Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (previously Deus Ex 3) will be the third game in the Deus Ex series and a prequel to the original Deus Ex. It is being developed by Eidos Montreal in co-production with Square Enix, who are responsible for pre-rendered movie sequences and publishing. There is no multiplayer mode.

Plot
Human Revolution is set in 2027, just as human augmentation begins to enter mainstream life. Augmentations are not of the nanotech variety used in JC or Alex Denton's time: they are mechanical implants, and in some cases full-blown limb replacements.

Players take the role of Adam Jensen, a security guard employed by Sarif Industries to protect a research lab in Detroit. The game opens with an attack on the laboratory by augmented black ops soldiers who use a security plan Jensen created himself. He is mortally wounded, and is saved only by having military-grade augmentations installed. It is unknown whether he agrees to this, disagrees, or is unconscious until after the operation. As the plot progresses, Jensen uncovers a conspiracy to force human evolution down a very particular path, and is forced to augment himself further to survive and conquer it. The events in Human Revolution eventually lead to a strike on the Statue of Liberty and the formation of UNATCO.

Themes
Human Revolution deals with the ethics of transhumanism, and carries an overarching message of humanity's reach exceeding its grasp. "Mankind is using mechanical augmentations," director Jean-François Dugas said before the game's release, "but there is still much to be determined in terms of their effect on society and the ultimate direction it will lead us in." The Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus appears in Adam Jensen's dreams as an allegory to this thought, and also - given that Daedalus was the name of an artificial intelligence in Deus Ex - an intellectual bridge to the original game.

The pace of technological development is reflected visually by a Renaissance theme. Characters who support the advances of human augmentation dress themselves and decorate their homes in reinterpreted late-mediaeval Italian style, and the game as a whole has a sepia-tinted colour palette reminiscent of. In contrast, characters who oppose augmentation wear clothing that is more or less current-day.

Conspiracy theories and immensely powerful corporations also feature strongly, as in Deus Ex, though nothing is currently known about them.

Parts of the game will take place during the day, unlike in Deus Ex, but most locations will nevertheless be brooding and dark.

Characters
The E3 2010 trailer introduced many new characters:


 * Adam Jensen
 * Jensen augs noshades.jpg
 * The protagonist. A private security guard hired to protect a group of Sarif Industries scientists, he is mortally injured when augmented black ops soldiers attack the research installation. His life is saved by augmentations provided by Sarif Industries and implanted in him by a Sarpatech technician. His motivations following this are unclear.


 * David Sarif
 * David sarif reflection.jpg
 * Owner of Sarif Industries. May prove be Adam's mission-giver in the early part of the game, something like Manderley. He wants to use the augmentation industry to revitalise the economy of his home city of Detroit, and has fitted out old car plants to manufacture, among other things, the arms fitted on Adam Jensen.


 * Farida Malik
 * Farida Malik concept.jpg
 * Jensen's pilot. Sarif Industries employee.


 * Barrett
 * Barrett.jpg
 * Appears to be the game's chief antagonist. He is augmented, wielding a chaingun arm.


 * Adam's sister or girlfriend
 * Worked at Sarif Industries, presumably as a scientist. It is unknown whether she is kidnapped or killed during the attack that opens the game.


 * Augmented woman
 * Can be seen uncloaking during the E3 2010 trailer. Nothing else about her is known.


 * Eliza
 * Eliza.jpg
 * The Picus TV newsreader is somehow involved. She appears to be an artificial intelligence, perhaps a precursor to the Illuminati intelligences seen in Deus Ex.

Corporations & other groups

 * Sarif Industries
 * Sarpatech
 * Picus TV

Locations

 * Detroit
 * Heng Sha, a two-tiered island offshore from Shanghai
 * Montreal
 * Two other metropolises (New York presumed for the formation of UNATCO, and the skyline of Philadelphia was identified in one piece of concept art)

Augmentations
Augmentations are mechanical in Human Revolution, as the nanotechnology of JC and Alex Denton's time has not yet been developed. There are around 50, and they are divided into four categories:


 * Combat
 * Blade arm
 * Chaingun arm
 * Icarus Landing System
 * Claymore


 * Stealth
 * Cloaking
 * X-ray / infra-red vision
 * Enhanced jump


 * Technology
 * None known - presumably these relate to hacking


 * Social
 * None known

Not all augs will be limb replacements: Eidos have spoken of some as small as microchip implants. Nevertheless, there will be plenty of scope for altering Adam Jensen's appearance by selecting different ones.

New augmentations can be bought from limb clinics with money, but their use will be limited at first. The more powerful abilities are unlocked with experience points, a system designed to simulate Adam becoming more familiar with his new features. There will be enough money in the game to buy every aug available - but not enough experience to unlock all their abilities.

Combat
Aiming and weapon accuracy is not longer affected by player character statistics Human Revolution, though recoil can be reduced by arm augmentations and a weapon's stats affect its damage output. Weapons use distinct ammo types, unlike the unified ammo of Invisible War, and are broadly similar to modern-day armaments. They can be upgraded as the game progresses, and some can be recombined: for instance, instead of LAM or EMP grenades simply sticking to walls, the player must first combine a normal grenade with a 'wall-mount' device.

Damage is 'high': a few bullets are enough to kill either an NPC or the player.

Human Revolution uses the regenerating health model that is popular in contemporary games design. Eidos didn't want players to reach a situation where they were unable to progress due to low health, and would be forced to "scrounge for med packs", which they see as tension-and flow-breaking. They believe regenerating health will still encourage tactics and strategy without disrupting play for medkit back-tracking.

Enemy squads have identifiable leaders who organise the group's actions. If the leader is killed the squad will be less effective and less able to respond to changes in the player's tactics.



Adam has a series of 'takedown' moves which can be triggered at appropriate points. These are short third-person sequences that show him knocking out or killing the target with a contextual animation; examples range from stabbing guards with the arm blades to tapping someone on the shoulder and punching them out when they turn round.

Stealth and cover
A console-style cover hugging system is in place in Human Revolution, though it can be ignored if the player desires. When the cover key is hit Adam will attach to the nearest sensible surface and the camera will switch to third-person.

Cover is more important than in the previous two games because it is the only way to avoid detection when sneaking. Low lighting levels can no longer reliably hide the player from NPCs. Noise can also bring unwanted attention.

There will be a cloaking augmentation in the game, and there is also an x-ray vision ability.

Technology (hacking)


Hacking in Human Revolution takes the form of a minigame with similarities to Uplink, and is done in the game world instead of on a 2D screen overlay. The player must traverse a network of computer nodes in order to reach a 'registry' where the information they want is stored; if they are detected then a trace begins that tries to search back to the location at which he entered the system. It is only if the trace succeeds that alarms are triggered.

There are no multitools in the game. Everything electronic is hacked.

Social
Conversations can be 'lost' in Human Revolution, meaning that the NPC refuses to give you the information you want - even to talk with you again. They progress not by the player picking from a set of lines seen on-screen, but by picking from one of three emotional stances to take.

Development
It was announced on May 17, 2007, by IGN in an interview with Patrick Melchior, the director of Eidos France, on the French-Canadian television station, MusiquePlus. Neither Warren Spector nor Harvey Smith, the main creative directors behind the first two games, were attached to the project.

Further confirming the game's development, Eidos Montreal's general manager Stéphane D’Astous reported that they have received a "huge mandate" to focus on the creation of Deus Ex 3. In the same report, D’Astous expounded upon the development philosophy being implemented at the new studio. The philosophy focuses on smaller teams with multi-discipline employees. While embraced by the designers, this philosophy means that Deus Ex 3 is scheduled to develop for at least 18 months, if not 24 or more, which puts the earliest release date in the middle of 2009. The last bit of information D'Astous divulged was that Deus Ex 3 had just passed proof of concept, as of late November 2007.

A teaser trailer was released on November 26, 2007. The 200th issue of PC Zone Magazine revealed the conspiracy of Deus Ex 3 along with information and artwork/screenshots. Several design decisions were unveiled, such as regenerating health and a cover system, precipitating an initial backlash amongst many fans of Deus Ex.

Some concept art and early screenshots had been provided for PC Zone's first preview, but it was not until a Square Enix-produced CGI teaser trailer was shown at the 2010 Game Developers Conference that another glimpse of the game's visual style was shown. The teaser was expanded to a three-minute trailer at E3 2010 (still all pre-rendered) which coincided with a second preview in PC Gamer UK containing new screenshots and gameplay details, and announced that the game will not be coming out until "Early 2011". E3 2010 also saw a second major preview of the game, this time in PC Gamer UK, which provided engine-rendered screenshots and gameplay details.

In July, 13 2010 Del Rey Books announces a book, based in the univers of Deus Ex, named DEUS EX: THE ICARUS EFFECT written by James Swallow released in 2011.

Gallery
Deus Ex 3