Deus Ex

Criticism of Deus Ex: Human Revolution tends to be mostly directed towards its boss battles. That's fair, because they don't fit the game very well, but the overwhelming focus on these moments seems to have distracted people from an equally significant problem, namely that the game seems to fall apart in its final level.

Unlike previous entries in the Deus Ex franchise, Human Revolution has a clearly characterized protagonist. Except for his extremely dry sense of humor, J.C. Denton was essentially a blank slate for the player, and Alex Denton had even fewer set characteristics. Adam Jensen, on the other hand, comes into his game with a long, involved backstory and several pre-existing relationships.

How Do All Those Augmentations Run Off of One AA Battery?

HIGH Earning the Pacifist and Foxiest of Hounds Achievements in one run.

LOW Constantly dealing with low energy for augmentations.

WTF So I'm a corporate superspy who never... gets... supplied?

This week: The moderate highs and not-so-moderate lows of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, plus we remember what made the original so special. Also: Gears of War 3, Tim takes five minutes off, and we share our picks for dream HD remakes. Featuring Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, Richard "The Logician" Naik, and Tim Spaeth. Special thanks to RandomRob for composing this week's break music!

Download: Right click here and select "Save Target As..."
Subscribe: iTunes | Zune | RSS

Links:

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

Systemic Control

HIGH The game is a stealth throwback in the best way possible.

LOW The decidedly dated-looking character models.

WTF I want to punch narrative NPCs!

The boss battles in Deus Ex: Human Revolution suck. Hard. The people of the Internet appear to agree on this notion. While they aren’t game-breakers, they are clumsy and uninspired bullet sponges whose design runs counter to the nature of the rest of the game.

Finally got my hands on Deus Ex: Human Revolution and currently playing it on 360. As a huge, huge fan of the first Deus Ex, I've been cautiously excited (emphasis on cautiously) at the prospect of getting another entry in the series that wasn't as awful as… Project: Snowblind, and you know what, I think we may just have gotten it.

Game Description: It is fifteen years since the end of the global conspiracy depicted in Deus Ex - widely regarded as one of the greatest action games of all time. In the aftermath, a catastrophic depression has crippled the world and conflicting militant groups seek to enforce their own violently destructive agendas. As corporate anti-terrorist mercenary Alex D it is your task to track these factions down and destroy them.