Deus Ex: Human Revolution Preview
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Dialogue is split up into a hexagonal grid of four options, though sometimes only a couple of options are made available to you. Each option is nearly verbatim to what Adam will actually say, so you don't have to worry about choosing a "mood" and then hoping that his response reflects what you were actually trying to spit out. Each option does have a label next to it, though, so you can better gauge the tone of voice Adam is going to use. For example, "Inform" will obviously get the line across in a somewhat safe manner, while "Confront" might cause the NPC to become annoyed, defensive, or even sheepish. The tones I selected didn't seem to have any hard-hitting effects until I confronted Zeke Sanders at the conclusion of the demo. Zeke is the leader of the Purity First group that attacks the Sarif warehouse, and when you burst into the room where he's holed up, he puts a pistol to the head one of the female hostages. It's only through a series of dialogue choices that you can try to get Zeke to turn himself in, let the hostage go, and/or escape from the group of SWAT members waiting outside. Defusing the situation isn't easy, as I quickly learned by picking a selection of "Empathy" choices. All I ended up doing was getting the hostage killed, after which Zeke escaped into the night (though based on what he tells you about his employers, having him escape might be the best outcome). Maybe if I had put some Praxis Points into the Social Enhancer augmentation, things would have turned out differently.
Managing Inventory Like It's 1996
I've always been a proponent of the grid inventory system primarily used in action RPGs, and it's great to see a modern-day developer sticking with a working formula rather than going for something much more simplistic. Adam's inventory is split into two sections - a base grid and a quest grid. I never actually found any items that slotted themselves into the latter area, but it's obvious that the team didn't want us running to the nearest merchant just to clear out some room for an important quest item. To help keep your inventory even more manageable, the team made the decision to limit your carrying capacity to one of each weapon. Therefore, if you find your first Machine Pistol on a dead guard, all subsequent Machine Pistols you find will only net you additional ammunition.
As you pick up items (all maneuverable, readable, and obtainable items are highlighted with a yellow outline, by the way), they are automatically arranged and sorted in your inventory, so there's no need for any prior honing of your Tetris skills. Smaller weapons like the Stun Gun take up six grid squares, while larger weapons like the Machine Pistol take up twelve. All of the ammunition I found took up two grid squares, and consumables - painkillers, cyberboost proenergy bars, and beer, for example - take up a single grid square. I never once came close to filling up my inventory space during the demo, but if you'd like to add even more room to your inventory later in the game, you can always invest some Praxis Points into the three Carrying Capacity upgrades underneath the Cybernetic Arm Prosthesis augmentation. Each of these upgrades will add two columns of inventory space to your grid.
The Conspiracy is Nearly Upon Us
Regardless of how the entirety of Human Revolution plays out, I for one applaud Eidos Montreal for sticking to the multi-path/multi-solution approach of the original Deus Ex and for retaining the RPG mechanics that many developers have eschewed in recent years. It's still a shooter at heart, but in an industry that continually calls for more streamlining and accessibility, Deus Ex: Human Revolution invokes a sigh of relief. The combat mechanics are solid, the augmentations are well-implemented, the stealth and hacking systems have depth, the art design is nothing short of stellar, and the game's overarching plot appears to be chock-full of twists, turns, and surprises. In short, it's the Deus Ex sequel we've all been dreaming about for over a decade.
