Deus Ex: Human Revolution Interview
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Bitmob: Blade Runner explores the topic of transhumanism explicitly, but implicitly, the film questions what it is that makes us human. The (Human Revolution) subtitle (and the trailer's use of the H+ symbol) suggests that these ideas will be integral to the experience. How will the game's narrative explore them?
MD: Like Blade Runner, Human Revolution explores transhumanism explicitly through Adam Jensen's personal experience and how he comes to grips with having been forced to be mechanically augmented in a world that views this technology as controversial.
But on a more implicit level, we're asking players to explore the question, "Why do we do the things we do?" We're not trying to put this question in your face bluntly; instead, we're allowing you to explore it through all the choices (gameplay and story-wise) that you make during the game. Narratively, we're introducing characters who represent different answers to that question and giving dialog choices that let you decide how to interact with them. We're also offering side quests and critical path interactions that encourage you to think about and explore the question for yourself.
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Bitmob: I'm a big advocate for player-initiated narrative, and the original Deus Ex was somewhat successful in adjusting how the story unfolded based on player choice and action. How does Human Revolution's narrative structure similarly bend to the will of those in front of the screen?
MD: From a high level, the story within Human Revolution is linear: Every person who plays it will experience certain key moments and underlying plot points that push the narrative forward as they progress through the game.
But choice and consequence is a central tenant of the license, so it was very important to us that the story find ways to reflect this. Certain aspects of the narrative will change depending on player actions: Important characters might live or die, disappear from the plot, or come back again later in response to actions taken at certain moments. Character dialogs and some text-based elements also change throughout the game to reflect what players have done in various missions. So while the underlying story is the same for everyone, the way each person experiences it will be significantly different.
