So, who else picked up Deus Ex: HR?

[Gikoku]

Not going to get into any spoilers here. Got my copy for the PC last weekend, and I must say this game is quite excellent. Aside from some of the awkwardly stiff animations in the real-time conversations, and some of the pointless boss battles, I don't have any other complaints. The gameplay is really immersive, and the fact that I have to cleverly plan things out (especially on the highest difficulty) is very satisfying. Running & Gunning will get you nowhere in this game and I applaud that.

So far I'm pretty impressed with the augmentation upgrades, especially since they can actually make a world of difference in the gameplay. I'm not so hooked on the story though, more so I've become hooked by the characters instead, some of them are really interesting to say the least.

What about your thoughts on the game? Anyone else picked this game up or tried it out?

 

[Zarkes]

Saw it yesterday at Walmart, looked good. Is it out for consoles or just Pc?

 

[Gikoku]

Saw it yesterday at Walmart, looked good. Is it out for consoles or just Pc?

Yep, it came out for both.

 

[Tsuyu]

I didn't get it and pre-ordered Space Marine instead (FOR THE EMPRAH!), but I've been hanging out with a friend of mine watching him play it. I'm impressed. For example how the cone of vision for enemies actually "stick" with their head movements.

An enemy was walking head long towards my friend, but because his head was turned towards the right he didn't see him. A lot of stealth games would just have fixed the cone of vision to be straight ahead of an enemy, ignoring where their head is at.

 

[Gikoku]

I didn't get it and pre-ordered Space Marine instead (FOR THE EMPRAH!), but I've been hanging out with a friend of mine watching him play it. I'm impressed. For example how the cone of vision for enemies actually "stick" with their head movements.

An enemy was walking head long towards my friend, but because his head was turned towards the right he didn't see him. A lot of stealth games would just have fixed the cone of vision to be straight ahead of an enemy, ignoring where their head is at.

Indeed, what I found even more impressive was that they can even see you through transparent objects and even the gaps of vents like they're supposed to. I was peeping through a piece of glass on a door, and the guy turned his head for a brief moment, but then he unexpectedly titled it down and caught a glimpse of me through the door and set the alarms off. To top it off, he actually thoroughly searches the area and even crouched down at the vents to see if I was in there.

That just completely caught me off guard.

 

[Purple Nurple]

I wish I had it, but there alot of really good looking games coming out soon that I've prioritised first, but I'll definately get it when it comes down in price.

Is the gameplay focused more on stealth than traditional shooters, or do the different augments allow for completely different gameplay techniques?

 

[Tsuyu]

Stealth is optional, really. You can go in guns blazing if you wish.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Hadnt had much time to play it but put a couple of hours in and really enjoying it. The AI is quite smart, have to use your head a lot, exploration is rewarded and the augmentation is helpful and interesting. Waiting for my girlfriend to go the gym this afternoon so i can spend some time on it as ive been wanting to play it for days but been busy with work.

 

[Azer249]

Ive played it to nearly the end and on the hardest difficulty. Im a bit tired of it now, it was an amazing game at first but it just seems to the same to me. I love the story dont get me wrong but the constant stealth and preety much you have to invest in hacking if you want to get the most of the game anoys me. Its just seems to repetative for my liking, Crate here crate there, get to the otherside of the room with gaurds in the middle. Ide give it like a 6/7 out of 10. But the story is 10/10. Prefered the original.

 

[Gikoku]

Stealth is optional, really. You can go in guns blazing if you wish.

You can, but you'll get annihilated in the process. Ammo is scarce in the game, especially for the shotgun and automatic weapons, so you can charge out there like some Gears soldier only to waste away all the precious ammo in a matter of seconds and immediately become a sitting duck.

I only use automatic weapons as a last resort for emergencies, had to learn that one the hard way.

I wish I had it, but there alot of really good looking games coming out soon that I've prioritised first, but I'll definately get it when it comes down in price.

Is the gameplay focused more on stealth than traditional shooters, or do the different augments allow for completely different gameplay techniques?

Stealth is greatly encouraged, you can go in guns blazing like Tsuyu mentioned, but it's really not a wise idea especially on the harder difficulties.

Some of the augments are very handy, such as ones that allow you to jump down from any height (good for shortcuts in cities and getting out of a jam). Punch through walls, see through walls, invisibility cloaking, group takedowns, personality reading in conversations, etc. Others that give you increased strength (opens up more locations), speed, hacking, stealth, and improved user interface.

Since you start the game off pretty limited, they definitely help open the doors for you as you progress through the game. On the hardest difficulty the crosshair is also removed so the laser-sight weapon add-on quickly becomes invaluable.

Ive played it to nearly the end and on the hardest difficulty. Im a bit tired of it now, it was an amazing game at first but it just seems to the same to me. I love the story dont get me wrong but the constant stealth and preety much you have to invest in hacking if you want to get the most of the game anoys me. Its just seems to repetative for my liking, Crate here crate there, get to the otherside of the room with gaurds in the middle. Ide give it like a 6/7 out of 10. But the story is 10/10. Prefered the original.

Were you really expecting for a lot more other than stealth in a stealth game? I'd say it's about as repetitive as Metal Gear Solid.

I agree to an extent though, without the hacking augments you can get pretty **** out of luck in the game, and yeah there's a damn lot of crates in there too.

Hadnt had much time to play it but put a couple of hours in and really enjoying it. The AI is quite smart, have to use your head a lot, exploration is rewarded and the augmentation is helpful and interesting. Waiting for my girlfriend to go the gym this afternoon so i can spend some time on it as ive been wanting to play it for days but been busy with work.

Finally, looking forward to your further opinion on the game, bud.

 

[Tsuyu]

Well, keep in mind that I haven't played it, but from what I saw when my buddy was playing he got more ammo/weapons than he could carry. He had to leave them on the ground.

But why you'd use actual firearms when your two tranquillizer-type weapons one-shots everyone is beyond me.

 

[Gikoku]

Well now that's just not fair. I barely find any shotgun & rifle ammo, all I keep finding and looting is 10mm Pistol ammo which I currently have 133 of.

And I don't even know where the gun is for the tranquilizer darts so I just end up throwing them back down to the ground.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Well now that's just not fair. I barely find any shotgun & rifle ammo, all I keep finding and looting is 10mm Pistol ammo which I currently have 133 of.

And I don't even know where the gun is for the tranquillizer darts so I just end up throwing them back down to the ground.

Ive found a decent amount of rifle ammo though Shotgun ammo is fairly rare and 10mm Pistol ammo can easily be gained from taking down guards. If you pick non-lethal you get the tranquilizer gun, can also be found in a storage locker in Hengsha on your first visit also one in the vents in the TYM building. I havent picked non-lethal yet but i tend to do non-lethal takedowns anyway as they are faster and make less noise.

Well, keep in mind that I haven't played it, but from what I saw when my buddy was playing he got more ammo/weapons than he could carry. He had to leave them on the ground.

But why you'd use actual firearms when your two tranquillizer-type weapons one-shots everyone is beyond me.

You dont have much inventory room at the start of the game until you improve your augmentations so ive also had to drop a couple of weapons on the ground.

The tranquillizers are a little harder to aim and the delay in them taking effects can alert other guards sometimes. If you are a good shot with a firearm you can time the shots just right so guards dont see their comrades get shot and use closed doors to muffle the sound so they dont hear them.

 

[Gikoku]

Ive found a decent amount of rifle ammo though Shotgun ammo is fairly rare and 10mm Pistol ammo can easily be gained from taking down guards. If you pick non-lethal you get the tranquilizer gun, can also be found in a storage locker in Hengsha on your first visit also one in the vents in the TYM building. I havent picked non-lethal yet but i tend to do non-lethal takedowns anyway as they are faster and make less noise.

Crap. I'd have to back track quite a bit for it then as I chose lethal... wanted to play it safe. Yeah it's funny, I mostly do non-lethal takedowns as well and have yet to even see what a lethal takedown looks like.

I'm really digging that the hacking and use of object interfaces (like computers) is all done in real time, so people can still walk in on you and catch you if you're reading through emails.

 

[Tsuyu]

If you pull off a head-shot with the Tranquillizer Sniper-thingy they go down instantly.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Crap. I'd have to back track quite a bit for it then as I chose lethal... wanted to play it safe. Yeah it's funny, I mostly do non-lethal takedowns as well and have yet to even see what a lethal takedown looks like.

I'm really digging that the hacking and use of object interfaces (like computers) is all done in real time, so people can still walk in on you and catch you if you're reading through emails.

Yeah hacking is quite fun now i understand it and if you havent got a high enough skill it can be a pain so most my praxis points have been spent on that. The lethal takedowns are pretty badass i have to say. :lol:

If you pull off a head-shot with the Tranquillizer Sniper-thingy they go down instantly.

Yeah but have to get the range right as well as the shooting arc as they dont go in a straight line.

 

[Tsuyu]

My bud upgraded his Tranq. Sniper to show some sort of preview where the shot would land, so head-shots weren't that difficult to pull off.

 

[Dark Drakan]

My bud upgraded his Tranq. Sniper to show some sort of preview where the shot would land, so head-shots weren't that difficult to pull off.

Havent got that far to have seen that ability so that would indeed be handy.

 

[Arld]

I recently finished Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and must say I did not regret a single minute of playing, nor did I regret the price I paid for the augmented edition. I really liked the story, and the game-play was nowhere near what one would consider horrible (Bethesda's "Rogue Warrior", anyone?). It also took me a great deal of time to finish the game, which I like, and definitely isn't a bad thing considering there were two major city hubs cut from the game (being the streets of Montreal and Upper Heng Sha). But of course, no game is perfect, so it is expected to encounter or experience a few flaws - although not major ones.

First and foremost would be the inventory system. While I did like the inventory system itself, I didn't like the space it offered. Even with the augment upgrades for the inventory, it wasn't nowhere near big enough to carry all the stuff you encountered in-game. Especially for people who have the special edition, and thus, also have exclusive weapons to carry around. One would expect that the augments would be a much better bonus to your inventory space, as these points could just as well be spent somewhere else with more benefits to game-play.

Secondly, the AI. The AI itself was completely fine. Unlike most stealth-based games I've played, this AI actually did quite an outstanding job. But as aforementioned, everything has its flaws, and the AI would be one of the things expected the most. I'd call the AI 'dodgy' - for the sake of lacking a better term. I meant it in a sense of that at one time, the AI would notice you, and the other time it wouldn't, whilst the situations were completely identical to each other. Not to mention their investigations (being, in search of their hostile target) should have been extended in range and duration much more, especially on higher difficulties. The AI was way too easily avoided after having been noticed.

Of course, this is not the same for the non-humanoid AI - these work completely fine and were much more of a hassle to get rid of; both via the ordinary and modern methods.

Beside these two minor complaints, I definitely don't think anything should be changed. It was a great experience, and I've only had the chance to have experienced one play-through due to time constraints. But I'll certainly have a few more in the near-future with different approaches. Hopefully Deus Ex: Human Revolution will have the cut content restored (most likely through paid DLC content... *rolls eyes*) as well as some new DLC content. It'll make the game-play even better than it is already.

 

[Gikoku]

First and foremost would be the inventory system. While I did like the inventory system itself, I didn't like the space it offered. Even with the augment upgrades for the inventory, it wasn't nowhere near big enough to carry all the stuff you encountered in-game. Especially for people who have the special edition, and thus, also have exclusive weapons to carry around. One would expect that the augments would be a much better bonus to your inventory space, as these points could just as well be spent somewhere else with more benefits to game-play.

I don't mind the inventory system to be honest. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made, and I personally would rather not be allowed the opportunity to so easily walk around as a heavily equipped badass. I find it to be a necessary limit to ensure a proper balance.

Secondly, the AI. The AI itself was completely fine. Unlike most stealth-based games I've played, this AI actually did quite an outstanding job. But as aforementioned, everything has its flaws, and the AI would be one of the things expected the most. I'd call the AI 'dodgy' - for the sake of lacking a better term. I meant it in a sense of that at one time, the AI would notice you, and the other time it wouldn't, whilst the situations were completely identical to each other. Not to mention their investigations (being, in search of their hostile target) should have been extended in range and duration much more, especially on higher difficulties. The AI was way too easily avoided after having been noticed.

Yeah, as of recently I can vouch for that. I had moments where the AI would actually lose me easily as soon as I crawled into a ventilation duct. Once there I could camp through the entire security search, and they unfortunately wouldn't make the extra effort to go inside the ducts and sniff me out. So yeah, I agree. Definitely increase their manhunting range so they can search every nook and cranny of an environment, rather than stopping and pausing at a predictable spot MGS-style then going back the way they came.

Beside these two minor complaints, I definitely don't think anything should be changed. It was a great experience, and I've only had the chance to have experienced one play-through due to time constraints. But I'll certainly have a few more in the near-future with different approaches. Hopefully Deus Ex: Human Revolution will have the cut content restored (most likely through paid DLC content... *rolls eyes*) as well as some new DLC content. It'll make the game-play even better than it is already.

I hope they restore that cut content as well, a new DLC for the game was announced a bit ago called The Missing Link. No idea if it'll have any of the cut content in it though. ):