My Deus Ex: Human Revolution prebuild review

I've played through the somewhat (but not horribly) bug-riddled prebuild of DX:HR, which consists of the Detroit part of the game, which supposedly makes up between 1/5 and 1/3 of the full game. DX:HR is extremely atmospheric, to say the least; much more so than IW managed to be. Actually, the prebuild feels a lot like the original DX with upgraded graphics and game engines, with significant gameplay improvements added.

Story-wise, DX:HR absorbs you into a future not far from now, which lays the foundations for the first true megacorporations and global government branches, while society grapples with the social and ethical implications of state-of-the-art mechanical augmentations. The transhumanist-school philosophical questions of who should become posthuman, and why, are carried beyond the scope of the original DX. The conspiracies are there, too; in fact, the writers have done a much better job at making intelligent connections with the future Deus Ex storyline than I had anticipated.

To recap, and add a few additional thoughts and features:

Pros:

• It's DX, not DX:IW.
• Intensely atmospheric and absorbing; sometimes enough to make you forget reality.
• No one-size-fits-all ammo.
• Augmentation system like that of DX, with many new kinds of upgrades, e.g. one which allows you to see the cones of vision of your enemies.
• Enemies are generally more numerous and slightly harder to take down than in DX, but present more opportunities of alternate routes, sneaky takedowns or occasionally environment-based strategies, such as hacking a nearby machine gun turret and carrying it into battle.
• Exciting, strategic and occasionally very stressful Neuromancer-like hacking system.
• Plenty of fictional, transhumanist and scholarly eBooks scattered around.
• Getting rid of bodies is important. Not only will alarms sound if they are detected; if you opted for a non-lethal takedown, other hostiles will be able to resusitate them.
• The devil is in the details: Cellphones made of metamaterials that look like blocks of glass, and computerized toilets... "Among other things" - Bob Page

Cons:

• Ammo is scarce.
• Loading times are long.
• Pretty decent music per se, but not particularly memorable.
• A few of the sidequests are outright dull.
• Occasionally makes you think that you're playing Mass Effect 2, which isn't necessarily horrible.
• DX:HR is not out yet.

Can you still do a non-lethal one hit melee takedown from behind with a baton?

I don't understand your timefreeze while hacking thing. Does it or doesn't it? It certainly didn't in the original Deus Ex.

Computerized toilets sound scary. What if someone hacked them?

Can you still do a non-lethal one hit melee takedown from behind with a baton?

I didn't try it, as I chose a tranquilizer rifle instead of a "baton" during the beginning, and didn't find a baton or prod after that. However, there's an instant takedown melee move (with a somewhat long recharge time) that's performed at the push of a button, which makes a "baton takedown" less useful.

I don't understand your timefreeze while hacking thing. Does it or doesn't it? It certainly didn't in the original Deus Ex.

I changed my wording. Time doesn't freeze in either game, but IIRC, you were invulnerable until you stopped using a computer in DX (e.g. by your hacking timer expiring). Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong regarding that, though, as halted NPC weapon fire may only have applied to conversations.

Computerized toilets sound scary. What if someone hacked them?

Human beings feel pleasure when they are watched.

Human beings feel pleasure when they are watched.

No doubt, but I was refering to actions they might cause the toilet to take.

No doubt, but I was refering to actions they might cause the toilet to take.

Can I has link to the video stream from unit WC-03?