Culture

Platforms: PC, xbox 360, PS3 (4.5/5)

My version of Adam Jensen, protagonist of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, practised Batman's brand of pacifism. Shattered elbow joints, enough brain trauma for hours of unconsciousness, even getting squashed by an industrial freezer; it's all dandy as long as the innocent security guard is technically drawing mostly air into most of his lungs.
 
Of course, that was never my only option. Deus Ex: Human Revolution's raspy voiced protagonist might, in another life, have used the carbon-fibre blades in his mechanical arms to take out his foes permanently. The important point is that the decision is far from merely aesthetic. Tranquilised or tasered (or gassed, or knocked out, or not-quite-strangled) enemies can be roused from their slumber by a buddy. It's handy, I found, to leave them to nap in a vent. Surely they almost appreciate the time off? On the other hand, in certain situations the whisper-quiet non-lethal weapons are opportune.
 
After a slightly lukewarm opening machine, the lack of abilities and weapons you have encourages improvisation, forcing tools into niches they were never designed for. That's great, but as you accumulate praxis points by buying them and accruing experience, the fluidity with which different strategies can be switched between is quite spectacular.
 
Even if Human Revolution amounted to nothing more than its core mechanics, the worst label it might end up with is “one of the most best stealth games ever”. Mechanically the game is closest to Splinter Cell: Conviction; there's the same multitalented cover system - one that lets convenient crates shield you from peepy eyes as well as pesky lead munitions. Alright, there's less windowsill takedowns and emphasis on shadows, but Deus Ex has enemies with more levels of alertness, an important strategic difference between lethal and non-lethal tactics and sunglasses that slide out of the side of Jensen's goddam face.
 
Most every facet of Human Revolution is really, really good, even the stuff that pure RPGs can't get the slipperiest handle on, the kind of stuff that everyone else seems to believe to be cumbersome by definition. You want the best hacking mini-game ever? Look no further, my friend. What about the best persuasion mini-game? Deus Ex leaves Fallout, Mass Effect and Dragon Age looking rather sheepish.
 
Human Revolution has weaknesses. Chiefly, the core writing is startlingly mediocre. No flag, when it comes to linear narratives, is broader or a deeper crimson than the disappearance of a love interest who the player only meets for a handful of minutes. No time is dedicated to making you care about the bland scientist girlfriend, nor the game's stock techspert and pilot characters. I didn't care. The game strains to make the boss-fights feel epic the degree that they abandon all semblance of choice (bosses, even if you take them out with nothing but a dart gun, are rendered bloody and broken at the conclusion of a fight). I can't care about this battle with cyborg Lisbeth Salander or cyborg Vaguely-German-Muscular Jones if the narrative doesn't put any effort into developing them.
 
Perhaps it isn't that mediocre. I might even be tempted, in my weaker moments, to call the core plot slightly above average. It feels so clumsy though, because all the tangential stuff is of such high quality. Hacking into several computers in an office, and twining together disparate threads of a story from a variety of perspectives, is a joy. It's the optional story moments, the ones you might just as easily stumble past that immerse you in the current climate of the Deus Ex universe. The emails, the conversations between guards, the eBooks, the news broadcasts, the Minority Report style papers, even the hundreds of neon advertisements are so much more compelling than the core