Excellence from the Machine: ‘Deus Ex: Human Revolution’ Review

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There’s a deep level of customization to Jensen’s abilities and you can tool his augmentations to make him into a completely silent bionic ghost or human weapon. Granted, some of these—like knowing an enemy’s exact zone of awareness—are things you automatically get in other games.

But the distinction with DX:HR is how much it feels like a different game when you start acquiring upgrades. Whether it’s passive abilities like threat assessment or combat skills like increased strength, suddenly you can get to places and find out things you couldn’t before.

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Augmentations draw juice off your internal power supply so you’ll need to up your battery longevity to be really flexible. It’s not all about combat, either; many missions can be completed by successful hacking. It’s as important as any other ability in the game.

Eliminating enemies tends to be an exercise in experimentation. In true Deus Ex fashion, you’re almost always given a choice as to whether to dispatch them directly in a weapons battle or to work your way around them and pick them off quietly with a tranq pistol. Going silent generally feels more gratifying but direct engagement tends to get you through a level without having to be as painstaking. You can pop in and out of cover during a gunfight, but the surprisingly clever enemy AI will work to outflank you if you hold any position too long. Or you can avoid some encounters altogether.

The Blade Runner-style aesthetic on display in Human Revolution makes you want to explore every seedy back-alley. However, I found that the game didn’t feel so much like a true open world; it felt like a series of interconnected environments. One of the things that ties it all together is the strong dialogue and story sense. Eidos Montreal delvers some of the most approachable and naturalistic conversations this side of Irrational Games or BioWare. You feel for the characters as much as you do for Adam. Adam’s struggle to hold on to his humanity informs the moral greyness of the game and at each decision point, you’re asking, “How human do I want to be?”

DX:HR is a long game, with a richly layered world that rewards exploration and trial-and-error. It’s rare that you’ll feel hemmed in by a lack of upgrades or strategy; with enough thinking, you’ll almost always find a way around a threat. This excellent design philosophy makes you want to play it over and over and see how different things wind up.

Human Revolution waves the Deus Ex flag proudly and give gamers a new milestone that’s a classic in its own right.

Official Techland Score: 9.2 out of 10.

Evan Narcisse is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @EvNarc or on Facebook at Facebook/Evan.Narcisse. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

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