Deus Ex Human Revolution trailer

Game trailers: Remember the glorious Deus Ex? Tried to forget the ghastly sequel that dare not speak its name? Now we devour the game trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution…

Do you remember Deus Ex? It came out in the year 2000 (rarely has the past sounded so futuristic) and gamers still speak of it in hushed tones. Well, now the third installment is out… Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Check out the game trailer above and decide for yourself if this is going to be the conspiracy-driven action roleplay game we’ve all dreamed of in 2010…

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Having seen the Deus Ex trailer, so far so good. Bladerunner meets Ghost in the Shell meets Metal Gear Solid. A great mixture, full of conspiracy and “what does it mean to be human” storyline potential. Looks good, too. Shame about the Christian Bale voiceover, but in an age where strong games echo deluxe action movies, one has to shoulder such burdens. Overall: Looking great. We were worried initially, because the first sequel to Deus Ex was so irreparably bad (see below). However, Deus Ex: Human Revolution has been produced by a whole new team – and it looks a tasty morsel indeed.

Deus Ex 3 storyline

Wikipedia says Human Revolution takes place in 2027, 25 years before Deus Ex. Nanotechnological augmentations (that is, body mods that make you superhuman, as in the first game) have yet to be developed and biomechanical augmentations are the current state of the art. The main character, Adam Jensen, is a private security officer with a company that specialises in these augmentations. He witnesses a chilling attack on his company, and “the conspiracy begins.” The visuals are a combination of cyberpunk and Renaissance aesthetics – so there’s a touch of steampunk going on there – resulting in a futuristic-looking Baroque world. Nice!

NOTE: Deus Ex: Human Revolution isn’t actually Deus Ex 3. It was going to be called that at one point but Human Revolution can be played as a standalone game, so Deus Ex 3 is a bit misleading and kinda wrong…

Deus Ex 3 gameplay

On the whole, Human revolution is a classy, thinking girl’s first person shooter. You get four different kinds of body upgrades, known in the game as augmentations. These are stealth, technology, social and combat. Fans of roleplaying games like Morrowind will be familiar with these.

Weapons can be upgraded to suit your style of gameplay, enemies react to what you do (change your weapon, behave in a certain way, etc.) If you kill the leaders of enemy squads you can really confuse them. It’s not just a shooter – it’s a shooter that gives you lots of scope for playing the game how you want to. For gamer grrls out there consumed with bloodlust, yes – you will get close-ups of instant kill moves. Evil Cinderella, you SHALL go to the ball.

The original Deus Ex – What on earth are you talking about? Why must I bother myself with these things?

Basically, the original Deus Ex was a cyberpunk RPG first person shooter, and sequels have stuck to this utterly addictive format.

The title “Deus Ex” is derived from the Latin expression “deus ex machina” (that’s ‘MACKina’, not ‘machine-a’). “Deus ex machina” translates as “god from the machine”. In dramatic terms, ‘deus ex machina’ refers to contrived, unrealistic endings that seem shoehorned into a plot and make it seem unbelievable. Warren Spector, the big man for Deus Ex, says ‘Deus Ex’ was intended both as a reference to the various factions in the game who aspire to god-like powers, and also as a dig at computer game plots which (certainly in the year 2000) were riddled with “deus ex machina” plot devices and generally unsophisticated storylines.

Why did people get so excited about the original Deus Ex? Well, for lovers of action roleplaying games, it had simply everything. Deus Ex had an incredibly ambitious and thoughtful storyline involving conspiracy theories a-go-go. The dialogue was zingy. If you were into tactical combat and stealth, you got it in spades. Your decisions changed the world. And, at the time, the graphics were truly state of the art.

Deus Ex – the unspeakable sequel

Yes. There was a sequel. Except there was no sequel. Much like Matrix 2, we do not speak of the sequel. Like Neo’s spoon, like Matrix 2, the Deus Ex sequel did not exist. Until now…