Mission Structure
My first problem with the game is the mission structure and the effects that has on the game. Every proper sneaking mission begins with Jensen getting briefed on what he needs to do and why, then he goes to an X on the map, learns a secret, goes to the next secret base. Obviously its a little more complex than that, but it doesn't take a wide leap of the imagination for anyone who's played it to dumb things down this way. I've already said I really enjoyed the game play, but there are a lot of missions in this game usually lasting from 30 minutes to an hour. That means hours and hours of basically the same task in different areas. I'd have no problem with this if they had only included something more engaging in each level. However, other than short snippets of dialog to update you objectives the characters make almost no effort to communicate with each other. All the missions add up to about 12 hours worth of narrative dead zones. I'm not even asking to be involved in the conspiracy story during these mission areas, I'm just asking to get to know the characters a little or at least have more engaging missions. Which brings me to my next gripe.
Lack of Character Development
Metal Gear Solid being the perfect example of how to develop your characters in a stealth action game, was very smart about providing the player with characters they could relate to or at least come to like. They had no problem stopping the action to get to know your supporting characters. I get the impression MGS heavily influenced this game, so its surprising they don't do a better job of fleshing out their characters. Jensen and his tech support guy Francis Pritchard have a relationship that starts out with snide insults, but eventually they start to like each other and they have a nice moment near the end of the game. Also, your company pilot, Faridah Malik, is probably my favorite character in the whole game and they do actually take some time to let you get to know her and they deliver some pretty powerful scenes focused on her that I wont spoil here. Besides your main character Adam Jensen that is the whole list of well developed characters in Deus Ex:HR.
It took me till the end of the game to realize it, but when the final credits rolled I realized I wasn't really invested in the characters of this story. The game is so focused on augmentation and conspiracies and their effects on society, they never get around to telling you the stories of the fascinating three dimensional characters who drive the story forward. I feel like the dimensions are there though. There are persuasion battles which have you breaking down a characters personality and telling them what they want to hear, and someone took the time to write a thousand little emails that help us picture what daily life was like in the labs and factories and secret bases we're stealthing through. But characters like David Sarif are too busy keeping secrets to engage you in any way, and the one character you want to see the entire game, Jensen's Ex-girlfriend Megan Reed, only shows her face for a few minutes at the end of the game.
I would have like this world more if Jensen let his guard down a little and made a few friends during his missions, and like I said earlier, there was plenty of time for it.
The Boss Fights
All four of the boss fights felt very displaced from the rest of the game. In a game about game play choices, you'd think you'd have a little more options here. But I've already talked about how the boss game play is all botched up. I wanted to take this space to mention how they are awful from a storytelling perspective. Being an elite mercenary hit squad, you'd think they have better things to do than lurk around labs and supervise prisoners, and yet, they just seem to be standing around waiting for you to show up whenever you encounter them. The game makes no effort to explain who they are or why they hate you. The second boss seems to have some unexplained power to stop Eliza from talking to you, but they never really explain how that works. And what about the third boss and his stupidly delivered final words "Men like us never get back the things we love." Which he says to Jensen right before Jensen heads down a corridor and gets back the thing he loves. They're not just poorly crafted fights, they're idiotically obtuse characters who serve no purpose in the game. I'd rather have fought deadly robots.
Also, and this is funny so soon after fighting Bioshock's boss, but the final boss of Deus Ex is broken. Because the game had been loading you up on high powered guns for the entire last level, you should have no problem disabling the robots in this fight. The only other danger is the electric floors. They have an Aug for that. You can be totally immune to the only dangerous thing in the final boss fight.
What Deus Ex: HR Does Right
Like I said before, the game play is very tight and the different options they provide for achieving your goals make exploration and replay a worthwhile experience.
The story of Earth 2025 is excellently delivered through the details of the world. The Hub City intermissions in Detroit and Hengsha will take hours to explore fully and each part of the level shows you something different about the state of the world in 2025. Just by exploring Detroit you can discover that the economy is in the trash, apartment buildings have been taken over by gun toting squatters, people are living in the sewers, warring gangs control an entire portion of the city, and all that in spite of Detroit being home to the corporate headquarters of the second largest biotechnology corporation in the world.
All the details of the game create an interesting world to frame the morale choice at the end of the game, which will tell you something about yourself and about your faith in humanity
The few characters that Deus Ex takes the time to flesh out are very nice characters. They aren't able to shine as much as I'd like since they aren't given a lot of time to interact, Jensen is a good leading man who the player can project his or her values onto.
Strong Female Character?!
I mentioned earlier that I really liked Faridah Malik, partly because she is the only likable person Jensen knows, but mostly because she is pretty awesome. What makes a strong female character and how does Malik fit the bill? Well, immediately upon meeting her she is friendly, interested in your feelings, and attractive without being a slut. Plus she give you rides and stuff. Malik also gives you a side quest where you get to know her a little better while investigating the death of one of her close friends. During the mission you get to see that Malik is compassionate, loving, resourceful, and just plain cool as you help her get some Hengsha style Street Justice.
Remember when I said I wasn't going to spoil the great scene involving Malik?
!Massive Spoiler Alert!
In one scene, she is forced to make an emergency landing while riding you to china. On the ground she is attacked by a dozen heavily armed men and a robot. You have the option of sneaking through and sacrificing her as your diversion, in which case you have to helplessly watch her die, execution style, at the hands of the Mercenary leader. If you choose to stay and fight, you have about 1 minute to disable all the dozen men and the giant robot. If you choose the safe route, you get to watch a powerful moment of the game, and if you choose to stay you get to play a powerful moment of the game because the game makes it clear, a life you care about it is on the line and the fight won't be easy.
Malik is very composed through the whole thing, encouraging you not to face insurmountable odds, sacrificing herself for your sake. I'm glad they let you save her because she certainly doesn't deserve to die. Despite being one degree away from being an unimportant tertiary character, I would put Faridah Malik on the same pedestal of Strong Female Video Game characters as Alex Vance and Samus Aran. She is compassionate, fun loving, resourceful, talented, fearless, avoids being annoying or unhelpful, and most importantly, she has dignity in the face of certain death. If Deus Ex: HR isn't a win for women in video games I don't know what is.
Review
Deus Ex is a good game with solid mechanics and an incredible, detailed world, but the narrative isn't strong enough to warrant 30+ hours of game. Unless you're really into morale choice, this game isn't something you need to rush to complete. The story is in the details, so take your time and absorb everything or you wont be getting the full Deus Ex experience. If you need a character driven narrative though, this story isn't for you. If stealth is what you're into, then it's playable and re-playable and you'll certainly be getting a lot for your money. Despite a few glaring flaws, I give it a thumbs up for the things it does amazingly well.
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