Deus Ex: Human Revolution Preview
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One thing I definitely want to point out is that, despite the fact that the game is still months away from release, the snap-to-cover and shooting mechanics are finely tuned and feel spot-on. Remember when Mass Effect 2 was heralded for taking the series' shooting mechanics to the next level? Human Revolution feels just as "right" as BioWare's sequel does, if not better, and it does so without giving away upcoming battles with a neatly laid out cover arrangement. Additionally, enemy AI has clearly been something the team has devoted a lot of time to. If you're hurt and cowering in a corner, they'll either toss a concussive grenade at you or simply move up to your position and flush you out. And if you knock a guard unconscious without another seeing you, but then they spot the body, they'll go on high alert and attempt to revive their fallen brethren. This paved the way for quite a few comedic moments during my play session, as I'd tranquilize a guard and then fire another dart into his would-be savior's neck when they rushed to his aid. Watching the second guard pass out on top of the first guard's body never got old. A viable and entertaining stealth component was one of the team's goals early in the game's development, and it shows. There are quite a few augmentations that are stealth-related (including a set of Mark & Track programs, a Wayfinder Radar System, a Wall-Penetration Imager, and a handful of Cybernetic Leg Prosthesis upgrades to allow for quieter movements and silent running), and they all have important, albeit optional, uses when carrying out a mission. Since there are multiple ways to enter a building during a mission, you can avoid combat altogether by sneaking around any guards and utilizing an entrance other than the front door. If you're spotted while sneaking, a guard will become alerted and investigate the area where they noticed movement. Assuming you've maneuvered yourself behind cover to an alternate location, the guard will go back to his post after their investigation proves unfruitful. In the event that you just holed up until the guard was on top of you, a quick takedown can also be used if there are no other guards within range to notice. Just to be safe, though, the game allows you to drag any dead or unconscious guards to an area where they won't be spotted by any ongoing patrols.
What really surprised me about the stealth approach was that it's quite lucrative, experience-wise. During a mission to liberate a Sarif Industries warehouse from the Purity First "terrorists", I lept up on a pile of crates and made my way up a propped-up pallet to a ladder leading to the warehouse's roof. From there, I crawled through a small tunnel and then around a fence to reach a ventilation system that would get me into one of the building's main rooms. As soon as I had entered the vents without being spotted, the game awarded me with a "Ghost" bonus of 500 experience points. On top of that, just crawling through a ventilation shaft will get you an "Explorer" bonus of 100 experience points and if you managed to avoid triggering an alarm, that's worth another variable "Smooth Operator" bonus. That's more than I would have obtained by taking out the patrolling guards, though using the stealth approach obviously means that you're not going to be able to search the guards for any credit chips or interesting items. For example, one of the guards owned a Pocket Secretary that mentioned a weapon merchant with a shop at an abandoned gas station on 2nd Street, but the catch is that he'll only show you the goods if you tell him "Molson sent ya." I suppose there might be another way to learn about the merchant and convince him to sell you his goods later in the game (it was beyond the scope of the demo), and you might even be able to backtrack for some guard-killing fun after receiving the "Ghost" bonus, but it was still a relief to see that stealth was a viable choice that paid alternate dividends.
Hacking
Let me just say this: Deus Ex: Human Revolution sports the most advanced hacking minigame I've seen in a video game to date. In fact, it was actually somewhat difficult for me to familiarize myself with all of the mechanics in the short time I had with the game. I believe I have most of the basics down now, so I'll do my best to explain them to you.
Before you can even begin a hacking attempt, Adam must meet the security level requirement of the keypad or computer he's trying to hack into. The devices I approached during the demo ranged from security level 1 through security level 4, though it wouldn't surprise me if the security levels go even higher later in the game. As far as I could tell, Adam's hacking proficiency relies almost entirely on the Hacking: Capture augmentation that's found within the cerebral category. Within this line, you can choose from the Capture 1/2/3/4/5, Robot Domination, Turret Domination, and Camera Domination upgrades. As long as you meet the minimum security level requirement, you will always get four hacking attempts per device (though you can save at any time in the game, so I suppose this point is moot).
