I picked this up a little while back, but I only started playing it this last week. I put in around 10 hours this weekend, and I've been loving it.
I played the original Deus Ex, and I enjoyed it okay. However, it never really clicked with me. I could see why people held it in such high regards, the level design and numerous ways of approaching things was impressive, and I liked a lot of the tone and presentation to it. That said, it was just not something that I personally found myself enjoying to the degree that others were.
Human Revolution must have done just the right adjusting to appeal to me or something, because I'm in love with this game. The art direction is hands-down my favorite aspect of the game. There are just so many fantastic ideas that are well realized in the game that it's always making me stop and stare as I pass by new elements in the environment. There's just something present that seems to be missing from a lot of sci-fi stuff nowadays that is very reminiscent of things I was fond of in the 90s cyberpunk and sci-fi with a bit of modern flavor added.
I don't know if others saw this as a detriment, but the "open" areas feel more accessible to me than the original. They're a bit smaller and easier to navigate for me, and I don't feel nearly as overwhelmed. Perhaps I'm only imagining it, but that's really helped my experience, because I tend to get really overwhelmed by some games when they present too many options to me. They also tend to be some of my favorite games this gen (Witcher 1/2, Mass Effect, Deadly Premonition, Alpha Protocol) when I manage to overcome it.
Not to mention, the music... Oh man, I'm going to have to see if I can buy the OST somewhere, because it's so good.
I've been playing as a non-killer (I cheated and
for an achievement and then reloaded, haha), but I recalled that there was no way to pacify the bosses. Kind of a bummer, but them's the breaks. Since I knew that would be part of the game, I've been holding onto a pistol that I've been upgrading and saving ammo for it. My first boss fight was a piece of cake, really. Just used the stun gun, blasted at the head, and repeated.
I pumped my hacking/speech/non-violent skills as soon as I had the chance. Really aggravated that some of them require 2 points with a free additional skill added. Why not just 1 and 1? I suppose for variety, but those Praxis points are burning holes in my pocket every time I get one, haha.
I'm just scratching the surface on
, and I can't wait to see what else is in store for the rest of the game.
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