The "I am actually playing DXHR" thread.

[Captain Shrek]

I still oppose the commercial. I will never buy this game and convince at least a hundred people not to buy it. That is my oath .

 

[Gord]

I still oppose the commercial. I will never buy this game and convince at least a hundred people not to buy it. That is my oath .

 

[Eyeball]

Finished this game - pleasantly surprised, really. They didn't manage to squeeze the amazing conspiracy feeling from DE1 into HR, but it was a lot of fun Batmanning around using your X-ray vision and taking down lone dudes using overlong animated cutscenes. Failed Pacifist, though - apparently, punching through a wall and snapping the gangsters neck in one of the first Detroit sidemissions messed it up. Never mind, it was a pain in the ass to do in the end anyway, especially with the frankly quite retarded final levels, which I completed by backpedalling furiously from the hordes of not-zombies while shooting them with my stun gun and doing a double takedown once my energy had recovered. The writing staff must have been seriously hung over around the time they designed the endgame. Very disappointing after such an otherwise enjoyable stealth/gunning game.

Anyone catch the Robocop reference in the LIMB clinic in the first Detroit area? There's a reference to Jensen's left arm being salvageable, but Sarif having it cut off anyway in order to maximise efficiency. Nice touch, although I would have liked to be able to stick it to Sarif harder. He's both my favourite character in the game and the one most deserving a punch in the face for his fanatical cyborg fetishism.

Jensen's apartment was another nice touch. Helped flesh out his otherwise fairly bland character a great deal. I really think they should have added another cutscene or dialogue or two depicting Jensen struggling with his newfound robolimbs. The dehumanising effects of cyberware is one of the major points of cyberpunk and I felt they could have made much more of this in the game.

I think I'm gonna replay this puppy at least once and I'm wondering: Can you play Psychotic PTSD Cyborg Asshole Jensen? As in, randomly murder civilians, insult everybody and kill your way into the police station, taking out half the police force? And if so, are there actually any repercussions for doing so or comments from other characters? Will Sarif congratulate you for recovering the chip from the morgue and then chastise you for killing 45 cops in the process?

 

[baronjohn]

I think that in in the final level, Sarif and Darrow aren't immortal, so punch away.

You can kill pretty much everyone in the game. I'm not sure how it reacts to that but I thought the whole thing was retarded anyway. Jensen is private security, he can't just kill people. They should've made more of the non-lethal approach and enforced it in most of the game.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I knocked out all the characters at the end because I thought they were going to turn on me. Better them be unconscious while I fulfill the mission.

 

[gromit]

I thought the whole thing was retarded anyway. Jensen is private security, he can't just kill people.

The fact that Sarif does whatever the fuck it wants is not a matter of oversight. I mean, right after the intro, an employee's body is piece-meal replaced to turn him into a more effective tool (weapon) and the police promptly bend the fuck over during a hostage situation in the name of corporate secrets.

 

[Wyrmlord]

I knocked out all the characters at the end because I thought they were going to turn on me. Better them be unconscious while I fulfill the mission.

In the original Deus Ex, during the very first Hell's Kitchen encounter, I once knocked out Used Car Salesman in the bar unconscious with a quiet taser to the back. I couldn't shoot or kill him, of course, without incurring the wrath of the bartender.

However, tasering him doesn't kill him, so he'd only end up alive later in the game. So I picked up Used Car Salesman's body, carried it across the streets, went down the manhole, and threw it into the MJ12 sewer waters.

Much later, Harley Filben and Smuggler are congratulating me for having taken out the MJ12 spy much in advance.

 

[SoupNazi]

I did that when the riots in Detroit start and you're called to your apartment, where Sarif wants to meet you. You land on the roof and there's Sarif's security all over the place. I figured it was THE moment where Sarif betrays me, and knocked them all out. How guilty I felt when I finished talking to Sarif and we were still bros

 

[baronjohn]

I thought the whole thing was retarded anyway. Jensen is private security, he can't just kill people.

The fact that Sarif does whatever the fuck it wants is not a matter of oversight. I mean, right after the intro, an employee's body is piece-meal replaced to turn him into a more effective tool (weapon) and the police promptly bend the fuck over during a hostage situation in the name of corporate secrets.

I guess. But Jensen was probably already dead and Sarif had him sign a contract that he can experiment on him, and that plant thing was his private property. The two are not really the same as flipping the fuck out in Hengsha and gutting everyone in the streets with your arm blades. Why would the Chinese government let you and friend helicopter fly off? Why would they let you back in a day later?

They missed a great opportunity to make a thief-y game I think.

 

[Gerrard]

So apparently this game doesn't have surround sound, I just realized (played in headphones before). Are you fucking serious?

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

I thought the whole thing was retarded anyway. Jensen is private security, he can't just kill people.

The fact that Sarif does whatever the fuck it wants is not a matter of oversight. I mean, right after the intro, an employee's body is piece-meal replaced to turn him into a more effective tool (weapon) and the police promptly bend the fuck over during a hostage situation in the name of corporate secrets.

I guess. But Jensen was probably already dead and Sarif had him sign a contract that he can experiment on him, and that plant thing was his private property. The two are not really the same as flipping the fuck out in Hengsha and gutting everyone in the streets with your arm blades. Why would the Chinese government let you and friend helicopter fly off? Why would they let you back in a day later?

Chinese government has barely any influence in Hengsha, the city is almost 100% Tai Yong Medical territory down to law enforcement. Not to mention Tai Yong Medical DOES tell the Chinese government to yell uncle the next time you visit and ban your helicopter from the airspace.

A big point in the game was that national governments were increasingly powerless and meaningless in the face of the mega-corporations and the Illuminati.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Wasn't it made clear in Deus Ex that China is still a totalitarian hellhole, but is also free from corporate influence (according to the barman)?

Yes, The People's Republic of China was only cooperating with Majestic 12, because Majestic 12 managed to outbid all others in the pursuit of common interest.

What is interesting is that because the Chinese were just a little out of MJ12's influence, MJ12 leaders such as Walton Simons had to use other pressures.

On the Chinese superfreighter, we see emails received by Captain Zhao. Zhao's son was being visited by Men In Black at school, who regularly made threats in order to obtain his cooperation. Zhao had also sent an email to his superiors complaining about FEMA threats. His superiors acknowledged the pressures FEMA was placing, but reminded him that he was dutibound under the Chinese government to spread the virus anyway.

 

[DraQ]

I'm posting in this thread because I'm currently playing DX:HR. So far it seems pretty nice.

Popamole mechanics isn't I win button as you can still be hit and just spraying and praying has attrocious accuracy, it also isn't as jarring as I thought it would be as pretty much everything is potential cover, so it isn't particularly limiting in terms of encounters design. Still, cover is overpowered in stealth mode and the game could do without it. I really miss leaning, although I never used it that much in DX.

Visual design is generally pretty nice, overall stylistics reminds me of System Shock 2, which is good, but like SS2 game has surprisingly dated graphics compared to its contemporaries.

Faces seem nice if slightly stylized, but facial animations are pretty much nonexistant.

Areas seem much more cramped than in original DX (so far, maybe the game will open up later), but the multiple routes are included and keep gameplay interesting.

Also, my shades are augmented, hurr durr.

 

[Satan]

this game definitely lacks "my vision is augmented" line.

 

[Stinger]

^^ Actually I played a second time with cover mechanics enabled to see the difference. And for me while cover mechanics didn't affect stealth too much (just made it easier to move around, the enemy radar lets you cheat around corners anyway) it clearly broke combat.

I had AI walking up to my cover spot and then backing away muttering "GOTTA BE HERE SOMEWHERE" When I'd just popped out a second ago to kill their buddy. The only times the cover let me down was when an enemy lucked out and accidentally flanked me. Otherwise they were just stupid as hell and inexplicably stupider than without cover.

The story has grown on me a lot more though this time around since I put points into making hacking easy instead of just hacking level 5 with shit all skills and can easily access all the flavour text and background storyline.

^There's "Yeah, rip." I suppose.

 

[Kaol]

I finished DX:HR and can't understand why its so rated.

The story is kinda ok i suppose although nothing really amazing.

AI is alot worse than the original, a game known for having bad AI.

"Hacking" mini game is boring and there are far too many things to hack with no reward.

Level design is bad, although there's good intentions it's not implemented very well. I mean everywhere has 3 different paths which sounds good but its basically either walk through enemies, go through human sized vent #44 or go via path that uses augmentation abilities. Once you work out the formula it no longer becomes much fun.

Final level is terrible.

Ending feels like a troll, you choose between pressing 4 different buttons.

Best gun in the game is the one you get off the first enemy you meet.

Piss filter.

Very few objects in the game are interactable.

 

[Delirius]

It's really cute how the game says you need to carefully consider which augs to choose when by the end I had like 80%-90% of them (definietly had all the useful ones)

I also really liked how all the stealth augs were absolutely useless because from the beggining you have a minimap which even shows where enemies are looking . Even Alpha Protocol had better Stealth (till you got invis) Actually all augs are useless because the combat is piss-poor easy. Of course I played on Give Me Deus Ex because I'm not a fag. Also what is this Social Enhancer shit, I didn't buy it and yet I persuaded everyone succesfully just by choosing whichever option seemed cool?

As for weapons all you need is a tazer and 10mm. Sniper rifles are useless because they don't kill many opponents even with a headshot. The great thing is 10mm does.

If it wasn't for cyberpunk I wouldn't even bother.

 

[DraQ]

You guys do realize that most of your complaints could be just as well addressed at DX1?
:/

Mni-Uplink style hacking is definitely better than non-interactive progress bar, plus it makes a better job, encouraging some resource and risk management, while at the same time allowing you read the information in relative peace. The game has also curtailed contortionist-hacker exploit and AI obliviousness to the PC fucking up with their data.
Hacking could have been made better by making all systems (at least all in single building) a huge network with multiple entry points and multiple possible goals (like door controller, security system or someone's emails on the server), but it's still leaps and bounds above passively watching progress bar followed by speed reading course.

Dialogue mechanics is something new, so is failing dialogue, and diplomacy focused aug, so another massive improvement here.

There is also this thing with lethal and non-lethal differing in more than just name, some scripted scolding by NPCs, and blood decals in DX:HR.
Unconscious characters are not just corpses with different label, they can be killed and they can be revived by their comrades, OTOH killing someone is generally messier and attracts more attention than punching him comatose with your cybernetic fists.

In comparison, DX1 kill vs knock out mechanical differences were pretty much non-existent, and the main difference was storyfag one (oh, and you could loot MiBs if they didn't explode).

Currently my main beef with DX3 is the cover system, or rather the way AJ doesn't really crouch low enough without it, making shooting without using cover system in actual combat a non-viable option except for stuff like gunning fuckers down in a chokepoint. Cover might not be popamole as you can get hit when aiming and blindfiring is ridiculously inaccurate (as it should be) making it only useful as last resort suppressive fire, but TPP view still lets you determine the right moment to pop out of the cover and that's a serious flaw as well.

Combat in general is quite a bit harder on 'Give me Deus Ex' than in DX1 on Realistic, where you could attempt to matrix an MJ12 commando without using any sort of cover or combat augs (did this spectacularly near the cathedral in Paris after botching a sniper rifle shot).

AI is generally stupid, especially when it comes to its inability to go beyond "follow to last seen location" routine, but OTOH DX1 enemies were hardly Einsteins, and were much easier to distract reliably with noises, just staring into the point noise originated at - here they're at least looking around making precision guiding NPCs with distractions not really workable, without eliminating the usefulness of distractions in general.

It might not be the first Deus Ex, it might not have as good level design or such an expansive array of optional routes, but it's sure as fuck a proper Deus Ex game.
And it certainly does have better art direction and seems to avoid conceptual silliness better - like how exactly do physiopharmaceutically enhanced people (p-series agents) explode on death and why do they speak like fucking robots, or how can you see not just in the dark, but at all if your light source is in your retina?

 

[Wyrmlord]

I know what you mean, DraQ.

I played Deus Ex again after finishing Human Revolution. I was surprised that I never had to run for cover when confronted by a MJ12 commando, because all I had to do was shoot him in the head.

Once, I was being attacked by three MJ12 commandos running in a row, but I killed them one by one in a face-to-face fight like bowling pins falling with one shot on the head after another. They weren't even able to fire rockets.

If this were Human Revolution, it would have been insta-kill.

Ogres in Human Revolution are particularly nasty; they take two or three shots to the cranium before dying. Hate those guys.

 

[DraQ]

Once, I was being attacked by three MJ12 commandos running in a row, but I killed them one by one in a face-to-face fight like bowling pins falling with one shot on the head after another. They weren't even able to fire rockets.

Well, to be fair MJ12 commandos can pretty fucking lethal with their twin 7.62mm aimbot autoguns doing instakill headshots at full auto, and are also pretty sturdy and immune to gas/incendiaries, but their rockets are a joke, and you can dodge them rather easily. In any case it's still much easier to quickly drop even several MJ12 commandos in quick succession than to do it with several DX:HR enemies, even lowly gangbangers, unless the line themselves up in a chokepoint.

Amusingly the most dire situation I've ever been in in the first DX was the Lucky Money assault, where I simply huddled behind the cover unwilling to pop my head out for the MJ12 commandos to shoot off.

 

[Hamster]

Just finished the game. The game itself is pretty good, but as many other have noted story is lame. I especially hated the way writers expect you to seriously consider cavemen level anti-technology sentiments as a valid point of view and how they just randomly throw various "important social issues" at you without bothering to check if they make sense in context. For example, augments are suppposed to be mainly for rich people but you hear suggestions for no-augs rules in expensive apartment buildings and people in Tay Yong office are looking down you as a low wage worker. Wow it's, like, so topical, you are descriminated like a black person! What an interesting social commentary! Except it makes no fucking sense since augments are supposed to be expensive so people who have them will mainly be from highest classes of society. Or like prostitutes are forced to be augmented because clients pay more for that. FFS, isnt it obvious that with inflow of neuropozyne addicted women into sex trade it's pure girls who will be in demand, not the other way around? Did nobody put any thought into that?

 

[Gerrard]

OTOH killing someone is generally messier and attracts more attention than punching him comatose with your cybernetic fists.

Yeah, too bad that's only thanks to shitty design. You can punch people clearly in the sound range of other guys and they won't notice anything.
Not to mention freezing time.

 

[DraQ]

OTOH killing someone is generally messier and attracts more attention than punching him comatose with your cybernetic fists.

Yeah, too bad that's only thanks to shitty design. You can punch people clearly in the sound range of other guys and they won't notice anything.
Not to mention freezing time.

Well, yeah, that's shit. I could also do without cinematic takedowns (give me back my control!!!1 ), although watching Jensen punch some particularly crooked fuck in da face is entertaining.

 

[Kaol]

You guys do realize that most of your complaints could be just as well addressed at DX1?
:/

Mni-Uplink style hacking is definitely better than non-interactive progress bar, plus it makes a better job, encouraging some resource and risk management, while at the same time allowing you read the information in relative peace. The game has also curtailed contortionist-hacker exploit and AI obliviousness to the PC fucking up with their data.
Hacking could have been made better by making all systems (at least all in single building) a huge network with multiple entry points and multiple possible goals (like door controller, security system or someone's emails on the server), but it's still leaps and bounds above passively watching progress bar followed by speed reading course.

Dialogue mechanics is something new, so is failing dialogue, and diplomacy focused aug, so another massive improvement here.

There is also this thing with lethal and non-lethal differing in more than just name, some scripted scolding by NPCs, and blood decals in DX:HR.
Unconscious characters are not just corpses with different label, they can be killed and they can be revived by their comrades, OTOH killing someone is generally messier and attracts more attention than punching him comatose with your cybernetic fists.

In comparison, DX1 kill vs knock out mechanical differences were pretty much non-existent, and the main difference was storyfag one (oh, and you could loot MiBs if they didn't explode).

Currently my main beef with DX3 is the cover system, or rather the way AJ doesn't really crouch low enough without it, making shooting without using cover system in actual combat a non-viable option except for stuff like gunning fuckers down in a chokepoint. Cover might not be popamole as you can get hit when aiming and blindfiring is ridiculously inaccurate (as it should be) making it only useful as last resort suppressive fire, but TPP view still lets you determine the right moment to pop out of the cover and that's a serious flaw as well.

Combat in general is quite a bit harder on 'Give me Deus Ex' than in DX1 on Realistic, where you could attempt to matrix an MJ12 commando without using any sort of cover or combat augs (did this spectacularly near the cathedral in Paris after botching a sniper rifle shot).

AI is generally stupid, especially when it comes to its inability to go beyond "follow to last seen location" routine, but OTOH DX1 enemies were hardly Einsteins, and were much easier to distract reliably with noises, just staring into the point noise originated at - here they're at least looking around making precision guiding NPCs with distractions not really workable, without eliminating the usefulness of distractions in general.

It might not be the first Deus Ex, it might not have as good level design or such an expansive array of optional routes, but it's sure as fuck a proper Deus Ex game.
And it certainly does have better art direction and seems to avoid conceptual silliness better - like how exactly do physiopharmaceutically enhanced people (p-series agents) explode on death and why do they speak like fucking robots, or how can you see not just in the dark, but at all if your light source is in your retina?

Hacking was most certainly better in the first one. Playing a crap mini-game is not fun in anyway. Also there were 3 different types of lock in first one.

Also they could have done with cutting the amount of locked areas to about a quarter and made them have actually worthwhile stuff in them.

Honestly DX:HR is about on par with Invisible War to me.

 

[DraQ]

Hacking was most certainly better in the first one. Playing a crap mini-game is not fun in anyway. Also there were 3 different types of lock in first one.

Are you this fucking retarded?

How is progress bar, character skill making no practical difference in what you can hack, cheesy contortionism, NPCs ignoring hacking and repeated hack-wait cycles to read emails on lower skill levels better than something that requires both player and character skill, and involves minimum of thought as well as resource management?


And no, given the improvements in hacking, lack of piss-poor, consumable-based electronics and lockpicking is good fucking riddance.