There's not much left to be said about Human Revolution that you may not have already gleaned from pre release hype. With that said, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is largely worth much of the praise heaped up on it. It's beautiful, if a bit (okay almost totally) brown, the AI doesn't seem to have evolved much over similar games of yester-generation. The augmentations really allow you to chisel out your very own character, and the morality system isn't as arbitrary as other games. My biggest issue with the game was that it seemed to set me up for certain heights that I was never able to attain. In the beginning of the game a few dialogue choices reflect actions you made moments ago. Even a mission early in the campaign changes depending on whether or not you spend considerable pre infiltration time hacking into your coworkers computers. I was impressed and sadly there are few other moments in the game that reflect what choices you've made inside it's world.
I am one of the few people who readily admit to loving Alpha Protocol and AP was definitely in the back of my mind through my playtime with Human Revolution. We all know Alpha Protocol's ultimate fate, but there seems to be some similar missteps in HR that also brings it down. Practically every fight in HR is "The Brayko Fight" from Alpha Protocol. Aggravating, sloppy, difficult to take on, and there is largely little choice in how you tackle the various bosses. Like with Brayko, it ultimately boils down to kiting and circle strafing once you get the boss' pattern down. Unlike Alpha Protocol, the choices you make in HR change very little. Where HR has AP beat is in the graphics department and augmentations/leveling. Deus Ex handles leveling with more finesse... until the end game, where you practically have more than enough Praxis points to augment your character in every direction, and while Deus Ex reacts well to whether or not you want to play RoboCop or RoboNinja, the rewards are obviously lop sided. You get an exorbitant amount of XP from sneaking through hidden paths, fulfilling objectives without being seen, and taking down enemies with very little violence. Compared to the full frontal assault, which only nets you a few extra XP if you manage a headshot in your kill, you'll find assault Jensen to be weaker than his pacifist alter ego.
The end game is largely when Human Revolution went from a solid 4 or 4.5 to a 3.5. The story twist comes a mile away, is horribly generic, and the actual final boss and the final scenes of the game are a huge disappointment. The one moment where player choice has a significant effect on the world and the developers go on to gloss over it before running the credits.
Ultimately, I had a good time with Deus Ex, but it felt like a prettier, more user friendly version of Alpha Protocol. It has similar flaws, but where AP shined in it's story and the weight of the choices it presents to you, Deux Ex provides an experience more akin to Splinter Cell with XP based rewards.
It's still a must play game, don't get me wrong. It's definitely one of the strongest titles of the year.
