[September 04, 2011] The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Will Smith column Tweet Sep 04, 2011 (The Hawk Eye - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- "Deus Ex: Human Revolution" available for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Rated "M" for Mature. $59.99 I rarely go into a video game blindfolded. In this modern age of endless media, playing a full-priced game without any prior research would be akin to walking into a video rental store and picking a movie based on the cover picture -- just plain silly. Based on the advance reviews I read of "Deus Ex: Human Revolution," I was expecting a good first-person, action-role-playing game that comes just shy of greatness. But when I finally got my hands on "Deus Ex," I got much more than I bargained for -- a fully realized cyberpunk world full of so many secrets and fascinating characters that I wanted to play forever. Maybe I'm easier to please than most critics, but "Deus Ex: Human Revolution" deserves a spot as game of the year contender along with "L.A. Noire." It's just that damn good. Players take the role of Adam Jensen, an ex-cop who heads up security for the Detroit-based Sarif Industries in the not too far flung year of 2027. Biomechanical augmentations that allow ordinary people to improve their physical abilities such as running, jumping and lifting are all the rage, and Sarif Industries leads the way in developing these implants. But not everyone agrees that turning humans into low-level cyborgs is the right way for humanity to evolve. Human rights groups continually protest the development of augmentations (simply known as augs), and when the Sarif Industries laboratory suffers a terrorist attack from unidentified mercenaries, Jensen is left severely mutilated, knocking on death's door. The real story starts six months later, with a new and improved Jensen who is saved by Sarif Industries through enhanced augmentations -- kind of like "Robocop," but without all the shiny metal and computerized brain. The rest of the game covers Jensen's search for who attacked the laboratory, which leads to plenty of out-of-the-way side quests that comprise the bread and butter of any good RPG. Though the combination of stealth, role-playing and first-person-shooter action has been done before, the strange mix of genres always has been handled best by the "Deus Ex" franchise. "Deus Ex: Human Revolution" actually is the third chapter in the series, acting as a prequel to "Deus Ex" (released in 2000) and "Deus Ex: Invisible War" (released in 2003). I had the pleasure of playing both games during my college years, and considering how absorbed I became in those adventures, I should have expected nothing less from the third installment. Series veterans immediately will recognize the open-world formula. "Deus Ex" always has been about choice, and while that open-world formula was utilized to a limited degree in "Crysis 2" (which allowed players to choose their attack plan based on stealth or force), that's nothing compared to the freedom offered in "Human Revolution." Though the game does open a bit slowly with a prolonged tutorial, which guides Jensen along a set path, the world really opens up by the time you reach the police station. If you immediately upgrade Jensen's persuasion skills, you can walk right in and sweet talk the jumpy desk sergeant, who allows Jensen free access to the station without worry of being attacked by police officers. You also can sneak in through an out-of-the-way air vent and hack a few computers, or come up through the basement by accessing the sewer system. Of course, the police aren't nearly as friendly if they find Jensen sneaking around. Action-oriented gamers need not worry that the game mechanics encourage stealth and persuasion over brute force. There is no right way to play the game, and since it's possible to start upgrading Jensen's augs right away, you really get a say in how he develops as a character. Those augs modify everything from Jensen's hacking skill to his breathing ability, and if you want to go balls-to-the-wall with guns blazing, all you have to do is upgrade his armor skill and recoil reduction and start blasting away. Considering how fragile Jensen is, armor upgrades are a must for the run-and-gun gamer. Since I wanted to focus my aug points on hacking skills that allowed me to break into secure doors, my version of Jensen only could take a few bullets before crumpling like a wet spider. That could have been a problem if the game didn't feature such a robust cover system. Any time you take cover behind a flat surface, the camera zooms out to a third-person perspective similar to that of the "Mass Effect" and "Gears of War," which allows Jensen to pop out to fire shots without taking much damage. And since there aren't any augs that dictate the power of Jensen's weapons, you aren't penalized in combat for taking a less aggressive approach to his modification. This is especially important during boss battles, where you have no choice but to fight. That same cover system also works remarkably well for sneaking, which allows you to avoid massive, never-ending battles with guards. Though sneaking can be made even easier with augs that make Jensen practically invisible, you still can do pretty well by just paying attention to where the guards are looking. It's that kind of flexibility that lets the game flow freely without the worry of screwing up your character and making him too weak. Nearly everything is possible from the get-go -- the augs just make it a little easier. As expertly as "Deus Ex" is crafted, there are a few technical limitations that caused many game critics to give the game a score of an "8" instead of a "9" or "10." For the most part, the graphics are gorgeous, utilizing a very intentional black and gold motif that really pops in high definition. The game takes place exclusively at night, and with the towering lighted billboards that reach to the sky, it looks an awful lot like a limited color version of "Mass Effect" or "Blade Runner" -- the movie against which every cyberpunk game is compared. But the character models are just downright ugly -- especially the less important ones you meet along the street. Denton, his boss, and a few other characters actually are textured fairly well, but the majority of the cast looks like they were pulled out of a high-end Playstation 2 game from eight years ago. The character animations are incredibly stiff as well -- if you walked in on your buddy while he is talking to someone in the game, you might laugh. Fortunately, the rest of the experience so outweighs this admittedly large fault that I wasn't the least bit bothered by it. The writing is superb and handled with the same kind of precision you would expect from a triple-A movie, even if Denton's Snake Plisken-like voice acting is a bit over-the-top. Those who judge a game simply on its graphics may not be able to get past those horrendous-looking characters, which is a real shame. There's no better feeling than sneaking into a guy's apartment, zapping him with a stun-gun and then stealing all his valuables before leaving through the front door under the nose of the police. For anyone who wants to experience a deep cyberpunk adventure full of mystery and intrigue, this is about as good as it gets. Four out of Four Stars ___ (c)2011 The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa) Visit The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa) at www.thehawkeye.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]