With Ion Storm dead and celebrated creators Warren Spector and Harvey Smith each in new stages of their careers, developer Eidos Montreal faces the difficult task of bringing back one of gaming's most celebrated series. Eidos sticks to Ion's original vision, offering a game that supports deep stealth, combat, exploration and RPG-style upgrade and conversation systems.
Throughout most of this adventure, the player is empowered with an authoritative role over the gameplay flow. Unfortunately, not all of these mechanics work as well as others, and your enjoyment is tied to how heavily you lean on the more polished portions.
In addition to the vast amounts of player choice, "Human Revolution" weaves an amazing story filled with heady techno-babble. In the year 2027 (25 years before the events in the first game in the series), society is struggling with the ethics of augmenting the human body with mechanical implants. The debate is at a tipping point, and what happens next will be determined by biotech companies and the corrupt governments that back them. Players take the role of Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT officer turned security specialist for biotech company Sarif Industries, who finds himself intertwined with the conspiracies. After a rival biotech company injures him in an attack, he unwillingly receives augmentations, putting him in the position to understand the costs and benefits of the technology.
For most of my first of two complete playthroughs of "Human Revolution" I relied on stealth tactics to achieve my goals. Sneaking through biotechnology labs is an exhilarating experience. A fantastic cover mechanic and unpredictable enemy behavior enhance this approach, but it requires patience. I often found myself hiding behind a crate to learn an enemy's routine before engaging. Along the way, you can loot offices, hack computers and uncover additional weapons, items and story content.
Almost every environment dangles tasty carrots in front of the player; some are obtainable from the outset, while others require backtracking once the player reaches higher ranks for hacking or strength.
Exploring the cities, with their "Blade Runner"-esque environments, is one of this game's most rewarding experiences. Jensen radiates boredom, but despite his monotone emotions, he's a skilled conversationalist capable of negotiating with terrorists and bending people to his will. Just like "Mass Effect," the player controls the tone of these conversations. The conversation system is brilliantly devised.
Although Jensen is outfitted in the latest that biotechnology has to offer, his arms run on cheap batteries worse than the generic varieties packaged with TVs. Computer hacking also suffers from balance issues. Once Jensen upgrades his hacking stealth to level three (which can be achieved within a matter of hours), he decreases the chance of detection by 45 percent and the thrill of hacking is lost until you come across the level five security rating terminals toward the end of the game. Hacking is a huge portion of this game, used to break into all locked doors, safes and computers. Do yourself a favor and base your hacking upgrades on the progressive increases in difficulty.
Upgrading Jensen's augmentations opens up new gameplay options and, as the hacking illustrates, overly effective advantages. Some of the augmentations add new skills (such as the ability to see through walls), while others (such as the ability to lift heavy objects) add to Jensen's exploration opportunities. Choose your augmentations wisely, as the sheer number of options can shape Jensen in different ways and potentially keep large sections of the game blocked off.
