Set in the dark, dystopian future of 2022, ‘Deus Ex: Human Revolution’ is a fantastic blend of the First Person Shooter (FPS) | Stealth | RPG genres and a testament to gaming as both an art form and sublime story-telling medium.

Campaign: Released by Eidos | Square Enix in 2013, the world of ‘Deus-Ex’ is a bleak near-future where Corporations are increasingly more powerful – and Biotech firms vie for control of the Human Cryogenic Augmentation market. These increasingly high stakes result in a growing focus on corporate espionage and security – enter Adam Jensen – an ex-SWAT Commander hired as head of security for Sarif Industries. The opening credits detail Jensen’s brutal execution-style killing during a break-in at Sarif Industries, his resurrection through cryogenic augmentation and drops you into the shoes of the Part-Man, Part-Machine, to piece together the fragmented memories of the past and uncover the cause of the attack. An engrossing, deep campaign takes you around the world, on sprawling open world levels where the broader storyline is broken up through the distractions of a richly atmospheric world, numerous side quests, and lots of collectibles and readable background lore scattered around the maps.

Gameplay | Graphics | Sound: Gameplay is aligned around the game’s 4 pillars of FPS based-combat, Stealth mechanics, RPG elements (of character customization) and Player Choice in story-telling direction – and the game seamlessly switches from one mode to another. You are allowed considerable breadth of choice in approaching every situation – Frontal Assault, Stealth or even Smooth-Talking your way past the opposition - building in replayability into the title as well. Several different situational outcomes, great graphics with a trademark orange machine-hue, a brooding pulsating score, responsive K&M controls and controller support round out a well polished title. Note that this review is based on the ‘Director’s Cut’ version of the game which includes all DLC integrated directly into the overall campaign – resulting in close to 75-80 hours of gameplay to complete the campaign, track down all side-quests, see through multiple endings, read all the lore etc (but your mileage may vary).

Flaws: Minor quibbles with the game include the occasional scripted boss battle that while serving to move the broader narrative along, tend to stifle the freedom otherwise celebrated throughout the game. Other issues include longish load times, an inordinate disk space requirement (of 20+ Gigs) and being particularly resource heavy, resulting in some framerate drop issues.

Overall however, ‘Deus-Ex: Human Revolution’ is a triumphant blend of story-telling and disparate game genres. A visually stunning and immersive world, a deep, layered campaign, large open world levels, multiple endings determined by player choice, and very good replayability make this one of the best story-driven titles of recent memory. While the game’s broadly Sci-Fi / Cyber-punk theme will admittedly not be to everyone’s taste, for fans of the genre and classic sci-fi flicks such as RoboCop and BladeRunner, this is essential gaming and overall, a shining example of Gaming Evolved. Very Highly Recommended – Rated (9.5/10)


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[h1] “To Be, ..More Human than Human” [/h1] Set in the dark, dystopian future of 2022, ‘Deus Ex: Human Revolution’ is a fantastic blend of the First Person Shooter (FPS) | Stealth | RPG genres and a testament to gaming as both an art form and sublime story-telling medium. [b][u]Campaign:[/u][/b] Released by Eidos | Square Enix in 2013, the world of ‘Deus-Ex’ is a bleak near-future where Corporations are increasingly more powerful – and Biotech firms vie for control of the Human Cryogenic Augmentation market. These increasingly high stakes result in a growing focus on corporate espionage and security – enter Adam Jensen – an ex-SWAT Commander hired as head of security for Sarif Industries. The opening credits detail Jensen’s brutal execution-style killing during a break-in at Sarif Industries, his resurrection through cryogenic augmentation and drops you into the shoes of the Part-Man, Part-Machine, to piece together the fragmented memories of the past and uncover the cause of the attack. An engrossing, deep campaign takes you around the world, on sprawling open world levels where the broader storyline is broken up through the distractions of a richly atmospheric world, numerous side quests, and lots of collectibles and readable background lore scattered around the maps. [b][u]Gameplay | Graphics | Sound:[/u][/b] Gameplay is aligned around the game’s 4 pillars of FPS based-combat, Stealth mechanics, RPG elements (of character customization) and Player Choice in story-telling direction – and the game seamlessly switches from one mode to another. You are allowed considerable breadth of choice in approaching every situation – Frontal Assault, Stealth or even Smooth-Talking your way past the opposition - building in replayability into the title as well. Several different situational outcomes, great graphics with a trademark orange machine-hue, a brooding pulsating score, responsive K&M controls and controller support round out a well polished title. Note that this review is based on the ‘Director’s Cut’ version of the game which includes all DLC integrated directly into the overall campaign – resulting in close to 75-80 hours of gameplay to complete the campaign, track down all side-quests, see through multiple endings, read all the lore etc (but your mileage may vary). [b][u]Flaws:[/u][/b] Minor quibbles with the game include the occasional scripted boss battle that while serving to move the broader narrative along, tend to stifle the freedom otherwise celebrated throughout the game. Other issues include longish load times, an inordinate disk space requirement (of 20+ Gigs) and being particularly resource heavy, resulting in some framerate drop issues. Overall however, ‘Deus-Ex: Human Revolution’ is a triumphant blend of story-telling and disparate game genres. A visually stunning and immersive world, a deep, layered campaign, large open world levels, multiple endings determined by player choice, and very good replayability make this one of the best story-driven titles of recent memory. While the game’s broadly Sci-Fi / Cyber-punk theme will admittedly not be to everyone’s taste, for fans of the genre and classic sci-fi flicks such as RoboCop and BladeRunner, this is essential gaming and overall, a shining example of Gaming Evolved. Very Highly Recommended – Rated (9.5/10) [u][b] Want More Recommendations? [/b][/u] Make sure to click the 'Follow' button on our Curator Page (Link Attached) to get the latest reviews updated directly onto your Activity Feed. Link: [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/6941261-Game-Syndicate/] 'Game Syndicate - Curator Page' [/url]