Game News Deus Ex: Human Revolutions Footage & Interview

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Deus Ex: Human Revolution; Eidos Montreal

<p>You can watch this <a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/video/penetrate-the-deus-ex/707555" target="_blank">new gameplay trailer</a> of <strong>Deus Ex: Human Revolutions</strong>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Additionally Eurogamer <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-11-18-deus-ex-gameplay-detailed-interview" target="_blank">had a brief chat</a> with game director Jean-Francois Dugas concerning the new footage.</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="interviewQuestion"><strong><span class="whoistalking">Eurogamer</span>: What are Praxis Points and how do they work?</strong></p>
<p class="interviewAnswer"><span class="whoistalking">Jean-Francois Dugas</span>: You earn Experience Points for every mission you complete, every secret you discover, and various other meaningful actions you take. By collecting experience points you will unlock Praxis points - something you need in order to acquire and unlock new augmentation abilities.</p>
<p class="interviewQuestion"><strong><span class="whoistalking">Eurogamer</span>: The upgrade selected – Move/Throw Heavy Objects – appeared to allow Adam to move the crate so he could reach the vent. Are there any other examples of a similar application of this upgrade? </strong></p>
<p class="interviewAnswer"><span class="whoistalking">Jean-Francois Dugas</span>: Yes, you can use objects as weapons by throwing them on enemies. You move objects and then take cover behind them, you can stack them to reach hard to reach areas, etc.</p>
</blockquote>
<p class="interviewAnswer"><em>Thanks to StrangeCase & Gamebanshee.</em></p>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/100473-deus-ex-human-revolution-interview.html">GB</a></p>

 

[SimpleComplexity]

You move objects and then take cover behind them

UPO detected.

UnidentifiedPopamoleObject

 

[Fens]

scnr

 

[Vibalist]

I am actually looking forward very much to this game.

Am I a popamole now?

 

[Data4]

Despite the cries of popamole already made and those that will follow, I thought this trailer looked more Deus Ex-y than IW ever did. +1 to Anticipation.

 

[Gakkone]

Yeah, I thought it looked surprisingly good. Who knows, maybe it'll end up being a decent to good game.

 

[Vibalist]

Despite the cries of popamole already made and those that will follow, I thought this trailer looked more Deus Ex-y than IW ever did. +1 to Anticipation.

This is exactly it. I actually got a Deus Ex 1 'feel' from watching the gameplay. Cover system and occasional third person view aside, seeing footage of the player crawling through vents and hacking turrets just made me feel nostalgic as hell.

From other trailers I've seen, the game also manages to capture the atmosphere as well I reckon. I'm hoping this will be good, I really am.

 

[Roguey]

I dunno how you can say that looks good with those ugly orange highlighted items, limited object interaction, consolized UI forcing you to pause and navigate a radial menu to switch to a different item, third person mode that lets you stay behind cover while getting a good view of the area, regenerating health with no locational damage, and unappealing aesthetics (DX may have been graphically supbar at the time but at least it had an easy-to-follow utilitarian style, unlike this hazy gold jagged mess).

I'm going to use my wall punch aug to punch through a wall I'm so upset.

 

[Vibalist]

I dunno how you can say that looks good with those ugly orange highlighted items

Don't really mind it.

limited object interaction

Whåt?

consolized UI forcing you to pause and navigate a radial menu to switch to a different item

Meh. Don't really mind it.

third person mode that lets you stay behind cover while getting a good view of the area

Already admitted this is shit.

regenerating health with no locational damage

Alright, this is shit, especially the last part, but hardly a deal breaker for me.

and unappealing aesthetics

I totally disagree. My first thought upon watching this and other trailers was that the game looks really good. To each his own, though.

I'm going to use my wall punch aug to punch through a wall I'm so upset.

 

[StrangeCase]

Eurogamer: The trailer ends with what looks like a defensive manoeuvre that deflects bullets – is this a special skill? What other types of this kind are there?

Jean-Francois Dugas: It's not deflecting bullets. It's an offensive augmentation called the "Typhoon Explosive System" that allows you to launch mini-explosives in a 360 degree arc around you.

Should have stuck with the deflecting bullets. Would've just been lame, as opposed to extra-lame.

I dunno, I definitely get more of an IW feel. Vent-crawling and turret-hacking is a good start, but IW did that too. Aesthetics are also much more in line with IW as well. Hopefully that cinematic crap is confined to the trailers. If it is, I'll probably play it. If not... eh, maybe a Steam sale or something.

 

[Crooked Bee]

still possible? Blasphemy!

 

[Azrael the cat]

I don't think we're seeing an incline in terms of the basics of the gaming systems. But we might - and emphasise the 'might' - be reaching the point where all those gamers whose first crpg experiences were KoToR and Oblivion are starting to get tired of the same old formula, and whilst they still want that formula, it needs to be served with a little more pizzazz than last time. Cover-based shooting, by itself, is no longer a game 'feature'. Open world, by itself, is no longer a game-selling 'feature' and neither is the Bioware 3 hub 'epic' quest. The masses are demanding a little more sparkle to go with it.

That's my interpretation anyway. NV is basically FO3 + much better story, dialogue, world and encounter design (but the exact same underlying game). Divinity 2 Dragon Knight Saga, from what I gather, does the same for Dragon Age (could be totally wrong on that one - haven't played it). Arcania tried to deliver the same old crap and got pwned for it.

It isn't an 'incline' in terms of being a step towards my beloved party-based tactical-combat with flexible character+choice-driven story (ok, maybe a step towards the latter part). But it could be an incline in that they're learning (and being forced by the market) to do 'the new shit' a little more competently

 

[Azrael the cat]

Eurogamer: The trailer ends with what looks like a defensive manoeuvre that deflects bullets – is this a special skill? What other types of this kind are there?

Jean-Francois Dugas: It's not deflecting bullets. It's an offensive augmentation called the "Typhoon Explosive System" that allows you to launch mini-explosives in a 360 degree arc around you.

Should have stuck with the deflecting bullets. Would've just been lame, as opposed to extra-lame.

I dunno, I definitely get more of an IW feel. Vent-crawling and turret-hacking is a good start, but IW did that too. Aesthetics are also much more in line with IW as well. Hopefully that cinematic crap is confined to the trailers. If it is, I'll probably play it. If not... eh, maybe a Steam sale or something.

Wasn't there a similar biomod in the original? Called the Aggressive Defensive System, or something equivalent? Worked as a defence against missiles/grenades - which was handy as you could start to get it to decent levels just around the time you'd be hitting mass numbers of those armoured commandos who'd usually pop out of doors on opposite sides of you (so you can't see all of them) and fucking loved to open the fight by firing off a volley of rockets. The aug description said it launched a cloud of mini-explosives around you that detonated incoming rockets at an increased distance (distance depending on level of the biomod).

So the only change is it affecting bullets. Which is admittedly silly as an explanation, as it makes less sense than an explosion taking out an incoming missile (though that itself didn't make much sense as that would mean 2 explosions taking your head off, not to mention why didn't it detonate all the other explosives in the cloud vapourising you?) - Deus Ex 1 wasn't that big on the whole logical weapons thing. As well as the Aggressive Defense System, there's also the plot point tied around the nanosword, where having an improved sword is supposed to be able to allow one triad group to smash the other (and presumably give MI5's troops similar power). Because the reason why swords aren't first-line modern warfare weapons is that they just aren't sharp enough. Because hacking a guy's head off in one blow, or stabbing him in the heart just won't do when you can slice at a nano-particle level. And because the disadvantage of swords over guns having fucking nothing to do with...well if you haven't watched 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' by now, go out and rent it/download it - trust me, you've missed out on something special if you haven't

Not saying melee combat is irrelevant to modern warefare. But DEx wasn't in settings that vaguely resembled scenarious favouring sword/bayonet combat in real life.

 

[SoupNazi]

there's also the plot point tied around the nanosword, where having an improved sword is supposed to be able to allow one triad group to smash the other (and presumably give MI5's troops similar power).

I'm not sure if this was properly explained, but my understanding of this was that the triads often chose to duke it out oldschool style with swords. This is shown in the underground highway area where the two triads actually do run at each other with nothing but swords. The reasoning is that the nano-sword would assumedly cut through the sword and overall function better, thus giving the triads both symbolic and actual combat advantage.

This also isn't completely whack because even modern American gangs rarely actually use firearms and often resolve conflict with massive fights using mostly blunt weapons (baseball bats, chains) - so it could be assumed that the triads would do a similar thing, and since they're more cultured, they'd resort to swords rather than "primitive" blunt weapons.

 

[waywardOne]

no kotkeys for weapons/items? fuck this game.

 

[Melcar]

Just horrible.

 

[Roguey]

I'm not sure if this was properly explained, but my understanding of this was that the triads often chose to duke it out oldschool style with swords. This is shown in the underground highway area where the two triads actually do run at each other with nothing but swords.

Hong Kong had those gunfire sensors everywhere, so they couldn't use guns without having the police immediately alerted. Though one of the notes you read states it only detects non-supressed gunfire, so I guess they could have used those penalty-free silencer-modded assault rifles instead.

 

[SoupNazi]

Oh, right, now I remember. In retrospect, I never bothered with staying in the first city part of Hong Kong and there's no real reason to shoot anything or anyone in the next part. So I probably skipped over the dialogue mentioning this too. Still, that's even better explanation than the one my own brain made up for me.

 

[zeitgeist]

I'm not sure if this was properly explained, but my understanding of this was that the triads often chose to duke it out oldschool style with swords. This is shown in the underground highway area where the two triads actually do run at each other with nothing but swords.

Hong Kong had those gunfire sensors everywhere, so they couldn't use guns without having the police immediately alerted. Though one of the notes you read states it only detects non-supressed gunfire, so I guess they could have used those penalty-free silencer-modded assault rifles instead.

IIRC Hong Kong was supposed to be a representation of a heavily populated urban setting in a society with strong gun control, so street gangs/triads/ordinary people/etc either not having access to, or deliberately choosing not to use firearms made sense in that context. A lot of NSF background is gun control related too, it's one of the recurring themes in the game.

 

[Jack Swift]

i think Deus Ex is a pretty cool guy. eh shoots missiles out of his back and doesnt afraid of anything.

 

[Melcar]

Would have been better if he shot them out of his ass.

 

[Azrael the cat]

there's also the plot point tied around the nanosword, where having an improved sword is supposed to be able to allow one triad group to smash the other (and presumably give MI5's troops similar power).

I'm not sure if this was properly explained, but my understanding of this was that the triads often chose to duke it out oldschool style with swords. This is shown in the underground highway area where the two triads actually do run at each other with nothing but swords. The reasoning is that the nano-sword would assumedly cut through the sword and overall function better, thus giving the triads both symbolic and actual combat advantage.

This also isn't completely whack because even modern American gangs rarely actually use firearms and often resolve conflict with massive fights using mostly blunt weapons (baseball bats, chains) - so it could be assumed that the triads would do a similar thing, and since they're more cultured, they'd resort to swords rather than "primitive" blunt weapons.

Oh, I understood that. But it's inconsistent as all hell. Both gangs are shown to be VERY well armed with modern weapons and very willing to use them (for the most obvious example, see them defending against the Commando assault on the Lucky Money). The standard triad weapon in the game seems to be the automatic rifle. If one side started pwning due to a nanosword (and I still don't get why making it even sharper would make it a war-deciding weapon - plain ordinary swords are sharp enough to get the job done), the other side could just pull out their assault rifles and easily kill them. There's nothing said in game about when they're supposed to use swords and when they can use their guns, but surely if high-tech nano-swords are in, then it's ok to pull their assault rifle out.

Not to mention - why on earth does the arm-slot aug CHOOSE between increased lifting and increased melee damage. Surely if I'm getting superstrong for lifting stuff, I'm also getting superstrong for hitting people. There isn't some special strength that only works on people, while another kind of arm strength works on objects (or, for that matter, why you couldn't just super-lift the object INTO the person...).

And what the hell was the swimming skill for? Nowhere in the game needs any more than 1 in swim at the most, and that's only needed if you want to grab all the special goodies and don't want to carry a spare rebreather for the flooded tunnel in hong kong with the scientists' corpse and all the goodies (and you could do that without the rebreather if you had enough in low-tech to efficiently kill the super-crocs with the dartgun, which works underwater). Damn popamole can't shut off any part of the game to the kiddies in case they cry about needing to replay it with a different build!!!

And all those fake C+C that lead to the same dialogues at the same time just delivered by a different character (eg random Area 51 scientist instead of Paul, if Paul isn't alive), completely cosmetic effects - not even red shirts v blue shirts!

Just for context, Deus Ex is my favourite game. By a long way - well, not THAT far ahead of PS:T but a fucking mile ahead of anything else. It's the game that I play several times a year every year to remind me of what a truly great game is.

My point is that even the greatest of the great don't hold up to some of the criticism we level at games now. Yes, in a better world, games would have continued to progress and we'd have games that were even better. But that world doesn't exist - we're in a world where gaming has become homogenised as it has become more popular. If the very greatest games of the greatest era ever known to gaming can't live up to our standards, then we can cut the new shit some slack.

 

[Azrael the cat]

I'm not sure if this was properly explained, but my understanding of this was that the triads often chose to duke it out oldschool style with swords. This is shown in the underground highway area where the two triads actually do run at each other with nothing but swords.

Hong Kong had those gunfire sensors everywhere, so they couldn't use guns without having the police immediately alerted. Though one of the notes you read states it only detects non-supressed gunfire, so I guess they could have used those penalty-free silencer-modded assault rifles instead.

True, and that would provide a plausible explanation for the street battles being sword-based. But they clearly don't seem to be afraid of the authorities, and moreover, they are demonstrably happy to use guns in public places, so long as they aren't 'in the street' (the very public shootout at the Lucky Money, with no police reprisals - you even can go for a drink with the triad bosses there afterwards). One would think that would be sufficient to neuter the effects of a sword.

 

[SoupNazi]

Not to mention - why on earth does the arm-slot aug CHOOSE between increased lifting and increased melee damage. Surely if I'm getting superstrong for lifting stuff, I'm also getting superstrong for hitting people. There isn't some special strength that only works on people, while another kind of arm strength works on objects (or, for that matter, why you couldn't just super-lift the object INTO the person...).

Again, just my understanding: different muscles are used when you lift heavy stuff and different muscles are used to beat the shit out of people or swing swords or whatever. Also, you CAN actually throw heavy items on people in Deus Ex, though it's a bit clumsy. I had a lot of fun throwing crates at UNATCO troops at the warehouse after you align satellites.

And what the hell was the swimming skill for? Nowhere in the game needs any more than 1 in swim at the most, and that's only needed if you want to grab all the special goodies and don't want to carry a spare rebreather for the flooded tunnel in hong kong with the scientists' corpse and all the goodies (and you could do that without the rebreather if you had enough in low-tech to efficiently kill the super-crocs with the dartgun, which works underwater). Damn popamole can't shut off any part of the game to the kiddies in case they cry about needing to replay it with a different build!!!

Yeah, a lot of the augs were completely useless.

And all those fake C+C that lead to the same dialogues at the same time just delivered by a different character (eg random Area 51 scientist instead of Paul, if Paul isn't alive), completely cosmetic effects - not even red shirts v blue shirts!

I don't consider it fake. Or wrong in any way. Cosmetic effects like that are way more rewarding than a dumb ass achievement popping up for taking an approach. Imagine how stupid it would be if you saved Paul and an achievement popped up "BROS DONT LEAVE BROS - save Paul in his apartment" and then nothing else would change and you wouldn't see him anymore anyway? And it would be the same as if he died, but you had the achievement. That's how modern games would do it.

My point is that even the greatest of the great don't hold up to some of the criticism we level at games now. Yes, in a better world, games would have continued to progress and we'd have games that were even better. But that world doesn't exist - we're in a world where gaming has become homogenised as it has become more popular. If the very greatest games of the greatest era ever known to gaming can't live up to our standards, then we can cut the new shit some slack.

Dues Ex - and many other new games - isn't perfect, no, but compared to any new game, it's still much better in pretty much every aspect except for graphics (and even that could be debated). The fact that Deus Ex hasn't been outdone in like what, nine or ten years? By a similar FPS with RPG elements just speaks for itself. I mean it's not even that damn hard.

True, and that would provide a plausible explanation for the street battles being sword-based. But they clearly don't seem to be afraid of the authorities, and moreover, they are demonstrably happy to use guns in public places, so long as they aren't 'in the street' (the very public shootout at the Lucky Money, with no police reprisals - you even can go for a drink with the triad bosses there afterwards). One would think that would be sufficient to neuter the effects of a sword.

The Lucky Money was a triad-owned establishment. And a loud club. And the MJ-12 probably had the government under control and asked not to interfere or something. I dunno, it didn't feel too far-fetched. Things like launching nuclear missiles and alien corpses in research centres was what bummed the most about Deus Ex, to be honest.

 

[J1M]

If a nano sword cuts through other swords with ease it would be quite the advantage.