Howdy all, a more modern review for you this week. Mainly because I’ve been at this for a couple of weeks and as adult stuff gets in the way it takes me a while to review newer games.
Also have been wondering if I should put hints and tips as a separate post. Anyway onto the review.
Honestly, I read a lot about this game, with people complaining about the lack of challenge and you being overpowered. This immediately appealed to me as I love a game that takes me on a power trip, and after playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution (which I will review as a TBT soon) it would make a change from being under powered, especially as a stealth player.
The graphics deserve a special mention, character models look good, especially Jensen himself. With the standard badass coat, and implanted sunnies, Jensen looks good right down to your first person hands. Other characters are looking nice, but the real graphical hero is the environment. Prague, your HUB, looks gorgeous. From dank sewers to colourful streets its easy to get lost and explore your area. Inside of people’s apartments has some variety (and some downright weird shit). Big shout out to people’s faces, they are expressive to a point where I rode in the wrong carriage of a train and felt like Rosa Parks, more on the segregation issues later.
Gameplay wise, this game is not quite my usual order. With at least 3 ways minimum to conquer any objective there is a huge amount of exploration that can lead to surprising new routes and hacking is an extremely fruitful endeavor that you should do whenever the opportunity presents itself. Saying that, I can see the appeal of this open approach and would mark this as a positive point for this game, even if it is not 100% what I like. So when actually playing, you have two playstyles to commit to. Firstly, you can stealth it, and your augments can be tailored towards that. With see through walls, tagging people and freaking INVISIBILITY, stealth is totally good. Quick mention of the fact you can beat bosses with a stealth build now, which is a massive step up from it’s predecessor. Secondly you can be a guns blazing character, and that’s okay too. With damage resistance and weapon systems galore, your basically a terminator. Enemies aren’t the most challenging but can kill you if you don’t play smart.
Storywise, as is the norm for a Deus Ex game there is a conspiracy that can end the world. It is your standard Deus Ex if your familiar with the story, but entertaining none the less. The characters are fairly engaging, but some of them need some rely on your interactions with them from the previous game. Jensen is a surprisingly deep character compared to last time, with his gruff manner putting me in mind of Geralt. With no more spoilers, lets just say that being Jensen after the ‘aug incident’ from the last game is tough, with random police stops and separate train carriages for augmented people I feel very unwelcome wherever I go. The naturals, non augmented people, stare suspiciously at me and clearly draws comparison from humanity’s history of discrimination. It’s deep but not in your face, a fact I really enjoy as the game makes it seem normal rather than than any discrimination.
To conclude, this game gives you a lot, from experimental playstyles and alternate endings, there is a lot to keep you occupied. Considering the price you can now buy this game for (I got it for 4.99 on eBay) I’d recommend this to anyone who wants an a)power trip escapism or b)a good adventure story game, I’d recommend you invest in this game.
Hints and tips to augment your playthrough:
- Find a playstyle in the tutorial and pick weapons accordingly. It’s entirely possible to not kill a single person in this game.
- Once you have your favourite weapons, sell any other weapons for money.
- Remember that you can’t have duplicate weapons, they’ll get broken down into ammo. I’d recommend selling weapons and going back to the weapons and pick it up to sell. This can be tedious but you’ll need the cash for the Praxis kits.
- You won’t need to buy a lot but Praxis kits are worth buying as they are finite in the game, though there are plenty if you search everywhere.
- Upgrade hacking as quick as you can. This at least gives you fair crack at every locked door in the game.
- Remote hacking is extremely awesome for breaking into places.
- Most other augment will focus on your playstyle but keep exploration in mind. Anything that can get you places is worth it.
- Icarus landing is badass, descend on people like a viking god.
- If you are playing stealth playthrough, definitely keep some EMP grenades. This will help you take down augmented bosses (even non lethaly).
- Hacking emails can get you access to all sorts of information, rewards and door codes. The EXP is great to have also.
- The social augment is a must for the pacifist.