[As explained in my last post, I've utterly failed at regular maintenance of this site and many of you have been waiting to see how we'll end up dying in some of the long-outstanding series that are still awaiting a conclusion. Given the time constraints that I'm facing, it makes cast-iron logical sense to launch a brand new series that I can have fun juggling alongside everything else that I fail to update. Go-Go-Gadget Shitty Priority Management!
The original Deux Ex is a game which merged roleplaying and FPS so well, that it is near-unanimously considered as one of the best PC games of the early 2000s.
I say near-unanimously, because I personally thought Deus Ex was a steaming pile of crap.
Well, that's not strictly true. I thought it was okay and everything, and it did give me a good few hours of enjoyment... but it wasn't immersive enjoyment. Just as half of my brain was really getting into the whole experience, the other quarter couldn't help but pull me out of the experience by noticing all the holes in it. If you're wondering about the remaining quarter, bear in mind I was a teenager when the first Deus Ex came out. That quarter of my brain was working on losing my virginity.
I'm wasn't alone in pointing out how truly dreadful the graphics and map design was in Deus Ex, but for some reason people were able to look past all that to see it as a brilliant game of tactics. What are you going to say to characters X, Y and Z? How will that impact on the dialogue later on? What are you going to make of the ethical questions raised in the plot? Which of the myriad ways will you choose to get around this fine mess you've gotten yourself into?
Perhaps a failure of my own imagination, I just saw a flimsy choice system in which there were only ever two options; a predictable stealth approach which always failed because the sneaking mechanics in that game sucked, or a mediocre, guns-blazing sequence in which you'd inevitably die because the game really, really wanted you to choose the first option and the combat mechanics in that game sucked.
But above all, I didn't dislike the game and its heart was clearly in the right place. I just thought it was a great concept poorly executed. Despite my reservations about the first Deux Ex game, I always felt it would make for an excellent addition to this site. I've mentioned previously that the kind of game that works best in Iron Man Mode is one that allows you to make your own decisions, and punishes you heavily when you make decisions like a total spanner.
While I'd planned to do the original Deus Ex on this site from the get-go (but never got around to), what came as a massive surprise is that someone from Eidos Montreal stumbled upon an interview I did about the Iron Man Mode concept. As a result, they emailed me asking if I'd like to take a stab at Deus Ex: HR for the site (since they'd just released the Mac port). "Yes, I'd love to!" I screamed; I then realized Montreal is a long way away and they probably couldn't hear me. "Yes, I'd love to!" I emailed back.
They never got back to me, which was a bit rich. But no matter; here we are a few months later, and I'm ready to rock out with my augs out.
I must admit that I was initially very sceptical about this big prequel to the original Deus Ex. Was I going to be responsible for hiring and firing agents? Were the gameplay scenario options going to revolve around stealth / combat / paperwork? Am I expected to know the intricacies of a company payroll system before being able to succeed? All my fears were allayed when I did some research and discovered that Deus Ex: HR actually has very little - if anything - to do with human resources. Phew!
So let's dive straight on in. This series is going to be mainly video based, but I'll be providing a bit of additional text commentary to the posts here on Iron Man Mode as things progress (so check back every now and then).
The main thing you need to know is that not only am I playing in Iron Man Mode, but also in Bat Man Mode just to make the whole thing even more maddeningly challenging. I explain all of this anyway, so just watch the video I guess?
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1SwInzloTc[/youtube]
You can also watch the whole thing in HD and/or in a larger player by clicking here. One thing I will note is that the Mac version of Deus Ex: HR actually runs very smoothly and is a pretty impressive port. The only reason the framerate is a little all over the place is because I had to run it in full screen mode at approximately 25,00039 x 14,0900 resolution and the screen recorder was sucking up most of the RAM.
I'll try and fix the video quality up for the next instalment, but do check back or subscribe to that channel to find out when the next one is up. Can special agent Adam Jensen, controlled by a bumbling idiot who forgets what all the keys do, survive a daring terrorist raid while trying not to kill any of the terrorists?
No. Let's be honest here: no. No, he can't.
But as usual, it's all for charity, so that's nice. Consider dipping in a dollar if you're digging some HR action, and in the mean time...
... Godspeed, Agent Jensen!
