex non lethal lol.
@@everythingiseconomics9742 lol yeah i never got that good at the original. I just filled the doorway with LAMs & gas mines
I’m lucky for this to have been my first deus ex game. I had invisible war as a demo on original Xbox but playing this made me fall in love with this series and the whole cyberpunk theme
One of the absolute best games I've ever played. Great take, sir
I was just looking for a critique like this and come along you... love it!!!
Bought it years ago, finally playing it now. Doesn't really feel like a 10 year old game. Finding the stealth element pretty frustrating even on low difficulty. Great design and atmosphere though.
This game could be a AAA game even today, release it after Cyberpunk and it would knock that shit right off, pissing off CDPR fanboy to no end lol
I find the stealth janky.
Loved seeing this video, brother. Keep up the tactful introspection!!
This game. I love the guns, the music, the artstyle, the stealth, the protagonist. The sidequests are great.
It is just the main story, the boss fights and the endings that hurt so much.
I loved the yellow filter. I can’t be the only one. It stuck in my mind for a long time afterwards, like the matrix’s green.
The original has such a deeper plot, with such better writing and characters across the board, that comparing the two is borderline silly. I prefer the original's RPG gameplay approach over HR's action gameplay approach, but I'd understand if someone felt the otherwise.
The original game is cool and has much more in immersive sim but it is difficult as hell.
Also story in both games was the thing i never fully understood.
You come off like hot air elitist
DX HR is a great game that has borderline nothing to do with Deus Ex.
@@davidkirinic9463 You come off as extremely insecure.
I prefer the look of the original game, "piss filter" included. I tried to play the Director's Cut version later on, and I thought it was incredibly drab and lifeless, at least on PS3. The game's art and environments were designed around having the filter there, so removing it without touching up the art results in a game that's harder to read and lacks any identity, IMO.
You can even see this in your video with environments darker than they should be and characters just fading into it without the filter there to draw sharp lighting contrasts.
Yeah honestly I like the orange filter
I agree too, I honestly dont mind how the directors cut looks, but I never found the yellow filter to be too much, it just sorta set the mood for me.
Precisely! The art is more consistent with the filter on.
the piss filter worked. Its to convey the idea that it was a new 'gilded age'.
@@Sleexb Also black and gold is a great color combo
R.I.P. Deus Ex. We will never get a wrap up to Adam Jensen’s story after Mankind Divided. 😭
"Most of the missions in Human Revolution are set during the day"??? Did we play the same game?
You seem to be ignoring the second half of the statement that said during the day or brightly lit areas, while the video showed a nighttime scene but near the neon lit night club.
did he mistake this for Mankind Divided??????
Well, Hengsha 1 is set during the day. Just the player spends most of his time in lower Hengsha with the city's second level hiding the sky, excepted in some parts on the corners so...
Been playing this game on my 360 for the last few weeks. Love playing it
Brilliant video thanks ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Glad you made this. I have beaten this game more times than I can count. I remember the awe I felt back then when I replayed the game and forced myself to do a non lethal stealth playthrough on hard. It was the first time I remembered a game being so well-designed that levels allowed for equally viable yet completely different gameplay styles.
It clicked when Adam goes to the bunker below Picus HQ. Sneaking around there in between cubicles and desks while dodging patrol guards and video cameras on multiple levels felt so smooth.
Only complaint in hindsight is I wish fall damage wasn't so harsh. It really takes away from the stealth ninja buold when a wrong jump can insta kill you. Thank God for Icarus landing system
So refreshing to see intelligent AI after I have been Cyberpunked lately.
Thanks for a great video, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I love your content. Stay safe and thank you.
Great video. Very enjoyable watch/listen
Fantastic critique/review. Much appreciated.
best channel on youtube
No way am I ever replaying DE HR without the visual filter. I like all all the orange tints and glowies everywhere.
Same same. And having the DLC be slotted into the main campaign is a weird choice.
Good man! Well done.
Here's hoping one we get a vid for Mankind Divided. It feels so overlooked, I remember it being awesome! :)
Because it was, one of my favorite games to date.
Same. I took too much time exploring everywhere just for the heck of it and found a murder/suicide. I’m just disappointed the taser was removed.
for me iwas MUCH better than human revolution, the gameplay, level design, music and specially the aesthetic is truly worthy of the original compared to human revolution.
Saving Malik pacifist. It took me a good hour, but I managed to do it on my third playthrough of the game. You can't spend any more than 10 seconds per enemy. Definitely the most satisfying thing I've done in any game.
Invisible war was my first Deus Ex game and I still enjoy playing it from time to time.
the game is like 30 rock(sit com) the more I visit back the more I realise that there were finer details I missed . that augment fix thing , the way it was presented in such an obvious manner and giving you a choice while making it in such a way that most people would get the fix .brilliant >
The Detroit Police Department is a good example of a map giving you multiple ways to gain entrance and achieve your goal: talking to the receptionist (with or without the aug that helps persuasion), entering through the midlevel using hacking, the roof through an unlocked vent, through sewers using either hacking or the passcode hidden behind a breakable wall or just going full Terminator and murdering the entire precint.
that Jensen's parents side quest really sad man I can feel his sadness
Jensen doesn't have any parents.
Human Revolution is one of my favorite games of all time. A true love letter to the original game.
It’s a shame that Square completely bungled Mankind Divided. At this point I hope there aren’t any additional games in the franchise soon lol.
I disagree somewhat about your endings arguments around 44:36 : you said it would have been better to have the game use previous actions in the game to make or affects those ending choices, instead of just pressing a button. I understand where that comes from, but I think you forget the counter-argument: the game doesn't know _why_ you did those things in the past. Basically it wouldn't have been _your_ endings or _Jensen_ endings, it would have been the writer or designer interpretation of what you perceived could be done and achieved to do in the past game.
And that's a *huge* difference. It's a old argument in game design circles about actions, intentions, discussions and lies; it may even be a "cursed problem". For example, you might have saved Darrow at the end because you have a daddy's thing and you think he's hot. Or to troll him. Or just for the challenge. Your may present itself in a scene as the better child angel of both Gandhi and Mother Theresa, but you the player made conscious calculated choices of lying and manipulation. That's why some crpg offer the [LIE] option, telling the designer there's a dichotomy here between the character appearance and the truth or intent.
Leaving each choice to be the player choice, on its own, is I believe a good way to work around that problem. No quest or narrative designer to interpret the player's decisions into the game world. You, the player, can be as consistent or inconsistent as you want, you can have all the depth and width of your imagination and brain for your own narrative, the game only reacting to specific actions.
TL;DR: i trust my actions as a player and my internal monologue about the experience orders of magnitude more than I trust a narrative designer at a game studio to guess right. And the whole of Mass Effect proved me right 😁
Edit: now, that's not to mean consequences are bad. A game and it's world should definitely have consequences for your actions. That's the cornerstone, _the_ pillar of what a rpg is. And is a always a good thing in any game genre. Consequences away. But from actions, not from divining intent or telegraphing limited scripted options.
What!? The Icarus landing cutscene is my favourite aug yet 😂
Channels that deserve way way way more subs
Prefer Deus ex over cyberpunk 1077.
2077 lol
Hmmm, a medieval/cyberpunk game set in an alternate timeline might be weirdly interesting to play.
I prefer chocolate cake over dog shit
Awesome video as always! I need to get Mankind Divided before the next video 🤣
sooo good. love it
In regards to saving Malik during a non-lethal playthrough you need 2-3 gas grenades to take out the guys on ground, 1 emp grenade for the mech, and a lot of energy for the takedowns or stun gun ammo, as for the guys on the buildings make sure you don't miss any shot with the tranq rifle, as any section of a game it can be learned to the muscle memory through repetition. Whenever I re-play the game I usually fail once or twice until I get the hang of it again, great review man :D
I found it impossible to take out enough guys using the tranq rifle before Farida explodes, so I used gas grenades and Peps and just punched the guys upstairs. For some reason, a few of the guys still died for seemingly no reason even though I used no lethal options and didn't let anyone get shot or die in the mech explosion. It's the one place I'm willing to just let the deaths happen just so that I don't have to replay it again.
Québec has a lot of talented developers because we have a lot of good programs in schools which work hand in hand with studios. Usually, people who teach in the schools are devs themselves and take on apprentices as interns.
I enjoyed Human Revolution when it came out on 360 , bought it again on PC "Director's cut " and again I enjoyed it
thanks for the in-depth review : )
I never asked for this.. but thanks for making it 😁👍
Neat, a video on one of my favorite games of the 360/PS3 generation! Also, as of the time of this comment (Nov 27 2020), HR, as well as Mankind Divided, are currently on sale on Steam for 2.99 USD and 4.49 USD respectively. Just wanna put this out there :)
So much better than Cybertrash 2077
I really enjoyed this video! You clearly put a lot of work into your analysis and I happen to agree with a lot of your thoughts on what makes gameplay interesting/frustrating in HR. I’m old, so I remember playing the original Deus Ex on a really shitty PC (that struggled massively to even finish the game smoothly) and I faithfully have played every instalment since, sometimes much to my horror, haha. HR was the game that made me feel it has done the best job in being faithful to the IP and the lore and modernising this for a new generation, except for the boss fights which you highlighted in your review, they were absolutely woeful. I also chuckled at the dick joke. Kudos for the video, it was great. ✨🙏🏼
personally I didnt mind the gold filter....it definitely cements the prequel era and gives everything a more "shiny" look despite being physically run-down
reminds me of the similar gold tint in the flashback sequences of Godfather Part 2
Yes! It gave it a unique atmosphere. Loved it
Another great video, Chris. I bought DE:HR, DE and DE:MK (acronyms are fun, aren't they) in the most recent Steam sale but haven't gotten around to playing them. Your videos are great motivation!
Great analysis
I love HR and even tho MD gets a lot of hate i like it even more
Im looking forward to your critique of it
I didn't get the upgrade on autopilot, I got it completely wide eyed thinking it was for the greater good. I didn't even stop to think about any consequences. Yes, I fully admit that the game duped me, and I loved it!
I got the upgrade when I played for the first time, and I'm sooo glad I did! The reason I did it was that I thought it would be something I would need to do in order to progress, like it would be an essential plot element or something and the game wouldn't let me continue without it. It made the last boss fight way more challenging as well, and I was already playing on the hardest difficulty! I just love how that little choice is there to reward players who are switched on and paying close attention to the story, and exploring the possibilities open to them within the game - and I guess punishing anyone playing on autopilot and mindlessly following quest markers on the map!
Great critique on a very good game.
Wish you still made videos can’t tell you how many hours of entertainment I’ve gotten out of these videos man.
On the topic of a Deus Ex remake there's a mod called Deus Ex: Revision which improves the graphics (smooths them out, doesn't give it a complete HD overhaul) and adds achievements. Even if you have played before its well worth checking out.
but the gameplay remains the same?
Essentially, yes. It does play better than the original, but it still feels old. Love the game! But it is kinda hard getting back into.
I prefer the original to revision. The hard on revision is insanely hard with instant kills from long distance. Also level design changes make it hard to easily navigate through. You waste hours going around in circles. Went back to the original and haven’t looked back. Gameplay for me should always be number 1
Great video! Would love to see you do Pathfinder Kingmaker. It's the real Baldur's Gate 3!
2077 TIMES BETTER THAN CYBERBUG
Thx for the video! Sadly, i have to save this video for later when i finish HR myself)
Really excited to see your thoughts on
Mankind Divided. I stopped playing about two thirds of the way through when it first released, then restarted it this summer and found myself really loving it. Ended up completing it twice. I came to greatly appreciate the level design and gameplay, but what surprised me was how much I liked the writing. My second playthrough resulted in some surprising revelations and conversations that I didn't get to experience in my first, stealthy, "pacifist" playthrough. Even the somewhat sudden ending didn't bother me, despite being a major concern brought up in reviews and other retrospectives. All in all, I think I actually prefer Mankind Divided to Human Revolution. The original game remains my "favorite" in the series, naturally, but MD is the one I'm most inclined to return to again in the near future.
Twice, so about 4 hours? Har har.
Silly jokes aside, I quite liked MK:D as well. I spent about 15 hours going over Prague with a fine-toothed comb, it was amazing. The rest of the story was brief, but by that point I didn't care, I was already invested. I wish there'd been more, but I agree that it is undeserving of at least some of the flak it drew at release. (And also the DX1 is the best overall).
Mankind Divided is the most underrated game of the past console generation and definitely the GOTY of 2016. Sadly, a lot of stupid gamers complained and metabombed the game for insignificant nitpicking all the while they have been ignoring vastly worse problems in other games. They don't deserve Mankind Divided.
Human Revolution was the first Deus Ex game I played, and the game that got me into Immersive Sims. I have a lot of appreciation for it to this day, and I think there's a lot it did right in revitalizing the formula with some new ideas. However, I think it would be a stretch to say that it's a clear improvement from the original. As flawed as Deus Ex was, it embodied many design principles that were ignored in Human Revolution, and Eidos Montreal boiled down the essence of the series into four "pillars" (stealth/combat/hacking/social) which are fairly well constructed in their own right, but belie some misconceptions about what Ion Storm set out to do.
The first thing a lot of DX purists will bring up is the removal of skills, and I think you do a good job laying out why this is a non-issue. In DX, you could acquire any skill at any time if you had the skill points for it, while augmentations were acquired by finding an augmentation canister and choosing between two binary abilities at a medical bot, after which any ability could be upgraded with another type of canister. In HR, this has all been rolled into one system where any passive upgrade or active ability can be acquired at any time with a praxis point, which extends the flexibility of DX's skills to its more game changing abilities. In contrast to Invisible War, there's a longer route to progression and you have to make permanent choices about how to build your character which have more tangible impacts on your options in the levels. I'd concur that the inventory system also adds a lot of depth that was missing from IW, where your equipment loadout plays a large role in how you tackle obstacles. HR's inventory is one of its strongest elements and I'd say it's better than DX's.
However, the RPG systems also introduce some massive problems. You praise the game for rewarding a nonlethal stealth approach over action combat by granting more XP rewards for ghosting, nonlethal takedowns, and hacking. I would actually submit that this is HR's greatest flaw by a mile. The original DX rewarded 80% of its skill points for goal completion, and 20% for exploration (since that's a core part of gameplay that all players will engage in to a degree). As lead designer Harvey Smith put it, "Reward For Goal Accomplishment, Not Methodology". It's worth reading his comments in full:
"Imagine that the player is outside a locked room and given the goal of entering the room. There is a locked door leading into the room on the north wall and a window on the south wall of the room. So the player can either pick the lock on the north wall or climb up through the window on the south wall. To reward the player for the act of "lockpicking" (as some games have done), but not for the other method of entering the room is to encourage one style of play--one that favors lockpicking. (Similarly, to exclusively reward any other method for entering the room is to encourage that style of play.) To reward both methods of entering the room has two problems: 1) It requires more work, as an individual reward must be attached to each method of entering the room, and 2) it punishes the player who figures out some new, emergent strategy for entering the room by not providing a reward for this method. The optimum solution, from the DX perspective, is to reward the player for entering the room itself, regardless of how he entered. This does not favor a particular play-style, it only requires the placement of one reward and it equally rewards a successful emergent strategy (unforeseen by the designer)."
By attaching XP micro-rewards to so many actions, HR encourages players to seek out opportunities to grind optimal XP bonuses rather than taking an organic approach to problem-solving based on their ingenuity and agency. The latter is still possible by simply ignoring the XP system, but we should consider the purpose and result of dripfeed rewards on player psychology and incentives. Players will talk about how they hack every computer not because it furthers their goals or out of interest in worldbuilding detail, but for hacking XP. Same with the "scholar" XP for reading ebooks, or the "explorer" XP for backtracking through vents after clearing out a level. It's successful as a form of encouragement, but it's arguably too successful. DX's sandbox levels presented challenges that were nontrivial to overcome without surveying the environment and forming strategies -- stealth and subterfuge were tools to for the player to gain the upper hand. HR's levels are mostly up to snuff in this regard, so I don't think it needed any additional encouragement to push players away from rote cover shooting considering the high lethality of enemies, the low ammo drop counts, and clear communication of alternate solutions.
HR's moment-to-moment gameplay also has some problems. While DX's melee combat was clunky, there was depth in aiming for vulnerable body parts and the option to stun enemies with tasers and tear gas to set them up for takedowns with a variety of weapons. HR's melee takedowns are extremely shallow and game breaking. As long as you're near an enemy, you can press a single button to eliminate them with a flashy time-stopping animation. You are at no risk of being seen or killed during a takedown, and can freely chain them together as long as you have enough energy. Yes, there was an attempt to balance takedowns via an energy cost. But this becomes a null tactical concern as energy bars are easy to find and energy can simply be regenerated over time. Nonlethal takedowns are also obviously superior as they are quieter, occur immediately after the button press, and grant more XP. Instant win takedowns would be acceptable if they occurred in real-time and the tradeoff for silent nonlethal takedowns was them taking longer, especially if the player has already been spotted.
HR has some innovations worth praising. Though it's a bit overused, the hacking minigame is an excellent mix of strategy and dynamic risk that maintains real-time danger and interfaces nicely with a number of character statistics and consumable resources. The 3rd person cover mechanic is a bit too beneficial considering the amount of stealth feedback already given to the player at a baseline, but it's snappy to use and the core steath/combat built on it isn't bad. The persuasion minigame outdoes most dialogue systems as a simulation of conversation primarily due to strong writing (and is also better than MD's as it has a random element that makes it less predictable and amenable to trial and error savescumming). Inventory management is sublime, and equipment features an empowering mix of DX and IW's weapon mod mechanics with both granular statistical upgrades and custom mods that alter functionality. The hub locations have a lot of fun opportunities to explore and sidequests are The first mission is brilliant in that the hostage crisis has an actual time pressure, in contrast to most games where narrative urgency is undercut by total leniency in actual gameplay.
I heavily disagree that the Director's Cut is an improvement. Not only does it contain a number of visual bugs (and the yellow filter is just replaced with a gray filter), but it also screws up the game in several ways. You're handed overpowered DLC items off the bat (doubled barreled shotgun and silenced sniper rifle in the first level), and The Missing Link expansion is stitched awkwardly into the main campaign. TML is a great bunch of levels, but it disrupts the pace of the story and exceeds the original difficulty curve. More importantly, it was designed as a standalone mini-campaign where your augmentations are reset. With it jammed into the base game, you are FORCED to respec your character build in a game about making permanent upgrade choices! Not only that, but it throws so many extra praxis kits at you that you can easily acquire every upgrade by the end. The bossfights are marginally improved in the DC, but they were only a minor issue before -- you could use the taser to stunlock Barrett and kill him with explosive barrels already.
Eidos Montreal mostly had their hearts in the right place with HR, and I think their efforts largely paid off. But it's worth noting how some of the immediate gameplay mechanics and supporting RPG systems cut against DX's design philosophy, rather than directly building on it.
@Vynter Stormfell Nah, I'm just a modder (Deus Ex, System Shock 2, Prey). Look for rosodudemods if you're interested. I also do design critiques like this there.
One other thing in regards to thing regarding something lost in translation from ion storm to eidos montreal is something that Warren Spector was on about, regarding how deus ex's design was about allowing viability across different gameplay strategies, not just stealth www.pcgamer.com/spector-created-deus-ex-out-of-thief-frustrations/
Great well-thought and insightful comment. Thanks for the read!
New subscriber. Eagerly waiting for the Mankind Divided upload!
Great video. I just want to add two things that probably nobody mentioned yet:
1. Around 23:24 - the "without detection" requirement is not about a signal jammer, but a side mission you get from Jensen's old buddy from police, the one about crooked cop. Maybe the "no detection" during shutting off signal jammer can change Sarif's response in a later debate about that loophole, although I'm not really sure about it. EDIT: I just completed that mission while setting off the alarm. It didn't change anything about conversation with Sarif.
2. Around 28:55 - indeed, Barrett can eventually kill himself. Even Deus Ex wiki mentions it.
This games asset- and graphic design ist much better than Cyberpunk's. I was a little shocked how poor billboards, posters, logos are designed in Cyberpunk tbh.
According to developer commentary, one of the devs "borrowed" a poster design from his girlfriend who studied art design. Kinda funny. :P
I ADORE the stealth in this game!
Great vid. I never minded the filter in the original version and I find the extra level in the Directors Cut (the boat/prison part) to be very tedious.
Yeah, honestly wouldn’t have minded it if you could skip it. Or if it didn’t reset your augments and force you to take a specific order of augments to get all of your upgrades back.
i love this game so much
I loved this game, jsut played through cause it was on steam for a penny and it's awesome that no matter how you spec jensen there is always a path
This was actually the first RPG I completed when I first got it on Xbox 360. I agree that the original version kinda forced you to take a lethal route, especially with Barrett. The only way I found to easily get post him was to spam the Typhoon, which left me with so little inventory space that I had to stealth my way through the level leading up to him.
You count two Typhoon attacks as spamming them?
@@Rez090 Yeah, I do xx
My favorite game of all time
The division to not get that new implant is one of the best in video games. It doesn't present pre-made solutions, but rewards making up your own mind about what's being cleverly constructed in the game world. There is no quest as such - just a situation and a solution which make sense, in other words: actual roleplay.
Pro tip: don't skip on the typoon augmentation, it makes boss fights a breeze. Just stun them with a grenade then hit them with the typoon twice and they'll go down. It's also great as a last resort if you get surrounded.