Extra Punctuation: What Human Revolution Got Wrong

[Ragsnstitches]

*On the subject of Specialisation...

Contemporary gamer: Why u not let me do everything from the start?

Old School gamer: Why u let me do everything at the end?

*On the subject of Boss fights...

Deus Ex fan on HR (A): What is this? Why can't I ignore bosses and seemingly break continuity?

Deus Ex HR fan on DE (B): What is this? Why are "boss" fights so god damn lame?

*On the subject of Melee weapons...

A: Where's mah baton!?

B: Da fuck is with this Baton!?

*On the subject of Endings...

Everyone on HR: ... Da fuck is with this ending?

I should point out that the Mercs (The Tyrants) in HR are developed in the book Deus Ex: Icarus Effect, along with cameos from everybodies favourite German mech. But who reads these days *snort*

In my opinion? Melee Weapons are overrated in non fantasy games bar 40k, Though it would be nice to break crates open without looking like I'm on some form of roid rage. The context melee takedowns work in that it allows you to effectively take opponents down stylishly, rather then belting them in the back of the head with a black rod. It's also easier to balance in terms of stealth.

The boss fights were weak, and the characters could have had some exposition on their motives (maybe journals or through a hacked computer). But I think it was intended to get people to look out for the book. Not forgiveable mind you, the bosses were still weakass.
That said, I had no difficulty beating them without lethal weapons.

Specialisation is all well and good in full blown RPGs... but accounts to more then just stats and abilities. Loadouts and conservative decisions really add to HRs role playing elements, not just Aug upgrades. There are things I missed on my first run due to certain actions taken, including what Augs I used... while on my 2nd run through I changed my approach and made the former half of the game more traversable, but the latter half became a little more turbulent due to lack of stealth and combat upgrades (I invested in hacking and exploration upgrades). Of course by the end, regardless, I was a master thief/hacker/tank with too much space in my inventory that I couldn't even fill.

I plan a playthrough with no extra augs... should be fun

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

I think yahtzee is quite right on action rpgs--specifically giving too much and characters becoming really quite similar by the end. I don't want to be, as if I am every class, every type or archetype. Better to the best at one thing, or good at two things, not have everything, that just seems damn boring.

 

[oktalist]

Spoiler

it's implied that Adam's DNA will be used to engineer Paul and JC Denton

No it isn't. Paul was born in 2018. and JC is his clone. They literally don't share any lineage with Adam, unless they plan to fuck up the cannon. Adam's DNA would be used to make No-Poz unnecessary for other mechs.

Also, IIRC, there's an e-mail from Nicolette DuClare in Picus which doesn't make sense since she was 17 in the original.

Spoiler

Well I felt like some kind of link was implied. Maybe it was just the similarity of the way in which they were engineered and their family history. Adam was born in 1993 so there's no reason why his DNA couldn't have been put into Paul.

And is Nicolette's age actually established in-game? Wikia says her age is 17 "according to the Deus Ex Bible" which was based on the developers' production notes, so its canon status is questionable.

 

[Vect]

About the bosses, there was a prequel book published that talked about the Tyrants and fleshed them out more. Evidently Gunther was in the group before the events of the game.

For Melee, I guess the designers just thought that Adam punching out guys/stabbing guys in the head with armblades would be cooler than simply thwacking away at them until they fell down.

For upgrades... I'm admittedly a munchkin by nature so I don't really have a problem with resources up the wazoo. Not to say that I don't like making a character that specifically specializes in stuff. In fantasy based games, I usually prefer specializing in magic if it gives me the choice.

Endings... You've got a point there.

Now I'm just reminded of Kenan and Kel...



Who loves orange soda?

Gunther lufs orange soda!

Is it true?

Oh ja oh ja it's true! Ooh!

 

[vivster]

so you are telling me it doesn't even have melee weapons?
it's nice that my predictions turned out right for a change
i expected nothing of DX3 and it turned out to be nothing

i'm kinda sick of these shooters that try to be RPGs

 

[Marik Bentusi]

I can see points here and there, but number three is so fricking invalid I can't even wrap my head around how Yahtzee came to that conclusion.

In the original Deus Ex I was a ninja with a GEP gun for backup and neither was there a problem of putting points in Explosive tech and hacking stuff, nor was there, due to the large splash damage, any reason to put any points into explosives. In fact there wasn't even much of a reason to put points into Lockpicking or Electronics either because the gadgets you find were abundant on any difficulty level.
Heck, even the goddang Sniper Rifle could be used on long range without any points put into the skill tree, even more so if you gave it some upgrades. At least in DXHR the upgrades mean something and are necessary to take on different playstyles.
What further supports my point are the crying souls that have problems with boss battles because they picked a sneaky run. That should show how much specialization works in DXHR.

About the other points I have mixed opinions, but number three... wow, Yahtzee, too much of that lemon-lime?

Edit
Y'know what, I feel like picking up the challenge. I'll make a defense for DXHR for every point that doesn't include DLC and the story/narrative, because that was seriously weak. I won't be a mindless fanboy, but I think people gave the game too much credit after the leak and too little credit after the release.

 

[Babitz]

Spoiler

it's implied that Adam's DNA will be used to engineer Paul and JC Denton

No it isn't. Paul was born in 2018. and JC is his clone. They literally don't share any lineage with Adam, unless they plan to fuck up the cannon. Adam's DNA would be used to make No-Poz unnecessary for other mechs.

Also, IIRC, there's an e-mail from Nicolette DuClare in Picus which doesn't make sense since she was 17 in the original.

Spoiler

Well I felt like some kind of link was implied. Maybe it was just the similarity of the way in which they were engineered and their family history. Adam was born in 1993 so there's no reason why his DNA couldn't have been put into Paul.

And is Nicolette's age actually established in-game? Wikia says her age is 17 "according to the Deus Ex Bible" which was based on the developers' production notes, so its canon status is questionable.

Spoiler

Well not really. Read the Deus Ex bible and you'll see how Paul was a normal baby. Besides, Adam's special DNA was found out in 2027. Maybe a year earlier tops, but definitely not in 2018 when Paul was born.

 

[Davichu]

Also, the boss fights were totally (and I mean totally) fucking pointless. A character geared for stealth will be ripped a new one by even the weakest boss, but a character built for combat will destroy each boss in literally seconds (max level Typhoon, two volleys per boss). Seriously, try it. The balance (or lack thereof) is appalling.

And Reason 5 eliminates the need for Reasons 1-4.

SO TRUE!
Even with my stealth playthrough i managed to beat the last guy (who-ever-he-is) in 2 seconds flat by just throwing 3 gas mines around him and laughing at him while he looked like a chain smoker.

 

[DirgeNovak]

Reason 5 is the most important one.
But Human Revolution is still the better game for me.

 

[cainx10a]

1. Agreed. Boss fights or no boss fights, these people could use some characterization. The three mercs seemed like they had some interesting backstories (well, except Barret). Why doesn't Fedorova speak? What did Namir mean by "Men like us never get back the things we love"? I'm led to understand that there is some kinde of extra material (comics or books or whatever) that explains this stuff, but shouldn't it be in the game?

They are just your typical cliche mercenaries/ex-soldiers who are doing this particular set of jobs for the money. Barrett is the jarhead, the amazon chick is the silent roguish/sniper type, and Namir well is the cliche action hero/villain who like Jensen lost their loved ones in a tragic accident (they got eaten by an hungry turtle during a zoo visit, that's how Namir took some major damage to his body too!) and the only thing left for them in their pitiful lives is their job. Hell, with that type of complaint though, should every single grunt in a video game have their own back-story.

Timmy was a school dropout, ran with gangs, and one day got accepted into the biggest gang in town only to end up getting his neck snapped by Adam Jensen.

But personally, I enjoyed the story, although I have this question left.

Spoiler

Was zhao really using her daughters as some sort of power cell for the Hyron project? ??

 

[Zing]

Watch me blow your mind as I accurately describe the character most of you played in Human Revolution: a bloke who started out with the intention of doing a stealthy run but had to start carrying proper guns after a few hairy moments, who by the end of the game was also an expert hacker with very good arm strength and the ability to jump over buses.

Holy fuck, he's a wizard!

 

[sleekie]

Stop complaining about shotguns in Alpha Protocol, Yahtzee. They were great.

 

[rosner1917]

Agree with everything, Yahtzee. HR could have tried to be so much more.

And if you take a look, a whole lot of generic NPCS in HR looks the same as well. And DX might had "weird" physics, but at least it is far more interesting than the "almost no physics" from HR, only used in dead bodies and the few-crates-the designers-decided-I-could-move.

Though my main critic are the dialogues. In DX1 the writing was fabulous (most of the time), inspired, thought provoking, something many book authors or screenwriters would kill to be able to write. Rememebr the dialogue with the Morpeus A.I? Brilliant.

HR dialogue is, most of the time, so trivial it barely matters. It tries to be emotional a lot of times, but for me, it never seems appealing. Sure there are good bits here and there, but they are too few IMO.

 

[Venom 3135]

I wanted orange. It gave me lemon lime! That needs to be on a shirt. Best reference ever.

 

[SnakeCL]

I actually preferred HR to the original.

Felt like Adam was more of a fleshed-out character compared to JC's walking cardboard persona.

 

[nyysjan]

I actually preferred HR to the original.

Felt like Adam was more of a fleshed-out character compared to JC's walking cardboard persona.

JC was a blank screen character in order to allow the player to decide who JC was.
Adam is a premade, but largely unexplored, character who we only play, but get little input on who he is, or what opinions he has.

It's a matter of taste, but i personally prefer JC, who, to me, came up as a badass stoic, someone who is not only capable of kicking peoples asses in a fight, but handing them their ass in a debate as well.
Where as Adam felt more like someone with abandonment issues who can't get over his ex and is obsessed with revenge to the point that any time Megan Reed comes up, his IQ is halved.

 

[m4st0d0n]

While I completely agree with You Yahtzee, the original Deus Ex was a better game than HR, there's one point in your article which doesn't stand. You mentioned it in you video review too, but I didn't take time to answer it then. So here it goes: you can beat the game without using firearms, even on bossfights. Stun gun (the melee weapon of Deus Ex: HR...) works well on bosses, actually it stunlocks them, and they are easy to kill, all I had to do is spam fire. The last boss-mech (yeah, I don't remember his name ) took some 15-20 shocks to defeat, but since it so easy to spare ammunition with take downs, that's no problem. I beat the game with killing only five people (not including bosses, since I didn't have a choice there). One in first Detroit, when I blew up the wall on the roof. Three more when I saved Malik. I used full stealth+stun gun on all the heavys there, but they were unfortunately killed when the mech exploded. The last was behind a wall in second time in Lower Hengsha sewers. Pity that punching through walls kills the guy behind the wall uncontrollably.

So this game can be played through as a stealth character, without taking any combat augmentations and apart from bosses (where you don't have a choice, as it happens in video cutscenes), you don't have to kill anybody. Not even the zombies in the end. All it takes is some experimentation, and a very little dedication. I think that's totally ok.

 

[nyysjan]

The fire arms =/= stun gun is kinda of a nit picky complaint, you are still using a ranged weapon.
And it's not a claim you must use a weapon (you can sneak past, takedown and typhoon everyone instead), just what most people will end up playing.

 

[m4st0d0n]

Actually I was replying more on Yahtzee's third point, about danged specializations. Instead of specializations, you have situations, and different solutions for every situation. You can be the locksmith guy in one, you can be the hacker guy in another, and if you're totally bored of sneaking you can go berzerk. It's the player's choice, almost every time, and that's not necessarily bad. I even had "water cooler" gaming moments with DE:HR, these choices actually make a good topic. Saying "there's no choice, you gotta carry guns" isn't correct, that's what bothers me.

Now, the game is too easy, and provides too much praxis, so by the end every useful augmentation is available, I agree with that.