Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Second Opinions

In Deus Ex: Human Revolution,
Adam Jensen's life is in your hands. You decide how Jensen augments his
body in order to best complete the dangerous missions that stand
between him and the answers he seeks. Human Revolution is a game of
choice, and no two players will approach it in exactly the same way.

The IGN editors took up Jensen's mission, but which of us fell for Human
Revolution's immersive world, and which of us walked away from it?
Check out our Deus Ex: Human Revolution review and read on to see what the rest of the Transhumanists on staff had to say about one of the most anticipated games of 2011.

More Deus Ex: Human Revolution Videos

Before Deus Ex: Human Revolution was released, I was…
A.) …beside myself with anticipation.
B.) …mildly interested.
C.) …apathetic.
D.) …completely uninterested.

Editor in Chief, GameSpy Bennett Ring: B

I've been a PC gamer since before they were called PCs, yet I'd never played the original. Back when Deus Ex first released I had tried to run it, but the game was so poorly optimized that I couldn't play on through my PC's screams of agony. I'd heard how amazing HR was, yet the pre-release demos I'd seen of the new Deus Ex didn't blow me away, and hadn't exactly filled my nightly dreams with robotic limbs and choose-your-own-adventure mission design.

Executive Editor, Wireless Justin Davis: D

To be honest, Deus Ex wasn't on my radar at all. I had seen and remembered the excellent E3 trailer, just like everyone else, but that was it. Deus Ex isn't a franchise I have much experience with, and this was a new sequel created by a brand new studio. I wasn't tracking this one at all.

But then, seemingly out of nowhere, it was all anyone at the IGN office was talking about. Everyone I knew that nabbed an early copy was raving about it. So on launch night I nabbed a PC copy from Steam, 100 percent on impulse.


FAQs Editor Stephen Ng: B

I was mildly interested in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Considering the previous installment (Invisible War), I wondered how Human Revolution would wind up. Turns out, it's a more complex version of Invisible War -- not a simple updated clone of Conspiracy.

Editor Nick Kolan: B

I remember playing the original Deus Ex at my dad's house. While I thought it was pretty cool, it never grabbed me in the same way that System Shock did. With that in mind, I knew I wanted to give Human Revolution a whirl, but I wasn't expecting a mind-blowing experience.

Editor, Game Help Michael Nelson: B

I temper my excitement for sequels from franchises I love because I've been let down so many times in the past with sub-par results (i.e. Deus Ex: Invisible War). Even with the extensive amount of preview coverage that many outlets provided for Human Revolution, I was able to keep my expectations in check as to not get overly excited once the game was released. Then the preview build showed up at the office a few months ago and became difficult to curb my enthusiasm for what was looking to be a great game.


So far, the story in Deus Ex is…

A.) …an intriguing masterpiece.
B.) …a solid backdrop.
C.) …a blemish on the experience.
D.) …unimportant. I'm too busy augmenting.

Editor in Chief, GameSpy Bennett Ring: B

I've yet to finish it, as I've started on my second play-through after receiving retail code, but so far I'm finding it believable, if a little slow to ramp up. It's no Stephen King's Dark Tower kind of popular masterpiece, but it's keeping me interested enough to care about whose face I'm going to slice off next. Unfortunately I've heard that it all takes a turn for the WTF towards the end, so my expectations are pretty low for the closing act.

Executive Editor, Wireless Justin Davis: A

The story and general setting of Human Revolution is the game's biggest draw. Human Revolution presents such a cohesive future vision that you'll all but lose yourself in it for hours at a time, completely buying into the world that Eidos Montreal has crafted.

Is it plausible in any kind of genuine way that the world will return to a Victorian esthetic just 17 short years from now? Absolutely not. But what's important is that I accept the rules of the world as Eidos Montreal defines them. Their vision feels "complete" in a way that few games have matched.


The storyline itself, when stripped down to its bare parts, is fairly standard spy-thriller stuff. But when wrapped in Human Revolution's twisted, shadowy cyberpunk framework, it becomes a lot more compelling.

FAQs Editor Stephen Ng: B

Deus Ex has a solid backdrop. While Human Revolution takes place a little after Project Snowblind (another Deus Ex prequel), the back-story ties in very well with the antagonists in the first game.

Editor Nick Kolan: B

I'm still quite early in the Deus Ex experience as far as I know, so maybe the best story bits haven't happened yet. I like the way the story of the wider world is told through emails and newspapers and little stuff like that, but so far I feel like the subject matter of the story has been dealt with before, and better. It's still very good, though.

Editor, Game Help Michael Nelson: B

I haven't finished the game yet but the world is definitely a "solid backdrop" for me. Because I have a soft spot for Blade Runner I keep recognizing a number of inspirations that Human Revolution is drawing from. Of course there's a wider conspiracy that will be convoluted and I'm interested to see how the game will handle these complexities. So far it's well-paced to keep me intrigued and I'm interested to see how the story plays out to set up events from the first game.

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