Deus Ex: Human Revolution gameplay trailer shows multiple approaches

Three different ways to approach one small area of Deus Ex 3's first mission are demonstrated in a new walkthrough trailer.

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A teasing peek at Deus Ex: Human Revolution's opportunities for different approaches are shown off in an eight-minute trailer with commentary from narrative game designer Mary DeMarle. Three different ways to infiltrate a warehouse in one single, very small area of the first mission are demonstrated.

DeMarle explains that the franchise is built upon "four main gameplay pillars: combat, stealth, hacking and social," the first two of which are the focus of this trailer.

Guards are knocked unconscious, boxes are crouched behind, bullets are fired, bodies are dragged, a crate is moved, vents are crawled through, a breaker box is shut down, and snack bars are plundered. It all looks delightfully like a modern version of the Deus Ex we all know and love.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is scheduled for release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on August 23. For more on the game, check out our two-part single-player hands-on preview and interview with Mary DeMarle.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 21, 2011 1:20 PM

    Comment on Deus Ex: Human Revolution gameplay trailer shows multiple approaches, by Alice O'Connor.

    • reply
      March 21, 2011 1:51 PM

      Is it me or does Adam Jensen sound a lot like Timothy Olyphant's character from deadwood? (Like a dodgy Clint Eastwood imitation).

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      March 21, 2011 3:32 PM

      I hope those graphics aren't indicative of what the PC version will look like. Lighting looked like cheap console yuck. Low poly environment not very nice either, still no round tires? Textures looked kinda bad as well even with the poor quality video. I know the PS3 can't do much texture, poly and lighting wise but please tell me the PC will get proper treatment!

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        March 21, 2011 4:47 PM

        PC version will support DX11 tessellation. You don't have to worry about low-poly models.

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        March 21, 2011 7:49 PM

        I'm willing to give up some of that (well, maybe not textures), if the game is huge and engrossing. I'm sure the PC version will be gorgeous. Square and Eidos know how to make an incredible looking PC game.

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      March 21, 2011 4:02 PM

      "It all looks delightfully like a modern version of the Deus Ex we all know and love."

      ooooh I do hope that will be true!

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      March 21, 2011 4:07 PM

      LETS USE A FEMALE VOICE, IT WILL SELL MORE COPIES !!!

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      March 21, 2011 4:08 PM

      What i would like to know is how does the game "not force you" to have lethal or nonlethal approach yet lethal take down gives 10XP while nonlethal 30XP (I'm talking about hand to hand combat as seen in the vid)? Before anyone jumps on me with "cause it's harder to be stealthy!" - depends, especially since in both cases player needs to get close to the enemy.

      Oh and another thing is that in stealthy approach player gains about double the XP for entering said warehouse than in "guns blazing" approach, fair enough... but don't you think that kinda shows the way you should play as gunslingers are kinda penalized for said "tactic" with reduced XP gain?

      Also why does shooting an enemy give 20XP? It isn't harder than getting up close and "finishing off" the enemy but gives more experience.

      I understand that game tries to "force" players to use their heads rather than a trigger fingers but still it's kinda weird and might lead to the situation where stealthy players advance faster than combat oriented players.

      Thank you for reading and have a nice day ;)
      ~BK

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        March 21, 2011 5:41 PM

        Probably to account for the fact that stealth players will miss a bunch of xp from skipping past guys that a rambo player would have killed.

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          March 21, 2011 6:42 PM

          So could you stealth kill everyone that you can, and then come around guns blazing with all the extra xp you just racked up with stealth kills?

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            March 21, 2011 9:09 PM

            You'll lose points for kills when you hit the section transitions (like entering the complex). If you killed guys you won't get certain bonuses.

            (aka: it evens out)

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              March 22, 2011 4:58 AM

              I'm not getting this. Is there some kind of allotment for x area and if you get to the end, you get whatever xp you missed?

              What I'm saying is that if there are 5 guys and you are only able to kill 3 of them with stealth, you can come back and kill the last 2 guys before you reach the next transition. Do it however to get the maximum amount of xp.

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        March 21, 2011 5:43 PM

        It's a tradeoff vs. time crawling around looking for alternate route and vents. I assume the XP system is built so that you could complete the whole game Gears of War style, but you might not have a chance to try out as many augmentations.

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        March 21, 2011 8:44 PM

        I like this post!

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      March 21, 2011 4:12 PM

      My god, so much CONSOLITIS. What has the world come to? Modern day developers should be ASHAMED!

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        March 21, 2011 4:18 PM

        hey man, crates are fucking moved

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        March 21, 2011 4:45 PM

        My god, so much COMPLAINING. "If it's not to my standards i must bitch about it"-summary

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          March 21, 2011 5:14 PM

          No it just sucks to see the industry coming to a stand still because of consoles. I like how this game is coming along though.

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            March 21, 2011 5:45 PM

            Just as PC's have given way to consoles so to shall the "hard core" console give way to casual party games, motion controls, facebook, and iOS. Curse that...what was the shack term...MASSIFICATION!!!

      • reply
        March 21, 2011 7:26 PM

        while you're complaining, the rest of us who are interested in the game will play it.

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        March 22, 2011 8:38 AM

        Shut up shut up shut up!

        I wish you fucks would just go away! Consolitis? Inflammation of the console? Just shut the fuck up already!

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          March 22, 2011 11:11 AM

          Dude, no. I won't shut up. Seeing how modern game design decisions ruin great franchises makes me want to beat some sense into game designers.
          Do you really think people would complain just for the heck of it? No, people complain because their favorite games from the past are being converted into casual-retarded-piece-of-shit-mainstream bullcrap.

          • reply
            March 22, 2011 12:47 PM

            How are you calling this consolitis? It looks like it plays just like the first Dues Ex, which is what everyone wants. The PC graphics have also all ready been shown to be much better,

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        March 22, 2011 12:08 PM

        [deleted]

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      March 21, 2011 5:30 PM

      The comments on reddit were harsh but most of them are probably from PC gamers who played the first. However, this comment did strike me as making a good point.

      http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/g6xi0/8_minutes_of_deus_ex_human_revolution_gameplay/c1ldjsz

      Going by this level, I wonder if this is a game where all the viable options/paths are designed and placed for you instead crafting solutions yourself with whatever tools are available.

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        March 21, 2011 5:36 PM

        Quite. But lets assume that this is a bullvid, and that the whole thing is contrived specifically to communicate the idea of different playstyles in a short eight minute video.

        There is also another thing, they've said that the opening levels of the game will be simplified versions of the gameplay later on, to avoid the overwhelming "what is this shit? *quit*" problems of Liberty Island.

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          March 21, 2011 6:20 PM

          Really gotta wonder about anyone who had that reaction to Liberty Island.

          I guess my major concern re: the demo is that in the original Deus Ex, the levels were massive. You could play through some of them 2 or 3 times, and still find new things if you hadn't searched with an eye for completeness. To a certain extent, I agree with the Reddit poster who said that the level design of the demo appears to be very contrived. That's ... worrisome. I want to search for an hour, not 5 minutes (or 30 seconds). Of course, as someone else said, they are trying to get things across in an 8 minute video clip.

          Still, I'm curious about later levels ... hopefully this was just a teaser, and not representative of the rest of the level design in the game.

          Uh, really don't like the switching between 3rd person and 1st person very much, but that's just a personal pref...

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        March 21, 2011 6:15 PM

        My guess is this is an early level in which the solutions are supposed to be fairly obvious. Later levels will probably allow a bit more freedom.

        That said, I recall a lot of the original Deus Ex's interiors being pretty much like what you see in the video. They just seemed more organic because you were figuring out the solutions yourself.

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      March 21, 2011 6:14 PM

      I wasn't sure until I read, "a crate is moved." Now I must buy this game.

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      March 21, 2011 6:15 PM

      Ugh, this isn't consolitis, its more like console polio, or console ass-rape.

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        March 21, 2011 6:33 PM

        Oh, get the fuck over yourself.

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      March 21, 2011 6:48 PM

      I lost interest at cover system. WHY DO THEY MAKE THESE COVER SYSTEMS? I guess simply ducking behind an object isn't enough to give you sufficient cover, so they are forced to create an entire system to do the exact same thing as a push of a button...

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        March 21, 2011 6:59 PM

        Does anyone know if throwing your body against a wall is automatic (like mass effect 2)? Or do you have to activate it with push of a button?

        Let's hide the body, but not clean the bood.

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          March 21, 2011 7:07 PM

          I thought it was supposed to be optional in this game? You can just keep it in first person and crouch behind the cover as you would. I think there is a prompt to take cover that might not go away though :(

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            March 21, 2011 7:39 PM

            It is optional from what I've read.

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          March 21, 2011 8:00 PM

          They've said repeatedly that it's optional. Hell, they say it IN THIS VIDEO.

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            March 21, 2011 8:15 PM

            repeatedly in the video? I heard it only once and I heard nothing about being able to turn it on or off.

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              March 21, 2011 8:24 PM

              That's what "optional" means.

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                March 21, 2011 8:27 PM

                Ok, I assumed that it could always be on, but it was your choice to unstick yourself from the wall, making usage of the cover system optional.

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                  March 21, 2011 8:31 PM

                  Oh, looked to me from the video like you push a button to use it so if you don't want it you could just not even have the button bound.

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                  March 21, 2011 8:32 PM

                  This seems like one of those "I LOVE OUR BABY SOOO MUCH!" developer publicist gushings, trying to advertise the crap out of a bullet-point feature. This makes me think of some questions, like "is this feature going to be shoved in the player's face every time?" "Is this feature the 'right way' to play the game, and is the player punished for not using it?"

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                    March 21, 2011 10:28 PM

                    I don't understand, why is it a bad thing for a developer or a publicist to advertise the features of the game they're trying to sell?

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            March 21, 2011 8:29 PM

            Okay, then they should show a video without using the cover system.

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        March 21, 2011 7:05 PM

        Third person cover system was awesome in Rainbow Six Vegas. It worked. Yeah it may intrude on the hard core ancestry of the R6 series but R6 Vegas was still a good game and the third person view and the way it controlled was fantastic; far superior to Gears of War's system.

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          March 21, 2011 7:14 PM

          I agree. The ranting against it is surprising, considering how well it worked in both Vegas games. Despite that, didn't the narrator even say using the third person cover system wasn't required for stealth?

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            March 21, 2011 7:58 PM

            I may have missed it, but it doesn't mean that your character won't throw himself against the wall everytime you get near this. If there's an option to turn it off, I'll be happier.

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              March 22, 2011 8:24 AM

              From what I've seen going into cover requires you to press a button. I think like someone else said it means you don't have to use it and remain in first person, though the text may still show up telling you that you can push x or whatever button to go into cover mode.

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          March 21, 2011 7:57 PM

          So you're playing a game that mimicks counter terrorism, but when you push up against a wall, all that gets thrown out the window?

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          March 22, 2011 12:12 AM

          The cover system in the Vegas games was damn near perfect. Awesome implementation.

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          March 22, 2011 7:08 AM

          Re: R6 cover system far superior to Gears' cover system

          I've seen a number of people say this over the years since these two games came out, and I've never really understood it. Do you mind explaining what you think makes the cover system in R6: Vegas so much better than the one in Gears?

          I've always felt the opposite in that while R6 had a solid cover system, Gears' was better. In R6 I frequently ran into issues where my character wouldn't stick to the correct piece of wall and so I wouldn't be able to peek around the corner, instead I'd have to move over slightly on that same wall and then it would work. There were also plenty of instances where you'd be peeking through a door or something and it would go through a 'long' animation (long in the sense that it's rainbow 6 and if it takes more than .1 second to peek out you're going to be in pain) of my character swinging his gun out into the open rather than just leaning out.

          Other than that I didn't have any problems with its cover system, but Gears' always worked just as well or better for me. Once in cover it was much smoother to me to aim/fire/move between cover.

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        March 21, 2011 7:33 PM

        Cover systems can be implemented in a lot of different ways and sometimes it's awesome

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          March 21, 2011 8:23 PM

          Every time I've encountered a cover system, it has restricted free flowing movement.

          In the case of rainbow six: vegas, it doesn't even make much sense to go third person. Gears of war was also plagued with small rooms with the same half high rectangle walls, blocks, debris. Mass Effect 2 is just outright fustrating.

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      March 21, 2011 7:21 PM

      Give us options to change the color of the UI kinda like in Crysis. If you won't I except mods, but this will be easier.

      Also, anyone else think Hitman Blood money when you saw that body being dragged?

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      March 21, 2011 7:40 PM

      You guys have to understand... half the reason the games are labeled as "console-ized" is because the developers want to tell a story.

      Years ago, people would never finish half the games they played because they were too difficult or too complex to figure out. Games have become more like movies, in which the developers want to be the director and point you down a path to the end of the movie...

      Think about how many games back in the day youd get stuck on the first level and be like "fuck, what is this non sense? where do I go? What key am I supposed to find? what button interacts with this scene"

      All that shits gone, everything is going to continue to be more and more casual. We have to learn to adapt to mainstream.

      I for one am sick of it too. but alas we have no choice.

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      March 21, 2011 11:50 PM

      Read this post! Yay!

      I love the OVERALL design. It feels like DX. I hate:

      1. The takedown system. Remove it entirely, or keep it first-person. I don't want a god-mode insta-smite button just because I'm standing behind someone.

      2. The lighting -- but I'm going to give this one a tentative pass, since it's possible that this outdoor environment is just really, really lit up by the fire and floodlights. If I'm hiding in shadows, make me believe it by actually giving me some inky shadows, not a gray version of the texture.

      3. Shadows -- yeah, I mentioned it above but this deserves a second gripe. Watch the video again and pause at 3:13. Holy shit that's ugly, there's 4 fucking rectangles of light gray on the ground. You kidding me? Soft-shadows and gradients aren't enabled or available in this?

      4. Bloom. Wow, there's a lot of it. As a PC gamer, I really hope I can turn that off. Shit is more feathered than 80's butt rock.

      5. The AI is apparently deaf as a doornail. If I'm jogging around on pavement and it's a quiet night aside from the crackling flames, please hear me and respond. This has been a major concern for me since the original footage was leaked from GDC a year ago, that the AI is stupidly unaware so you can console-sneak up to people and perform your one-hitter-quitter on them.

      6. Cover system. It sucks balls. Give me lean-left/lean-right buttons and the ability to crouch, problem solved. If I'm hiding behind a crate, I can't suddenly have an out-of-body experience and see the world in front of me. Remove this stupid console shit.

      7. Textures are bland and look very low res for a modern game. If I have to play with these out of the box on a PC, I'll be counting down the days until the modders release a high-res pack. How sad that the community finishes developers games these days when they're built for a console first.

      Now for the good} news: if it plays well, has an intelligent and rich story, and isn't too dumbed down, ALL IS FORGIVEN AND ALL HAIL DEUS EX HUMAN REVOLUTION!

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        March 21, 2011 11:51 PM

        shacktag fail

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          March 22, 2011 12:20 AM

          shackpost fail for using the words "dumbed down"...it's such a useless, vapid criticism

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            March 22, 2011 2:10 AM

            Great reply, thanks for showing up.

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            March 24, 2011 3:50 AM

            Also, I provide an entire itemized list of legit complaints and you choose to ding me for a single general comment? You'd have contributed more if you shat on a plate and uploaded a pic of it.

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        March 22, 2011 2:19 AM

        Graphically I don't really think you're going to have much to worry about, although you may not care for the visual style they've gone with. Their DX11 tech demos have shown that they do a good job of supporting new features like tessellation and they handle multi-monitor just about perfectly, so I doubt the engine is going to fall over on the more basic things. Again, though, that doesn't mean you'll necessarily like the style they go with.

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          March 24, 2011 3:59 AM

          While graphics aren't a major concern for me (I thought the original DX's graphics were sub-par compared to other games being released at the same time, accepted it and found one of my favorite games of all-time), I don't want them artificially crappy due to console constraints that my PC doesn't have. I've seen the video you're talking about, and my concerns about lighting, shadows, bloom and texture quality remain. Not because I can't stand an ugly game, but because at LEAST half of DX is about stealth for me, and the issues I pointed out in my first post will really detract from that enjoyment if they remain at release.

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        March 22, 2011 4:10 AM

        The takedowns use your aug power, so you can't just do it crazy willy-nilly.

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          March 24, 2011 4:08 AM

          I still don't like it. I just disagree with the way it works. DX1 had backstab, and it operated as a damage multiplier. Strong enemies would live through it and I wasn't pulled out of 1st person to watch a canned animation(s) autokill someone. Strangely, I might have been ok with takedowns if they were displayed with a lot of body-awareness functionality built into the 1st person model, Crysis style. Eh, nah. Let me just conk people over the head or stab them normally, Thief style. To this day, still nothing does stealth like Thief.

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        March 22, 2011 4:32 AM

        As shallow as I know this is, I'm basically not planning on playing this because of it, despite DX1 remaining to this day my favorite game. I just really dislike third person in any game that is mainly first person. Takedowns, cover system, bleh.

        I've been using cover forever. No one glues his ass to a wall such that he is facing away from the threat. If you want to glance out from cover to see what's there, what's going to be easier: turning 180 degrees and leaning a little, or just leaning a little?

        A while back someone posted footage of an ambush in Afghanistan. The troops all ducked down and took cover behind a wall. Someone said something like "what do all you cover system hates have to say now?" Well, none of them glued their ass to the wall. They got behind it, and continued to face the direction of the threat, exactly like I have always done in FPSs, and exactly like the cover system in DX:HR and other games does not.

        Of course this is a game, not real life. It's a game mechanic, and should be judged on whether it adds to the fun. For me it does not, and since it can't really be defended with "realism!" it just turns me off the game. If I want a story, I'll read the plot summary like I did with Invisible War

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          March 22, 2011 8:40 AM

          I'm tempted to say there's no way for this game to live up to the original as long as it has to be available to consoles as well. I'm just tempted to say it.

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        March 22, 2011 8:36 AM

        What? Shut up, christ what is wrong with you people?

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        March 22, 2011 12:11 PM

        [deleted]

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          March 24, 2011 4:16 AM

          I'm glad it's an aug ability. I admit this is just supposition on my part, but I'll wager takedowns are an early and/or low-cost aug almost given to you because of their status as a central feature, not just some additonal competency you can acquire if you pay the in-game opportunity cost. But again, I'm just guessing on this point.

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      March 22, 2011 7:58 AM

      I think this looks great, its an early section of the game and nothing set alarm bells off for me.

      Cant wait!

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      March 22, 2011 10:39 AM

      I love the looks and game play of this game, fingers crossed it's like the first Deus ex. I'm liking what I'm seeing though a good cross between Metal Gear and spintercell.

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      March 22, 2011 11:40 AM

      I don't like the Tron glow on interactive objects. Including the ladder ALL THE WAY DOWN. The glow leaked over his hands while he was climbing.
      And why didn't the demo-er ever pick up that first guy's pistol? How many weapons can you carry in this interation of the game?

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        March 22, 2011 11:58 AM

        Also, that "Hold X" for cover is going to get annoying. I use "X" for reload in every FPS.

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          March 22, 2011 12:19 PM

          maybe reload is just a press of X

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          March 23, 2011 4:02 PM

          X is for jumping, kicking or accelerating.. R or middlemouse is for reloading!

      • reply
        March 24, 2011 4:18 AM

        Yeah. Conspicuously glowing shit was the first thing I got rid of in Thief: Deadly Shadows, along with a few other annoyances. Thank goodness for modders.

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          March 24, 2011 4:25 AM

          I don't even care that it can be explained by the functions of a HUD overlay in Jensen's mechanical eyes, either. The in-game result is that you're acutely aware of the limits of the world's interactivity when you see which items can be manipulated. It's kind of ridiculous for instance to see a crate light up bright gold, but not an unhinged car door laying in the street. My tactical readout believes I could beat up some dudes with that heavy packing crate but not that door? Why? Oh, because the door is part of the static environment and I'm playing a videogame, right. Thanks, glowing hue.

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