I've been playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution for a few hours today.
And yesterday.
I liked it, so I bought it on Steam, and started a new game thinking I might miss an achievement or two otherwise.

Let me tell you, I'm impressed, and delighted. I've been complaining about the decline in the quality of game / level design, storytelling etc. for the past several years, and now finally a developer has dared to go back to what used to make games great.

Let me explain what I mean: The problem I've had with games these past few years (Duke Nukem Forever and Splinter Cell: Conviction are the first that spring to mind) is well summarised in this graphic I've posted in the past. Also, nb the first panel of today's Little Gamers.

What you used to have: Maps with lots of freedom of movement, several ways to get to the exit, easier and more difficult paths depending on your play style, character stats, and / or equipment. In Duke3D you often had two or three different paths, each with advantages and disadvantages (think of the Canyon level). They even had several secret levels that you could only get to by extensive exploration.
Remember Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory? I've played through that several times, and it was worth it, because you could try different ways to solve your missions. You were even asked prior to each mission if you preferred an assault, or a stealthy approach to solving it, and got equipped accordingly. You could set extra goals for yourself, like killing everyone, or sneaking past everyone without them noticing, or capturing and interrogating as many opponents as possible.
And don't even get me started on the Best RPG Ever, Planescape: Torment. Fight your way through hordes of enemies? Or talk your way through them? Make friends with the Zombies and Undead? Or just kill them all? Apologize to the rats for slaughtering their kin, or just keep on slaughtering? You could even talk the final boss of the game into believing he doesn't exist ffs! Or kill yourself. Both were valid options. Among others. And the options you had depended on your choice of character class and stats.

Games in the past few years have neglected such options and choices. Granted, some of them tried to create the illusion of giving you choices (I'm thinking the Mass Effects and Dragon Ages here), but they were never serious about it.
Just think of the Seerebas mission in Dragon Age 2. One outcome of that one should have been a Seerebas at your side. But it wasn't. Whatever you did, all "choices" inevitably led to the same fate for that character. And what about the end of that game? No matter what side you took in the end, you had to fight both bosses anyway. How convenient ...

Now let's take a look at Deus Ex: Humane Revolution. The prologue is pretty straightforward, but that's okay, because it wants to teach you the basic movements, the cover system, and how to interact with objects in the world. And because it's the introduction to the plot that follows, so certain things just have to happen.
After some cutscenes you find yourself at your employer's headquarters, a huge building that you're unfamiliar with. Your boss orders you to the helipad right away because there's a situation in a factory that requires your intervention.

When I played this for the first time, I ignored my boss' call because really, what's the worst that could happen? Instead I explored the building, talked to just about every character I could find, took a look at my own personal office, basically got my bearings. Every now and then my boss called and urged me to the helipad to start the mission. After a while, I did. I found out that some terrorists had attacked a factory, and I was supposed to secure a secret prototype, and if possible, free the hostages and capture the bad guy. I started off, picked off the guards protecting the front entrance one by one, went in, found dead hostages, encountered the bad guy who held the facility manager hostage, talked to him, etc.

When I replayed the part after the prologue, I did not explore the building, because I already knew my way around it from the first play. I went to the helipad right away, got briefed, then entered the factory. At that point I noticed that the dialogues were slightly different: The police officers securing the perimeter were less unfriendly, and didn't blame me and my boss for the dead hostages the way they'd done the first time I played.
And as it turns out, since I'd started the mission right away instead of running around the headquarters first, I actually had a chance to save those hostages that were already long dead the first time I played.

Now how's that for choices and consequences, huh?!

Well, that certainly is one game with replay value. Hat's off the Square Enix for creating a worthy successor to the original Deus Ex. They really managed to capture the original's spirit.

Tags: computer games, pictures, rambling