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Deus Ex Human Revolution 360

Format:
360

Genre:
Adventuring

Style:
Singleplayer

Further reading:
Hollie Simon

Buy/Support:
Support Emma, click to buy via us...

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Other GamePeople columnists have reviewed this from their perspective - huh?:
Scripted Gamer (360)
Reporting Gamer (360)
Novel Gamer (360)
Novel Gamer (PS3)

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Deus Ex Human Revolution is full of words, full of people speaking. But more than these conversations it was the sense of tragedy and loss of truth that really hooked my heart.

I was fond of the original Deus Ex and attracted to this new version immediately. I wanted to learn more about Adam Jensen the man to see how he fits into this advanced and futuristic world, and what he makes of it all himself.

I had barely started playing the game, maybe an hour or so into the story, when I fell in love with Adam Jensen. It was a short but meaningful relationship, one where I saw the future through Adam's augmented eyes. It was both a little sad and somewhat overwhelming. But that didn't stop me, it just made me more resolute in my actions, made his motives all the easier to understand and made my own interpretations of events and conversations all the more certain. On top of that, I liked Jensen, I wanted other people to like him too, and it was nice to have that option.

Jensen's sacrifice at the beginning of the game, defines him. You see his pain, its visible and heartbreaking. When his character was returned to me after the cut-scene, I felt I had a totally different person under my command.

Walking around Sarif Industries HQ hearing the uncertain welcome back's of work colleagues and friends, it started to sink in just how cataclysmic these events were for him and the people around him. It all came to a head for me when I was first taken Jensen's apartment, and set my eyes upon a smashed mirror in his bathroom -- his broken reflection seemed to speak loudly about his fractured life.

I had the choice to keep Jensen cynical and hating, or I could have him move on and accepting. The first chance I had to affirm this to myself was with Faridah Malik. With the choices I had available to me, I told her that I was steadily accepting what had happened, but it had not been my decision. Jensen's responses were sincere, truthful even, like no matter what I said, that was exactly what I meant.

What I found the most interesting about the interaction between Jensen and the world was how I found out about him through other people. Nothing direct, no, just bits and pieces, even the apartment visit was an eye-opener as well as reading through his e-mails.

When I found out that his and (ex-girlfriend) Megan's dog had been put down, I felt sorry for him, all he had now was work. But he is a determined soul, a man who knows what he is doing and what to do next. He keeps his mind on the job at hand, and I admired him for it.

Sure, not everyone in the game was so forgiving of his condition, I was angry for him as Jensen seemed to brush it off himself, deflecting insults like bullets.

The intimacy these interactions created between the game and me weren't without their wobbly moments. Jensen's past was surprisingly hollow. It was there, but patchy. I could understand it, but it felt like a whole different life and I wasn't entirely convinced.

You see this odd blind spot as his relations show up, people he was familiar with him from his days when he was a member of SWAT, and offer only the most limited of interactions. They barely scrape the surface of where he has come from, even his relationship with Megan, despite how key it feels to the plot, felt off-hand and more of a plot device than a genuine relationship.

I could forgive Jensen, forgive Dues Ex, this cloudy past -- for the emotion it created in me. For his shortcomings, Jensen carried the story well, a man however reluctant to delve into his own history, continued to look forwards. Even when the shadowy parts were revealed to him, he kept a cool head and did not break character.

Jensen fits comfortably into his world. It's a place where the human race are mostly looking ahead, forwards to a brighter future, whether it be filled with augmented people or not. Jensen's character represented all of the different ideals, it really was down to him in the end.

As I played through the story, keeping an open mind to how it might turn out, I continued to shape him and question how his actions could truly affect the future, and if he had the right to that kind of power.

In the end, I sacrificed him. I sacrificed Jenson. To allow mankind to have its own chance at figuring itself out. To me, it just felt like the choice he would make, not necessarily the right one, there couldn't be a right or wrong answer. But it was the most selfless. And I had been let into this most inner of intimacies.

Guest review by Hollie Simon


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Hollie Simon wrote this Intimate Gamer article under the watchful eye of Emma Boyes.

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Here are the games I've been playing recently:

• Nier
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