The world has been craving Deus Ex: Human Revolution for eleven years (or only eight, if you liked Invisible War). It’s here, and I have to get something off my chest: It’s astonishing. I’ll give as much detail and as many specifics as I can without spoiling any of the plot points — you’ll want to experience them yourself.

In Deus Ex: Human Revolution, you assume the role of Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT officer and the current security chief for a Detroit-based biotechnology firm called Sarif Technology. In the game’s opening moments, you learn that advancements have been made in human-augmentation technologies which could alter the course of human existence. Megan Reed, the head researcher at Sarif, is preparing to depart for a hearing on the future of these technologies when anonymous commandos attack Sarif headquarters. When the dust settles, Jensen is dying and Reed and her team are dead or missing. Thankfully, the same technology which attracted the invading commandos was able to rebuild and resurrect Jensen as an “aug,” or augmented person with a combination of hardware and software to allow him to seek out the two things he was left burning for when he awoke: answers, and justice.

The gameplay is phenomenal. Finally, character building/customization was excellent. The way the four aspects of the game (as described by its developers) – stealth, combat, hacking, and social – interact with each other and influence your choices of “Praxis” (or level-up point) expenditures really rubs me the right way. It is a great aspect of the game. The controls are responsive and intuitive with the notable exception of some of the activated augments (i.e. typhoon) which are somewhat clunky. The game generally takes the best elements of the original Deus Ex, along with infiltration games like Splinter Cell, cover-based shooter RPGs like Mass Effect 2, and various others while stamping its own unique signature on the complete package. Overall, the controls and player-environment interaction are incredibly well done on the whole.

The difficulty is tuned beautifully. I played a mostly stealth-based game (preferring to sneak, hack doors, etc. to avoid conflict) and the higher difficulty actually made the game more immersive. The right parts of the game are tough, the right parts are relatively easy, and the difficulty curve is pretty solid. That is, with the exception of the final boss fight. Oh, and the replay value is off the charts so far as I can tell. Expect to play through Deus Ex: Human Revolution several times – at between 30 and 60 hours per run, depending on your style – before you feel like shelving it.

The environments are pretty great. In an era of lame brown-and-grey FPS and stupid poorly done “empty hallways except here are some crates to let you know you’re supposed to fight people” type cover-based shooters, DE:HR definitely stands out. The ambient lighting, the visual effects, and the overall art design are top notch. My sole gripe here is that navigating the two major cities was a lot more tedious and labyrinthine than it needed to be. It was pretty annoying.

The overall story was fun. The premise is good, it works for its place in the Deus Ex franchise, and it works as a stand-alone game. Adam is pretty static and one-dimensional, however. I think he’s a lot less static than your average video game protagonist, though, so there’s that. The endings (i.e. the four conclusions you can pick) are pretty cool, too. They are sufficiently rewarding, beautifully written, powerfully voice-acted, and well put together. The end of the game (i.e., the falling action of the plot and the overall story arc at the end of the game), on the other hand, was more than a little bit generic. While it was handled fairly well and all, I consider it to be pretty bland conceptually. I found it more than just a little difficult not to predict every major plot event in the latter third of the game. Again, though, the way it was handled was enough of a redeeming quality that while I consider the plot’s falling action to be one of the game’s few weak points I don’t consider it to be a deal-breaker.?

Technically, the game is fantastic. I never ran into a major bug (nor, now that I think about it, any minor bugs), and the graphics are nicely optimized. I was able to run it at close to max settings on an older rig (still running a Wolfdale) and get great framerates. My only complaint here, and my biggest complaint about the game, is that loading times were off the charts for me. I’ve played plenty of new games on this computer, and DE:HR is by far the game that gives me the most obnoxiously long loading screens. It’s not such a huge problem, strictly speaking, if you have other stuff you can do while you’re waiting. It does, however, mess heavily with the immersion. The good news is that this is a known issue that’s already been patched – indicating that after-purchase support is likely to be prompt and effective.

On the whole, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a phenomenal game which very well may indicate a new trend for the video-game medium: a departure from ostentatious displays of technical achievement and an embrace of the artistic and literary dimension of the genre. Whether or not this pans out, Human Revolution is absolutely a worthy pick for gamers of all kinds. Whether you’re a casual gamer who enjoys interactive storytelling or a hardcore gamer who enjoys overcoming intense challenges and solving tricky puzzles – or anywhere in between – any fan of video games can find a great deal to enjoy in this veritable jewel of the genre.

7/7