Deus Ex: Human Revolution

aka: DX3, DXHR, Deus Ex 3, Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Bunt Ludzkości
Moby ID: 52641
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Description official descriptions

In a near future dominated by chaos, conspiracies, and biomechanical augmentations, society is divided by various organizations fighting for supremacy, and large corporations extending their power beyond those of governments. An ideological war is growing between people who accept the biotechnological progress and people who fight it. A human revolution is coming.

Adam Jensen is a thirty-four-year-old ex-SWAT member from Detroit, enrolled by a powerful biotechnology company named Sarif Industries. His job is to ensure the scientists' private security and safeguard the secrets of the company's projects. The first day after his hiring, Adam Jensen is about to attend a meeting with David Sarif, the founder and CEO of Sarif Industries, when suddenly a red alert is issued in the company laboratories. A troop of mercenaries, apparently working for Belltower Associates, breaks in and kills several scientists. After having neutralized some of the mercenaries, Adam is severely injured by one of them. He has no choice but to be enhanced with biomechanical augmentations to save his life. His goal is now to discover what were the motivations of the attackers and unravel a greater conspiracy behind their actions.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the third game in the Deus Ex series. The events of the game take place in the year 2027, twenty-five years before those described in the first game. Like the first installment, the game is a hybrid of a 3D shooter with a stealth angle and role-playing. All styles of play can be adopted to succeed in the missions, from a totally furtive mode (some bonuses are granted in case the player character hasn't been detected during the whole mission) to the most brutal one. The player's decisions may have an impact on the storyline.

The game offers a vast array of weapons and biomechanical augmentations (hacking, social, stealth, sight, armor, combat skill enhancements, etc.). Various amounts of experience points are awarded for completing main or secondary quests, avoiding or eliminating enemies, hacking, reading electronic books, and discovering secret passages. After having accumulated a certain quantity of experience points, the player is awarded a "praxis kit", which can be manually used to learn or improve an augmentation. These kits can also be found during exploration or purchased in clinics.

Role-playing elements include, besides augmentations and general character-building, exploration of non-hostile areas and dialogue with non-playable characters. During certain crucial moments, the player will have to participate in a "conversation battle" with a key character, selecting the correct psychological approach and influencing subsequent plot events.

A few modifications have been made to the shooting gameplay, emphasizing its tactical aspect. The third-person cover system is integrated into otherwise fully first-person gameplay. Enemies often appear in groups led by a commander; taking out the latter may demoralize enemies, making them easier targets. Though the game still contains health-restoring items, the protagonist's health regenerates itself over time.

Spellings

  • デウスエクス - Japanese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

502 People (449 developers, 53 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 89% (based on 76 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 125 ratings with 6 reviews)

One of these nights it will happen to you...

The Good
+ The entire game takes place at night. This feature alone makes Deus Ex: Human Revolution ten times more immersive and moody than these games: Grand Theft Auto V, Far Cry 3, games that have a day-night cycle. Day-night cycles are stupid. Even Max Payne 3 had daytime missions, which just broke the atmosphere so bad.

  • Plenty of civilians in the game world. An abundance of friendly NPCs. This is BioShock except you're not alone and it's not scary one bit. There's a lot of dialogue to listen to. This game world is much more believable than, say, Grand Theft Auto V, because you can actually talk to people.

  • The third game in the series, Human Revolution remains intelligent like the original Deus Ex. You're not just running around killing people (GTA5 is basically that). You feel like a tourist in the city, wandering the city streets at night, admiring the neon lights. If the average shooter is loud rock music, then I would say that Deus Ex: Human Revolution is ambient techno, downtempo electronic, with a very relaxed and laid-back mood.

  • Lots of non-lethal options to deal with an enemy. You have the Stun Gun, PEP Packs, Tranquilizer Darts, Melee Takedown and more. You'll want to avoid killing enemies. You just render them unconscious.

  • So here's the nicest thing I have to say about this game: It may not feel special when you're playing through it, but months after you beat it, on one of these nights, you may find yourself casually walking down the streets, and say, "Hey, I've seen this neon light. I recognize this warehouse. I know this place. I've been here before, in a video game."

  • Classic Diablo-style grid-based inventory system. This is a nod to the old school. Modern games just don't have the grid-based inventory anymore. Diablo III doesn't have it. In BioShock you don't even have a backpack. But in the good old days lots of games had the grid inventory system: System Shock 2, Commandos 2, Deus Ex, Diablo II. Now in the year 2011, Deus Ex: Human Revolution sticks to this system, which is respectable.

  • What makes the Diablo-style inventory screen so compelling? The weapons! You can clearly see that some weapons are bigger than others. There are a few guns (e.g. the rocket launcher) in Human Revolution that take up half of your inventory screen. Depending on how big your TV screen is, this gun just looks huge. WOW. I could never forget that. I thought the Fuel Rod in Halo: Reach was huge. But it's no comparison to the big guns in this game.

And you don't get this stuff in any other shooter, because they don't have the Diablo-style inventory screen.

  • Classic System Shock 2 font. Yeah, I'm talking about the font. It brings back so many good memories. Just like in System Shock 2, you get lots of well-written descriptions of items, guns, ammunition and stuff.

  • There's a particular skill called "Icarus Landing System". This skill is alright, you'll want to upgrade it, no problem there, but the really important thing is that it's been a long time since I heard anything that sounds as cool as "Icarus Landing System" in a game. Not only that, you get to see this awesome skill name in the classic System Shock 2 font.

    The Bad
    - There's a stupid cutscene that plays every time you knock someone unconscious. You can't turn this cutscene off. It's annoying after two or three times, but the game forces you to watch it hundreds of times. No kidding.

  • On the Xbox 360, loading times are atrocious. If you make a mistake somewhere in the level, and if you are actually playing games for fun, you'll want to forget about the mistake and move on. You do NOT want to load the last save and try it again. Because it'll take about 30 seconds just to load the save. In another shooter this is fine, but Deus Ex is known for its stealth gameplay. You want to stay undetected. If you are detected, you'll certainly want to load the last save and try it again. See the dilemma here?

  • Clunky interface. The interface is definitely not easy to use, but it's a console RPG game so what do you expect.

  • Unbalanced skills. Some skills are infinitely useless (who designed this?). Some skills are very tiring to use. When I say tiring, I mean that you have to press a series of buttons and keep track two or three things happening at the same time. That's not how I would want to play this game. I want the ambient downtempo laid-back style.

  • The game clearly encourages stealth. You get tons of experience points for stealth. But I found myself upgrading all the non-stealth skills near the end. I was tired of the constant loading screens and just wanted to beat it quickly.

  • A good example is the invisibility skill. Enemies can't see you. Cool huh? However, they can still hear you. So you need to keep track of another skill that eliminates the sound you make. On top of this, you have to worry about battery consumption and all kinds of stuff. So I just got tired of this stuff and relied on grenades and heavy firepower instead.

    The Bottom Line
    As mentioned above, Deus Ex: Human Revolution has lots of awesome qualities, as well as lots of unforgivable problems. Maybe that's what makes it Human.

Xbox 360 · by Pagen HD (146) · 2016

High-class gaming is back

The Good
Looking back and comparing two decades - the 1990's and the 2000's - I came to the conclusion that the former was a richer, more creative, and decidedly more innovative period of game-making. Sure, the last decade has seen its share of great games. Its biggest contribution was probably the popularization of open-world driving action; but particularly in the field of FPS / RPG hybrids, we've only been awarded with the rare delight that was Bloodlines, and saw how Fallout 3 diligently tried to break the mold. When the first Deus Ex came out, I thought that it would propel gaming into the new decade, century and millennium with its ingenious genre blend. But it didn't happen. Games didn't follow its example; even its own sequel, though still a good game, shrunk in size and scope, intimidated by the "streamlined" (read: dumbed-down) style that unfortunately became too prominent in modern gaming.

And just when I became convinced that the glorious past has been cast into oblivion, Deus Ex: Human Revolution appeared. Like a phoenix raising from the ashes of its grandfather, this game restored my faith in a better future for video games. An audacious, daring project by an inexperienced team turned out to be a grandiose achievement that instantly conquered the hearts of those who longed for deep and intelligent gameplay perfected by the first game.

Human Revolution is what most modern games are not. Small playing field, simplified gameplay mechanics and linearity are just the opposite of what this game offers. It is a vast, rich, fulfilling, clever game obviously created by people who aimed to please those who enjoyed the first Deus Ex. It is as if they have dedicated all their time and effort to studying the original game and then created a modern version of it, injecting it with a distinct personality and even correcting and enhancing what the first game lacked.

Granted, these corrections and enhancements mostly refer to significantly prettier environments, less moronically behaving (but still not very bright) enemies, locals who actually speak their own language (the Chinese speak impeccable Mandarin!) and some interesting, but minor additions such as the cool hacking mini-game (BioShock, Mass Effect and Alpha Protocol: watch and learn). For the most part, Human Revolution is typical, good old Deus Ex: crawl through vents, try not to set off the alarms, deal with pesky turrets, happily gather experience and spend it on modifying your character, all while enjoying a conspiracy story starring a softly speaking cybernetically enhanced super-agent. The concept is hardly new; the brilliance is in the execution.

The game simply does so many things right that it becomes painful to look at all those other games and wonder why they couldn't do the same. Disregarding a certain graphical monotony (which has become a Deus Ex tradition by now), level design in Human Revolution is absolutely stellar. A special award should go to whoever designed the city hubs. First of all, those areas are huge. Not only the claustrophobic corridors of Invisible War, but even the vast environments of the first game cannot compare to what you see here. Hell's Kitchen is smaller than Detroit; Hong-Kong is just a village compared to Hengsha. The latter, by the way, is positively amazing. This breathtaking, sprawling city that takes hours to explore to the full is one of the most awe-inspiring areas I have ever seen in a video game; a chunk of tasty, delicious gaming meat to sink your teeth into.

Hostile areas are on par with the hubs: large, complex, and interesting to explore. There is an enormous amount of optional rooms to visit. There are tons of things to do and find everywhere. Discovering secret passages, hunting for rare and valuable items, fooling around with security devices, planning alternate routes, reading other people's e-mails - there is no end to it, and it's always rewarding. Human Revolution casts you into a generous, fascinating, detailed world, and you can take a break from the storyline's goals at any time - just hang around, chat with people, enjoy just being there.

Invisible War did away with RPG elements; Human Revolution triumphantly brings them back. In fact, in some ways this game is more of an RPG than the first one. Everything is now awarded with experience points, and the game marvelously conveys a feeling of constant growth and achievement. Hacked a security terminal? Got experience. Pushed away a candy machine and discovered a vent behind? Got experience. Shot an enemy in the head? You are "Marksman"; 10 XP. Tackled an enemy in melee? More experience for non-lethal takedown. Completed a whole level without triggering alarms? "Smooth Operator" achievement, XP reward. You aren't just allowed to accommodate the game to your own playing style; you are being rewarded for whatever style you choose, at the same time gently reminded that another, harder way might be even more rewarding. This is pure design excellence.

Want more role-playing? There are interesting side quests that are more numerous and involving than in both predecessors. You are prompted to make moral decisions not only to determine the game's ending, but also at various points of the story. Dealing with a hostage situation, saving your partner's life at the risk of jeopardizing the mission - there are all kinds of tough situations that provide delightful role-playing. On top of that, the well-written, psychologically astute "conversation battles" add even more depth to the role-playing. From time to time, you'll have to engage in mental duels against prominent characters in the game, defeating them by selecting dialogue options divided into various approach patterns. Winning or losing such a "battle" is in many cases a matter of life and death. And of course, the game's ending depends on your support towards a certain ideology, just like in the previous installments.

The story in this game is, frankly, a bit of a mixed bag. We've seen very similar stuff in the two previous games; furthermore, it is hampered by a few out-of-place sequences that make the narrative uneven in quality. However, there is still plenty of gold to be found in this story. Most of the dialogue is clever and well-written (and well-acted, for the first time in the series); major characters are convincingly portrayed; grand conspiracies and philosophical undertones still inspire and make us think. It is perhaps not the best story ever conceived for a video game, but it is still more interesting and competently executed than most of the other stuff out there.

The Bad
No game is perfect, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution has its (very small) share of dubious design choices. I can already hear everyone scream "boss battles!"; while I do join the cry, my reasons are perhaps a bit different. Honestly, I didn't hate the boss battles themselves. It's nice to have an adrenaline rush after hours of methodical exploration, sneaking, hacking, vent-crawling, accurate headshots, and other predominantly cerebral (in video game terms) activities. However, what bothered me in those battles was their almost complete detachment from the game's story, their discrepancy with the game's tone. You defeat four or five circus freaks who might have just barely failed an audition for correspondent roles in a Metal Gear Solid game. Those people either say nothing at all or blurt out painful B-movie-esque phrases that tarnish the game's intellectual image. By far the worst characters in the game are those bosses; it is as if a different person with clearly inferior skills wrote their dialogues that somehow got through the testing and made it into the final version. Were the developers afraid that their game turned out to be too mature and intelligent? Was it a nostalgic throwback to arcade times? A nod to the Japanese enforced by the mighty publisher? Here is another fertile ground for conspiracy theories.

I missed melee weapons; but even more than those I missed interactivity. This was, for me, the game's most disappointing aspect. Its two predecessors had marvelous physics systems that allowed you to manipulate pretty much everything you saw. Sadly, in Human Revolution this interactivity is restricted to a few repetitive objects: crates, soda machines, and an occasional stand-out item such as the traditional basketball. The graphics in the game are very detailed; but for the most part, what you see are mere decorations.

The Bottom Line
Deus Ex: Human Revolution gives us what we've been craving for: smart, classy, generous gaming. It elegantly recreates the greatness of the first game, boldly fulfilling the tremendous expectations. Above all, it proves that the groundbreaking achievements of its progenitor (and also of System Shock and even Ultima Underworld games before it) have not vanished; the great tradition lives on in this modern classic. Along with Fallout: New Vegas, it is a bright beacon that illuminates the way into the new decade, and an example of what modern game designers should strive for.

Windows · by Unicorn Lynx (181788) · 2011

An OK sequel

The Good
What I liked most about Human Revolution is how the developers exercised a good deal of moderation in dumbing it down. For example, they introduced regenerating health, which is normally considered a dumb feature, but they also made the weapon damage high and the regeneration slow, thus negating some of the dumbness. They removed skills, but deepened augmentations. And so on... Overall it's nowhere near the disaster Oblivion or BioShock were.

In some ways, it's better than the first Deus Ex. The dialogues are deeper, and there seem to be more choices and consequences (I only finished it once), the graphics are of course a lot more detailed, and the engine renders the atmospheric environments well. I liked it a lot better than the shiny Unreal3 look from other contemporary games. Performance is fine too (at least on DX9.)

Aesthetically, it's quite pleasing. The Detroit area is the weakest. The other hub has some beautiful environments, and the missions have their striking moments too (except a certain dock mission, which is both visually boring and poorly motivated).

The side quests are interesting. Most of them somehow tie into the augmentation debate - the brainwashed mercenary-assassin who starts killing his employers, the prostitutes who are forced into augmentations to enhance their clients' pleasure (yikes), etc. They are comparable or better than anything the original had to offer.

The Bad
What bothered me the most was that they changed the gray, realistic visuals from Deus Ex into something that reminds me more of cyberpunk anime, which makes it lose some of its impact. For example when a character talks about private security forces as 'capitalism's final encroachment into one of the most lucrative industries' it's actually quite a deep thought that's relevant to our modern world, but because it's said by a cartoonish character in a cartoonish world, it will hardly register.

Then there are the three unavoidable boss fights that happen in small rooms and can only be defeated by shooting them long enough (and it does take a long time). I don't know why they put these in. Deus Ex is about being sneaky and clever. It's not about shooting a tank-like character in the face fifty times while dodging infinite bullets and grenades. It's almost like fighting bosses in a platformer.

Then there's the small stuff, like the third person cover and take-down mechanics, the much more game-y interface, the use of a quest compass (which is useful, but only because the map is so useless), lack of detailed locational damage, skills, lockpicks, etc.

The main storyline events are really dumb. For example, at one point, you have to figure out a freighter's destination. Well, we're the head of security of a mega-corporation in a cyberpunk setting, so how will we approach this? Will we attach a tracking chip to the ship? Will we watch it from orbit? From a plane? No? A boat then? How about hacking a computer for the schedule, or interrogating a dock worker with our arm blades? Nope, hobo Jensen decides he's going to hide in a cargo container to see where it's going.

The Bottom Line
It's... okay. It's better than Deus Ex in some ways and worse then Deus Ex in some ways. In most ways it's the same - and that's the problem. It's been ten years since DX1 came out, and one expects a certain amount of progress and increase in depth which Human Revolution hasn't delivered. It could've been more open, the world could've been more reactive, it could've partly simulated an economy and ecology, whatever. It could've been different, but instead it is too much of the same.

Windows · by dorian grey (243) · 2011

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Slipcase Fred VT (25953) Feb 18, 2014
Habemus Missingm Linkem! Slug Camargo (583) Oct 18, 2011
Guess what was outsourced? Patrick Bregger (298879) Oct 9, 2011
First impressions Unicorn Lynx (181780) Sep 18, 2011

Trivia

References to other games

In Frank Pritchard's office in Sarif Industries there is a poster on the wall with some character art and a title: Final Fantasy XXVII. Considering the fact that the events of Deus Ex: Human Revolution take place in 2027, this prognosis for a future installment in the Final Fantasy series (published by the same company) means that during the 16 years between 2011 and 2027 there will be 13 new Final Fantasy games released.

References to real life

During the arrival cutscene in Montreal, you see Picus Headquarters. The building for Picus Headquarters is modeled after the real-life Olympic Stadium in Montreal. In addition, at a certain point during the level, you overhear a couple of guards talking about the history of the building. They mention how during a concert, a concrete slab fell and crushed concertgoers. While thankfully that never happened in real life, it's a reference to various incidents involving pieces of the concrete structure in Olympic Stadium coming loose and falling off.

References to the game

Deus Ex: Human Revolution was parodied in an episode of "Die Redaktion" (The Editorial Team), a monthly comedy video produced by the German gaming magazine GameStar. It was published on the DVD of issue 10/2011.

Region lock

In August 2011, it was announced that the UK and Russian versions would be region locked. This stirred quite the controversy and after protests the region lock for UK was removed.

Awards

  • GamePro (Germany)
    • 2011 - #2 Console Action Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
  • PC Games (Germany)
    • Issue 01/2012 - #2 Best Game in 2011 (Editors' Choice)
    • Issue 01/2012 - #3 Best RPG in 2011 (Readers' Choice)
    • Issue 01/2012 - #5 Surprise in 2011 (Readers' Choice)

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tao_.

OnLive added by firefang9212. PlayStation Now added by Sciere. Xbox One added by MAT.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, JRK, CaptainCanuck, Fred VT, Patrick Bregger, Victor Vance.

Game added August 26, 2011. Last modified February 16, 2024.