Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenAugust 23, 2011
241 4,325 3 minutes read


For years, games have attempted to replicate the complexity of free will. From adjusting the way a NPC treats the protagonist, offering optional side missions, or providing a conclusion based on the player’s actions, quality coding can create a transitory illusion of choice. Regretfully, even the savviest simulation of autonomy often reveals its limitations before the closing credits have rolled, as players begin to perceive the logic of a game’s programming.

While recent release Deus Ex: Human Revolution occasionally exposes the logic behind its coding, the title does a miraculous job at conjuring an intricate (and delightfully nihilistic) world. At least part of the magic stems from Eidos Montreal’s vision of a futuristic Detroit. Despite the presence of a persistent amber haze, the city seems on the verge of revitalization, stemming from the innovations emerging from Serif Industries. Able to graft nano-components into human flesh, the company is drawing notice from proponents and challengers alike. When an ‘anti-augmentation’ faction begins targeting Serif, protagonist Adam Jensen suffers life-threatening injuries, necessitating nano-modification of his body. Remarkably, Human Revolution’s characters are quite different from the flat caricatures role player aficionados may be accustomed to. One example- Serif’s (and Jensen’s) boss isn’t the archetypical corporate tyrant, at times revealing an approachable side, if players pursue the proper social enhancements. Also refreshing is the way Deus Ex plotline’s unhurriedly transitions from a small, smoldering techno-thriller to a much broader scenario with far-reaching repercussions.


Supporting the moody, intricately detailed backdrops is a system which allows players to follow their own trajectory through the title. While many games deliver a structure which imposes an ‘either/or’ classification on the player, Deus Ex refutes a binary structure, offering a tech-tree of enhancements which can complement nearly any play-style. Can’t extort imperative information out of characters? Then you might want to upgrade your social skills. Those who find themselves on the receiving end of ballistic barrages might want to boost the durability of their own skin. Since players determine whether they want to kill, subdue, or even elude enemies, Human Revolution’s menu of enhancements skillfully supplement any strategy.

Smartly, most augments don’t guarantee success. Even players who have given Jensen the ability to move with inaudible efficiency will have to switch to a contingency plan if a foe or security system takes notice. The sole exception is the hacking ability, which in imperative to upgrade early on, as it gives player’s access to countless side rooms, computers, as well as the ability to reprogram an enemy sentry gun. (Alternatively, players can reinforce their arms into wall-pummeling jackhammers, although gain access to protected areas will probably take longer.)


Technological proficiency is an indispensable aptitude which helps players see all of Human Revolution’s myriad of plot-enriching emails, e-reader articles, as well bypass many of the security measures placed around environments. It’s also one of the best ways to earn experience which can be converted into additional, increasingly efficient, augmentations. Strengthening one’s capacity for circuitry is undeniably helpful in the game’s hacking mini-games, which task players with taking over nodes before a system’s defenses are altered. While the diversion can be perplexing at first, players should approach the assignment with diligence, carefully calculating their way to a system’s fortified registry.

Strategy is also compulsory for the game’s firefights and conversational components. Gamers who recklessly charge at foes with guns blazing will typically succumb to the title’s competent AI. Instead aggressive-minded players should prudently do their recon, and search for way to detract and disorient foes. Dialog with others characters often recalls L.A. Noire’s nonverbal nuances, forcing gamers to read the faces and study the infliction of others. Yet, in place of Team Bondi’s right or wrong answers, players guide NPCs toward specific emotions. For a game as intricate as Human Revolution, you’d expect the occasional stumble.  While enemies fail to investigate opened doors and a tranq-ed out foe was transformed to a bullet-riddled in a cutscene, these little flaws do little to tarnish the title’s vibe.


Publishers often throw around terms like ‘freedom’ and ‘open-ended’ to describe their games. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is one of those rare games to deliver on those promises, allowing players to truly shape their own experience with the game. As a testament to the title’s scope, I only became aware of specific elements when comparing experiences with an acquaintance. Our paths through Human Revolution were wildly divergent, each divulging elements of our personality like some kind of wild, interactive Rorschach test.

With a dizzying amount of recesses to explore, and a multiplicity of methods to reach those alcoves, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is one of the most immersive titles released this year. With the industry’s proclivity toward multiplayer matches and piece-meal DLC tactic, Eidos Montreals focus on delivering an engrossing, complete, single-player experience is to be commended.

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Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenAugust 23, 2011
241 4,325 3 minutes read
Photo of Robert Allen

Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

241 Comments

  3. I picked this up today, and played it for about 3 hours.

    At first I didn’t like the combat, but as you get used to it it grow on you. Not sure it its GOTY material, but worth a full-price purchase for sure.

  5. I was sure this was going to suck from the previews I’ve heard on different podcasts. Now, it’s getting all A’s and B’s. what the hell happened?

    1. They tried to copy Deus Ex’s mechanics and succeeded.

      I didn’t have too much doubt for the PC version. I though the console ones might be crippled a bit.

  6. Thanks for not giving any spoilers in your review, and not talking about too much about the puzzles. I read two reviews and I feel Like I know more than I should.

  8. You weren’t bother by the bosses? I heard all you do is shoot them, and if you don’t want to kill them, its really hard.

    1. Yeah, I hear it’s quite a departure from the rest of the game. Most of it involves stealth, and then it jumps to heavy weapons use in boss fights. One of the few complaints I’ve heard about this game.

  14. 5 hours in, and I don’t see what the fuss is about.

    Shooting and stealth are ok, but not great. The hacking game is kind of meh. Jensen isn’t all that interesting. Load times are long (even with an install on 360).

    So far, disappointed. No way does this deserve a A-

  15. I originally had no interest in this game, but after reading many reviews, especially this one, I really want to give this game a go. I love when any game offers a sense of freedom and choice, and judging by your review, this game does just that and then some. Thanks for having this contest and good luck to everyone 😀

  16. Deus Ex actually looks really good. When I first heard of Human Revolutions and saw some screenshots, I thought “this game looks kinda stupid.” I didn’t really like the sepia tint or the look of the screenshots. However, after reading your review, I think I might just have a change of heart. The staggering choices of options sound really cool to me, it’s something that you don’t find in that many games. Deus Ex HR looks like it ROCKS!!!!

  17. I got to play this before it got released and it was awesome! Would love to be able to get a copy.

  18. Well this games looks really blend at first but later on it seems that the action picks up. I always like massive games and i wonder if this is my new Mass Effect.

  20. Really wanting to play this. Not sure If I would go thru the game first with stealth or guns blazing both ways sound like alot of fun

  22. All of my friends are pushing me into getting this. Which is rare since it isn’t Call of Duty ______. Even the ones who hate single-player have picked this up and are raving.

    They must have done something right.

  24. Very nice review this game looks amazing!! i cant believe you guys are giving away a free copy thats so nice of you 🙂 Hopefully i will be playing this soon from you guys!! thanks for the awesome chance 🙂

  26. I loved Deus Ex back in the day and from what I have seen and read in the reviews this looks like it captured what I loved about Deus Ex.

  28. A lot of positive buzz about the game, definitely want to check it out. Loved the original but wasn’t entirely sure about the game.

  30. I’m happy to see Square and Edios return to their former glory of making amazing AAA games.Gives me great hope for Lara croft and their other games :).(also I want ff13-2 asap!) 😛

    Twitter:hestar69

  34. Good review, fits in with everything else I’ve heard/read about this game. Looks like it’s one to add to the list.
    Thanks for the contest!

  38. Fantastic review Deserteagle!

    I didn’t want to read it at first, but since someone mentioned it is spoiler free I did it anyhow.

    I’m glad I did because it removed even the slightest doubt in my mind that this isn’t a true Deus EX successor. A game that is near and dear to my heart.

    I completely agree with your review. This is my GOTY without a doubt!

    There is only one thing I’m not sure about and that is the color palette of the game. Something that shows how long this game has been in development, since they are following the color choice Epic established with Gears of War, a color palette developers have been moving away from just recently.

    Thank you for the entertaining read!

    I really hope I’m lucky enough to get my own “interactive Rohrschach test” on thanks to you and Tech-Gaming.

  47. Everybody’s loving this game. I need to get this to see what all of the fuss is about.

  48. Thank you kind Gentlemen (and ladies?) for the shot, I’ve really been interested in this one for a while now, but my Game budget has been a baby budget for three years now and is only getting slimmer in march when the second one comes, so I really do appreciate the chance to win this one.

  50. Glad to hear Deus didn’t drop the deuce on us. Well, I heard the bosses do suck a bit.

  62. Have been looking forward to this since playing the first one on PS2 almost 10 years ago!

  65. If this game is similar to Mass Effect 2 then I must play it. (I have Deus Ex 1 on my PC but I’ve yet to play it)

  66. Can not wait to play the game. Good review, keeping honest. After all the videos I’ve seen the only complaint I have is with the hero’s voice.

  67. thanks for the honest and great review. I remember Deus Ex on the original Xbox and it was awesome, glad this followed suit and then some. Also, thanks for the contest!

  69. I wish I had the original to play, but this games looks really polished and fun. Great review and thanks for the opportunity!

  70. I loved Invisible War. My computer sadly doesn’t handle the original very well. To hear this is also awesome is great news.

    Thanks for the giveaway!

  71. I hope I can be incredibly evil in this game.

    If I win, I promise to make the existence of every NPC a living hell.

  72. Glad to see this game is actually good. I was interested in it, but was hesitant about getting it.

  75. Great review, seems like a fun game. Wish I had the extra cash to pick it up but eh gotta save my money for Gears 3.

  76. game looks like it should be a hell of a time, came out in the ass end of summer though thats a tough break

    1. Which you talking about? Once Madden drops (next week) the gaming season begins.

  77. Game kind of came out of nowhere, to me. I should really get around to playing the first game.

  78. This review along with others make this game sound very interested. Will probably get a copy in the future if I don’t win it here.

  79. I was worried. Put off pre-ordering. Now it is getting great reviews like this one. Maybe I was mistaken. Damn it is tempting!

  83. This game proves that as much as some companies might be out to force multiplayer down our throats every chance they get..a game CAN survive without the feature being a prominent portion of the title!!! I remeber when Deus Ex released on PS2, wasnt the greatest port at the time but it still was an amazing title that offered a crazy amount of replayability. With that said im glad to see a game in a sense be resurected and also succeed highly at bringing that awesome experience over to the new consoles. Congrats to all who worked on this title and I cant wait to give this game a spin!!!

  85. I was hoping this game would end up better than Invisible War but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Now I feel stupid for not putting aside some extra cash to afford it.

  89. Everything I’m seeing, including this review, makes me want this game more and more. Damn you, quality video games! *shakes fist*

  90. This game looks really good. The load times sound a little long, but I hope the gameplay makes up for it.

  92. I really want to play this! I’ve heard only good things about it, and this review definitely agrees.

  96. i didnt think to highly of this game. but after reading and watching vids, it looks prty awesome.

  99. I bought Deus Ex 1 and 2 when they were on sale awhile back! Can’t wait to win #3! I hope some day that bionics are that advanced 😀

  105. Wasn’t interested in the game at all until all the positive reviews starting rolling in! My wallet is already going to be destroyed with all the holiday games coming up!

  106. The original Deus Ex is one of the pioneers of having the actions you do effect the overall story and direction. This game definitely has to live up to that standard. The game looks great, thanks for the insightful review!

  109. This game has been getting some dang good reviews! The first Deus Ex was pretty awesome. It’d be great if this one was on par with it, or better.

    Nice review.

  111. I still have yet to play the original, but just got a free copy. Can’t wait to dive into this universe.

  118. The multiple path stuff sounds interesting. When a game gives me multiple options like that I rarely find the time to go back and try again a different way. However, it sounds like they really did it well here and it might be worth checking out.

  119. Great review, just the right length. Sometimes I don’t want to read 6 pages to see if a game is good or not.

    The design of the game sounds very cool. I thought Alpha Protocol did do this really well also. It’s too bad the actual action wasn’t as good.

  124. Great review. I really want to play this now! Saw a demo last year, and they were talking about all the different paths you could use to reach your goal. I’m glad to see they realized that, and it wasn’t a bunch of hot air like Molyneaux.

  128. I’m about six hour ins and really like HR. As a big of the first game, I didn’t know if this new one would cut it, but it’s the rare sequel developed by a different team that does justice to the original.

  129. I’ve never played a Deus Ex game, but I’ve always wanted to try out the series. Apparently the first Deus Ex game is considered to have one of the best storylines ever seen in a game.

  132. More and more, I’m starting to see similarities between this game and MGS. And that is a very good thing. I loved the first Deus Ex, and can’t wait to get my hands on this one.

  133. This game looks amazing, played the very first one years ago and it was good, can’t wait to play this! 🙂

  135. As a fan of the original Deus Ex, I can’t wait to play Human Revolution. This review just encourages me to do that as fast as possible 😀

  138. Sounds right up my alley! Not being a PC gamer I missed out on the first two games, but I’m looking forward to giving this one a shot.

  139. I’ve really been looking forward to this game, but I can’t afford it with all the other releases this year. Thank you for reviewing it, although you’ve only made me want it more. Games are more enjoyable for me when I can plan how to proceed, so I’m glad that the “guns blazing, little effort” strategy doesn’t work here. It’s also neat that they chose Detroit, I used to live near there so it’ll be cool to see how they redesigned it.

  140. This review makes me want the game a hell of a whole lot more than I thought I would. I’m not a veteran when it comes to Deus Ex, but I sure would love to try this one out! My friends have been hyping out a lot! Looks like a pretty great game too, based on the screen shots and the videos I saw. Thanks for reviewing and the thanks for the opportunity to win this game!

  141. I’ve always had an interest in Deus Ex, and now I get the chance to play it (I don’t have a great PC, so I’m on console)!

  144. played the first deus ex back in 2000 when i was 10 , wow one of my favorite games , i gotta give this game a try looks great.

  145. Great review DesertEagle. I have been waiting to see if this game did well. My worry was that the game was going to be more fps and less rpg possibly trying to play off of modern shooters of this generation. Money is tight right now, but I am looking forward to play this one day.

  146. Great review! I’ve been on the fence about picking DE up, mainly just waiting to see if the game ended up as good as its potential. The more I read, the more I’m interested.

  147. I really hadn’t seen much hype about this game yet…it’s nice to read an informed and objective review. I’m so used to only seeing a grading system or the “It’s awesome/sucks” commentary with no actual information.

  149. Original is still one of my favorite games of all time. From the reviews I can’t quite tell if it shares much with the original, but it does at least sound like a great game in its own rights.

  150. Was never a big PC gamer, still only own a few titles, so I never got to experience the first game. I guess this may be an “easy” way to give this a try.

  156. To be honest I didn’t really get into the earlier Deus Ex’s (I know, I’m a terrible human being), but this looks fantastic. Your review sold me on it even more, and I’m excited to try it out!

    Thanks for the insight!

  160. I absolutely loved this review. It’s time a 360 game came out that harkens back to the glory days of PC gaming.

    A+

  165. I’m playing through the first one for the first time right now (It’s amazing, still) and I really want to play this one noe.

  172. I’ve always enjoyed the Deus Ex games so hopefully I can get my hands on this one as well!

    Good review by the way!

  175. I’m surprised that reviews have been as good as they are. I saw the devs give a live demo of the game at PAX East and it looked pretty poor. That said, I’m fully intrigued and definitely want to pick it up now.

  178. Can’t wait to play this! This is probably the most I’ve looked forward to playing a new release in a year.

  181. Great review! I didn’t expect everyone to like it THIS much. Looking forward to playing it.

  185. Very good review! I never played any of the old Deus Ex games, but this one seems pretty cool and I’d love to try it out. Thanks for the contest!

  187. I freaking love this series. All of the reviews I’ve read so far have made me envious of those with the game already. Thanks for the review, and the contest as well.

  188. The review gives me a good sence of the game. I’ve played the other two truly can’t wait to get my hands on this one. Thanks !

  190. When I saw this at PAX East, I wasn’t too impressed; now, I’m seeing all the great reviews and hoping to get a chance to play it soon.

  192. Looks fantastic, really can’t wait to play it. The trailers got me excited and the review just seals it for me. Must. Play.

  193. Thanks for the great review. I was very iffy about this game before it came out. It looked really cool, but I was afraid it wouldn’t be able to live up to the looks.

  195. I also still need to finish the first game. Second was great. Looking forward to this.

  196. I also still need to finish the first game. Second was great. Looking forward to this.

  199. Nice review, so glad Human Revolution managed to live up to or maybe even surpass the expectations from the original. Love the series, I’ll be trying this out for sure!

  206. UGH, I wish the price for the augmented edition will just lower a few more bucks on Amazon so I can freaking buy it already.

  207. Wow, this game was completely off of my radar…I’ve always heard Deus Ex games were good but have never played any of them. This review makes me wanna pick this up. Thanks for the chance to win a copy first 🙂

  210. I’m glad they took their time with this one. The original game is a hard one to compete with. Here’s also hoping it sells well enough to get expansion packs and sequels.

  221. I was only mildly interested in this but with all the great reviews I been hearing I think I will pick it up if I don’t win this.

  222. I was only mildly interested in this but with all the great reviews I been hearing I think I will pick it up if I don’t win this.

  225. One question- can you start as a more stealth then change and reroll your character?

    I have to mess with save games.

    1. Yep, there’s no ‘rerolling’ so think carefully about your decisions unless you want to have every 5 minutes.

  226. Awesome review. Hadn’t committed to this one yet, but now I’m definitely interested. Maybe I’ll get lucky and win the free copy?

  227. Deus Ex looks amazing, friends have been telling me it’s a really fun title. I’m actually re-playing through the first one again, cause I’m pretty much hyped to play the new one. Excellent review 😉

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