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[Pancakes]

This remains consistently awesome throughout the game.

They were always so damn tense too. You felt like you were actually having a conversation instead of just: Nice guy, neutral, asshole, responses.

 

[Aquavelvaman]

I like that the pheromone option doesn't just skip the sequence or make you auto-win conversations, too.

 

[Velvet Cyberpunk]

This is a pretty weak argument. I'm not sure why it still comes up. Isn't it accepted knowledge by this point that certain "eras" of games, and certain games in particular, aged better than others?

I tried playing the original Deus Ex before HR came out, and I couldn't really do it. Too clunky... too dated. Things like inventory management, feedback-less stealth, INCREDIBLY bad voice acting, etc. I just couldn't get into it.

This summer I also played Halo 1 for the first time, a game released just one year later. And I played through it just fine. It aged nicely.

This doesn't mean I am claiming that Halo 1 is "better" than Deus Ex. Games are a reflection of the time period they came out.

Fans of specific old games FLIP OUT when someone says they couldn't get into something retro but... it's nothing personal. Like... I couldn't get into Deus Ex, but I don't think the game "sucks." Video games have just moved on, and DE1 was just too hard for me to enjoy. If you played it when it came out, I understand it's still awesome.

Example: I played Zelda 1 on the NES in the 80s. So I still think Zelda 1 is awesome. But I DIDN'T play Metroid 1... started with Super Metroid. So I had a very hard time going back and trying to play the original. This is not rocket science.

These sorts of discussions always devolve in the exact same way:

1) People will be insulted and say you have "no taste" and only like your "dumbed down modern shit" if you say you didn't like bombing random walls in Zelda 1 in 2011, or didn't like Deus Ex 1.

2) Someone else will come in and claim THEY played the game for the first time this year too, and liked it just fine. So something is wrong with you.

3) Some folks will actually understand, and agree with you.

You're basically saying what I say, it's a matter of taste. I have no problem with that. I play games because I enjoy them. Really age, and platform has nothing to do with what I play. As I said, I'm really talking about people who just dismiss older games because they're old and ugly, on console, on PC, etc. I try to be a live and let live kind of girl but really when someone says that a game sucks because of a subjective reason it kind of gets to me. Honestly I was just pondering, and as I said wasn't trying to start an argument, it's not worth the energy.

 

[Danne-Danger]

 

[OG Kush]

 

[Red Blaster]

Looks like I'm about through with HR, at least for a good long while. Bored stiff on my 2nd run through and I've only just hit Hengsha 1. There's just zero challenge whatsoever and I'm seeing numerous chinks in the armor add up to reveal a game that's actually quite watered down compared to the original.

 

[MisterAnderson]

I just noticed that now whenever I go to hack something/read a computer terminal/aim down my weapon sites, the framerate stutters during the transition to the new point of view. This didn't used to happen... has anyone else experienced this/found a fix for it? (PC)

 

[Eusis]

I really hate how the hacking UI works on the PC. I would have done it like:

Left-click: hack node
Right-click: nuke node
Left-click hacked node: fortify node
Space bar: stop virus

That, or WASD. Just map each of those to the key in the appropriate space.

 

[Chiggs]

Looks like I'm about through with HR, at least for a good long while. Bored stiff on my 2nd run through and I've only just hit Hengsha 1. There's just zero challenge whatsoever and I'm seeing numerous chinks in the armor add up to reveal a game that's actually quite watered down compared to the original.

Yep. Get ready for the backlash on this title. I expect it to be just below MGS4.

I played this game from start to finish and found it to completely without challenge, intrigue, or even replayability. The story is godawful and the presentation of the story is even worse.

Oh, and I never again want to hack another computer or door in a videogame. What a chore.

 

[Zeliard]

Thief4 better not have a radar or a minmap that indicates your position (or at least it needs to option to turn that off). A huge part of the charm of the thief games was the handdrawn map and basically "well, you know what you're here for, now go wild in this location whichever way you want"

With Thief 4 they could potentially just mimic Thief's use of difficulty levels to create different objectives and accommodate different players. Have the lowest difficulty level basically bestow upon the player an abundance of modern 'delights' - super-detailed map, objective markers, freedom to kill, etc, while keeping the highest difficult level a sort of, well, "Give Me Thief" mode.

And in that mode it would strip the game of certain modern trappings and be similar in style to the original's Expert difficulty level, where your objectives were to truly be stealthy and thief-like, using your eyes and especially ears.

 

[Red Blaster]

Yep. Get ready for the backlash on this title. I expect it to be just below MGS4.

I played this game from start to finish and found it to completely without challenge, intrigue, or even replayability. The story is godawful and the presentation of the story is even worse.

Oh, and I never again want to hack another computer or door in a videogame. What a chore.

Well we don't see eye-to-eye exactly, I loved the game from beginning to end on my first go but I feel the essence of Deus Ex is in re-playability and HR just doesn't have it at all. I never could imagine how a game about choice could feel so one-and-done.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

I'm playing through it a third time and there's still tons of new stuff to do and stuff I missed that I had no idea was even there, and I was being pretty thorough on my first playthrough.

It's not as replayable as the first game, but it's got a ton of replay value.

 

[Adam Blade]

Last boss was so easy.

Spoiler

If you beat the social battle with Darrow, he gives you a code (2012) that you can input at the central level 5 terminal in the center of the room. After that, just break the glass and you're golden.

 

[Replicant]

Looks like I'm about through with HR, at least for a good long while. Bored stiff on my 2nd run through and I've only just hit Hengsha 1. There's just zero challenge whatsoever and I'm seeing numerous chinks in the armor add up to reveal a game that's actually quite watered down compared to the original.

.....

Racist.

 

[Turfster]

With Thief 4 they could potentially just mimic Thief's use of difficulty levels to create different objectives and accommodate different players.

That would be nice, yes.

 

[Chiggs]

I never could imagine how a game about choice could feel so one-and-done.

I do agree with this. Invisible War's faction stuff felt a little more varied by comparison.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

Yep. Get ready for the backlash on this title. I expect it to be just below MGS4.

I played this game from start to finish and found it to completely without challenge, intrigue, or even replayability. The story is godawful and the presentation of the story is even worse.

I concur Ive been fairly surprised by the overwhelming glowing reviews (by gamers) the game has received.

 

[Red Blaster]

I'm playing through it a third time and there's still tons of new stuff to do and stuff I missed that I had no idea was even there, and I was being pretty thorough on my first playthrough.

It's not as replayable as the first game, but it's got a ton of replay value.

I missed a few sidequests and those are neat but I'm mainly talking about character builds and how the wealth of praxis points combined with how many augs are pretty much worthless result in throwing any type of real variation out of the window.

 

[Zeliard]

I think that feeling is due to the player getting so many augmentations by the end that you feel you've experienced it all. That's the problem with a game that doesn't really lock you into a way of playing due to choices you've made, outside of maybe the first 25% or so of it. I think that's probably this game's biggest fault and what sets it most apart from the original, outside of something like the radar, which I also consider hugely significant. But I still like it a whole lot; it does Deus Ex justice, and certainly far more than IW did.

 

[Pixel Pete]

Last boss was so easy.

Spoiler

If you beat the social battle with Darrow, he gives you a code (2012) that you can input at the central level 5 terminal in the center of the room. After that, just break the glass and you're golden.

It's funny. I got so caught up with the encounter I forgot to use the

Spoiler

code

to insta-win.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

I missed a few sidequests and those are neat but I'm mainly talking about character builds and how the wealth of praxis points combined with how many augs are pretty much worthless result in throwing any type of real variation out of the window.

I dunno, I felt that completely aside from stuff like augs, the way you actually played made a pretty big difference. Going completely stealthy and nonlethal felt way different that being willing to use lethal weapons when needed, and going Terminator feels like a completely different game. Same with how you approached conversations and how chose to complete a mission.

 

[Pixel Pete]

I dunno, I felt that completely aside from stuff like augs, the way you actually played made a pretty big difference. Going completely stealthy and nonlethal felt way different that being willing to use lethal weapons when needed, and going Terminator feels like a completely different game. Same with how you approached conversations and how chose to complete a mission.

Indeed. A replay for me will be which augs i get first and how I complete the missions and how I act in conversations.

 

[DieH@rd]

Boss #2

What a fucking chore.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

The story and its setting are awesome... one of the best in years. It's such an interesting premise that's intelligently explored. Couldn't possibly disagree more with Chiggs. You have to dig into it a little bit by exploring and finding all the books but it's definitely one of the best video game stories in years.

The story is godawful and the presentation of the story is even worse.

What ridiculous hyperbole. Your opinion sucks.

 

[Desaan]

Apart from some docile boss fights the game was no real challenge, even doing a no aug run on hard - which in itself is ridiculous. For me the biggest failing is with the A.I, they are just far too dumb and passive to make even a stealth run remotely interesting. (You'd think after someone threw 3 boxes into a room and Joe, Mick and Bob hadn't come back someone would get more than a little suspicious - but apparently staring at the wall in 'alarmed' state is more important.

Yeah, I hated the A.I.

 

[Neiteio]

It's pretty amazing to me how even with eleventy billion upgrades, every new one I had immediately yields rewards as I explore the hub world. Like I just got the one to punch through walls, and I find the sewers of Detroit rife with hidey-holes. Or I upgrade to lv. 5 hacking and just as soon come across a lv. 5 safe. Yeah, it's part chance and coincidence on my part, but man it feels like there's a lot to do with every upgrade you get. It's not like Twilight Princess with the Spinner where you get it from Arbiter's Grounds and use it maybe once or twice outside of that dungeon. Plenty of lasers and squads to cloak past, plenty of of turrets and robots to rewire, plenty of doors/safes to crack, heavy objects to move, etc, etc. The game is constantly rewarding.

I think I know the key to DEHR's addictive quality, though. It's basically the lovechild of two of my favorite games -- MGS4 and BioShock -- and it inherits each parent's best traits. It has BioShock's addicting blend of ransacking rooms and looting corpses, learning about the world through pocket secretaries and ebooks (this game's audio diaries), and an atmospheric world with strong art direction. It has the no-kill thrills of MGS4's sneakery. And it wraps it all up in top-notch neo-noir fiction and cyberpunk stylings and a deliciously understated ambiance that starts with the title screen's haunting chords.

What a game.

 

[Sullichin]

The story and its setting are awesome... one of the best in years. It's such an interesting premise that's intelligently explored. Couldn't possibly disagree more with Chiggs. You have to dig into it a little bit by exploring and finding all the books but it's definitely one of the best video game stories in years.


What ridiculous hyperbole. Your opinion sucks.

I agree with you. Also, considering the stories in the vast majority of video games kind of blow, to say that this story is godawful is pretty hysterical.

 

[Zeliard]

I dunno, I felt that completely aside from stuff like augs, the way you actually played made a pretty big difference. Going completely stealthy and nonlethal felt way different that being willing to use lethal weapons when needed, and going Terminator feels like a completely different game. Same with how you approached conversations and how chose to complete a mission.

Yeah, I'm curious how much those conversations diverge, actually. Could be significant. Like when you confront

Spoiler

Taggart

, I got him to meet me in the back to talk shit over. What else can happen in that scenario?

I try not to quick save/quick load for stuff like that since it's like peeking behind the curtain. Though I did out of curiosity once when you find

Spoiler

Radford

, who's laying on the floor injured. Simply to see what would happen I killed him, and then as I was walking away Jensen phones Pritchard to tell him in his typical sardonic way that he found

Spoiler

Radford

already laying there dead, which made me laugh. Then afterwards the objective was like "look for a new lead," but I reloaded my save where I had gone the conversation route so I don't know what comes of it.

 

[A Human Becoming]

Last boss was so easy.

Spoiler

If you beat the social battle with Darrow, he gives you a code (2012) that you can input at the central level 5 terminal in the center of the room. After that, just break the glass and you're golden.

Spoiler

Hacking also works. Glorious, glorious hacking.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

I agree with you. Also, considering the stories in the vast majority of video games kind of blow, to say that this story is godawful is pretty hysterical.

Exactly

 

[rollingstart]

I dunno, I felt that completely aside from stuff like augs, the way you actually played made a pretty big difference. Going completely stealthy and nonlethal felt way different that being willing to use lethal weapons when needed, and going Terminator feels like a completely different game. Same with how you approached conversations and how chose to complete a mission.

almost reminds me of Crysis, as weird as that comparison may be. like it, you can almost miss the charm depending on your play style. or if it clicks, you can really just replay the same situations and see how they play out. The part from start to the objective is a playground instead of an obstacle blocking your path.

 

[Hawkian]

Yep. Get ready for the backlash on this title. I expect it to be just below MGS4.

I played this game from start to finish and found it to completely without challenge, intrigue, or even replayability. The story is godawful and the presentation of the story is even worse.

Oh, and I never again want to hack another computer or door in a videogame. What a chore.

I read this post from start to finish and thought it sucked.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Yeah, I'm curious how much those conversations diverge, actually. Could be significant. Like when you confront

Spoiler

Taggart

, I got him to meet me in the back to talk shit over. What else can happen in that scenario?

There are usually multiple ways to confront and convince a target, which can range from getting them to feel guilty about their actions to boosting them up to straight up blackmail. I haven't failed that specific one, but I'm pretty sure if you fail it then you have to

Spoiler

sneak (or shoot) in there and frame him with the recording by putting it on his computer (which also has some conversations on it which shed light on Taggart and give you hints that he's Illuminati). I know some people at Sarif will congratulate you if you talked him down or just talk about how his speech started to convince them if you never bothered to confront him at all, I don't know what happens if you failed the confrontation.

As for the valid means of convincing

Spoiler

him, I've seen both appealing to his memory of his dead wife and how being involved in murders and kidnapping would tarnish her memory, and a CASIE(?) route where Jensen threatens to hand the recording over to the media.

almost reminds me of Crysis, as weird as that comparison may be. like it, you can almost miss the charm depending on your play style. or if it clicks, you can really just replay the same situations and see how they play out. The part from start to the objective is a playground instead of an obstacle blocking your path.

There was some phrase that got popular on SomethingAwful for a while to describe games like that, SSMA. Same situation, multiple approach. It's not sandbox open-world, and it's not purely linear. The game itself is actually linear in its main quest/story progression, but each situation has very different multiple paths that you can use.

Good examples are Crysis, Hitman, Deus Ex, and some people have pointed at later MGS games but I feel that stretches it a bit.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

I am officially done with this game.

Bought on 360, 2 playthroughs, 1000/1000

Redboxed PS3 version, 1 platinum play through.

Adam is my favorite character of the last 5 years.

 

[Sullichin]

I am officially done with this game.

Bought on 360, 2 playthroughs, 1000/1000

Redboxed PS3 version, 1 platinum play through.

Adam is my favorite character of the last 5 years.

You're a beast

Speaking of trophies/achievements. It's ridiculous how long it takes to see my trophies (in any game) on PS3.. is there some fast way to do this that I'm not aware of?

 

[rollingstart]

There are usually multiple ways to confront and convince a target, which can range from getting them to feel guilty about their actions to boosting them up to straight up blackmail. I haven't failed that specific one, but I'm pretty sure if you fail it then you have to

Spoiler

sneak (or shoot) in there and frame him with the recording by putting it on his computer (which also has some conversations on it which shed light on Taggart and give you hints that he's Illuminati). I know some people at Sarif will congratulate you if you talked him down or just talk about how his speech started to convince them if you never bothered to confront him at all, I don't know what happens if you failed the confrontation.

As for the valid means of convincing

Spoiler

him, I've seen both appealing to his memory of his dead wife and how being involved in murders and kidnapping would tarnish her memory, and a CASIE(?) route where Jensen threatens to hand the recording over to the media.

if you

Spoiler

use the CASIE on Taggart at the press conference, you lose the chance to save Sandoval. Instead of talking him out of suicide, he attacks you once you reach his sewer office.

the CASIE ends the conversation but the outcome isn't always favorable

 

[Wallach]

if you

Spoiler

use the CASIE on Taggart at the press conference, you lose the chance to save Sandoval. Instead of talking him out of suicide, he attacks you once you reach his sewer office.

the CASIE ends the conversation but the outcome isn't always favorable

This isn't true. Didn't happen to me, anyway.

Boss #2

What a fucking chore.

Get the Typhoon and use my secret strategy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt_SOOpxo9Q

 

[EmCeeGramr]

if you

Spoiler

use the CASIE on Taggart at the press conference, you lose the chance to save Sandoval. Instead of talking him out of suicide, he attacks you once you reach his sewer office.

the CASIE ends the conversation but the outcome isn't always favorable

Yeah, like how

Spoiler

blackmailing Haas over his pills with CASIE will result in him coming back and trying to shoot you when he gets fired, while convincing him normally will just get him angry and you can make amends. I suppose he probably doesn't show up if you manage to perfectly sneak into the department without ever talking to him at the desk?

Also I wish there was a different outcome if

Spoiler

you planted the evidence on Taggart's computer rather than confronting him. It makes it seem like he found the recording and decided he had to call out Sandoval to save himself, while Sarif and the objective put it as if you're actually framing him. There's no chatter around Detroit that I heard about Taggart being caught with the recording.

 

[Always-honest]

okay.. i might have totally fucked up the searching for Tong quest.

Spoiler

i just had the barman mission (find the woman, get money, woman wants a deal, i knock her the fuck out, bring the barman his money). Barman not happy. No new objective..

what should i do now??

 

[rollingstart]

This isn't true. Didn't happen to me, anyway.

Well, it is true. Why would anyone lie about this stuff lol. That's how it played it for me. Maybe it could depend on your response (alpha/beta/omega).

My conversation ended with

Spoiler

telling Taggart that I'd take it to the audio guy to verify the authenticity of the recording. Taggart got spooked, covered the mic, and told me to meet him in back.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

I am officially done with this game.

Bought on 360, 2 playthroughs, 1000/1000

Redboxed PS3 version, 1 platinum play through.

Adam is my favorite character of the last 5 years.

You deserve a medal, and not the virtual kind. Good lord... you animal!

 

[Wallach]

Well, it is true. Why would anyone lie about this stuff lol. That's how it played it for me. Maybe it could depend on your response (alpha/beta/omega).

My conversation ended with

Spoiler

telling Taggart that I'd take it to the audio guy to verify the authenticity of the recording. Taggart got spooked, covered the mic, and told me to meet him in back.

No, I'm saying that is not what causes the guy to attack you. It may have something to do with

Spoiler

how you handled his brother

instead.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

Whoa.. what? end game stuff, don't read:

Spoiler

You can actually go in the press conference room and interact with Taggart? lol i never went inside to where he was speaking and I went through the convention center like a hawk. I killed every single Belltower idiot guard in there without getting the alarm off!

 

[rollingstart]

No, I'm saying that is not what causes the guy to attack you. It may have something to do with

Spoiler

how you handled his brother

instead.

don't think that's the case because

Spoiler

it wouldn't make sense. In the playthrough where he attacks me, I let Zeke go earlier and spared his life later. In the second playthrough, I sent Zeke to jail, murdered him in the apartment, but Sandoval was still willing to talk things out. I also killed every purity first person in the sewer.

also, the cutscene opens with Sandoval watching Taggart address him on the tele.

edit: yeah, those black lines are hiding just past mid-game spoilers

 

[Turfster]

Whoa.. what? end game stuff, don't read:

Spoiler

You can actually go in the press conference room and interact with Taggart? lol i never went inside to where he was speaking and I went through the convention center like a hawk. I killed every single Belltower idiot guard in there without getting the alarm off!

Spoiler

Yes. I went in there figuring maybe I could watch the lecture before I snuck inside. And then... spoiler!

 

[dominuece]

Damn I want to finish this game. When is a patch for 360 coming?

 

[Wallach]

don't think that's the case because

Spoiler

it wouldn't make sense. In the playthrough where he attacks me, I let Zeke go earlier and spared his life later. In the second playthrough, I sent Zeke to jail, murdered him in the apartment, but Sandoval was still willing to talk things out. I also killed every purity first person in the sewer.

also, the cutscene opens with Sandoval watching Taggart address him on the tele.

edit: yeah, those black lines are hiding just past mid-game spoilers

Research shows

Spoiler

hacking Taggart's computer will cause Sandoval to be hostile. Even if you reload Sandoval will be hostile no matter what on that playthrough because of a bug.

 

[heliosRAzi]

I hope this wasn't posted yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l3wOT9cSg4&hd=1

 

[Narag]

Research shows

Spoiler

hacking Taggart's computer will cause Sandoval to be hostile. Even if you reload Sandoval will be hostile no matter what on that playthrough because of a bug.

Spoiler

The one in his dressing room? I recall hacking that without encountering this bug. Maybe I'm misremembering.

 

[Wallach]

Spoiler

The one in his dressing room? I recall hacking that without encountering this bug. Maybe I'm misremembering.

Spoiler

Did you hack it without talking to Taggart first? Apparently the bug works both ways; if you talk to Taggart and get the location from him, you can reload and hack the computer instead but Sandoval will be suicidal instead of hostile still. The flag for Sandoval's state is apparently bugged - he should be hostile if you get the location of Sandoval from Taggart's computer and suicidal if you win the social battle with Taggart.