Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Deus Ex: Human Revolution came out a week or so ago to XBox360, PS3, and PC. Being lazy, I decided to download it off Steam after hearing a handful of positive reviews from people I largely trust. Buying a new PC game is something I rarely do, so I was worried I wouldn't be interested, especially since it takes place in first person. There's been VERY few games I've really enjoyed that are first person, and none have been shooters, which this game appears to approach much more than the others (those being Portal and Portal 2, a pair of wonderful puzzle games, and Mirror's Edge, a deeply flawed, but gorgeous and fun first person action game). Also as a disclaimer, I haven't played the original or its much-hated sequel, so I can't make any comparisons to those.

After the download was completed, I started playing, and pretty much didn't stop for another six hours. That's something I haven't done in ages. I tweeted that it's the most into a game I've been since Mass Effect 2, and that's accurate. The comparison is actually pretty appropriate too: they're both story-driven western RPGs, they both have a cover-based shooting mechanic (ME2 being in third person), and they both have a science fiction feel. They're not identical by any stretch, of course. ME2 is set in the far future and follows a story with consequences that affect the entire galaxy. Deus Ex, by contrast, is a much more intimate cyberpunk story set in 2027 with consequences that might affect a single, fledgling company. You play as Adam Jensen, the head of security for biotech company that's developed a number of cybernetic augmentations, a fairly new industry that's under attack from all sides. After an attack on the company, Jensen is put through a series of surgeries and given a number of augmentations to save his life, which is where the story really begins (the attack serves as a short combat tutorial for the most part).

At this point, you're dropped into the actual game. The world of 2027 is dirty, grimy and shows an obvious class separation that would makes today look like we're all on an even footing. Augmented humans have a large amount of prejudice against them, derogatorily called "augs," with a number of groups trying to get augmentation banned and a growing "pure human" movement. So far, the game has taken me to two locations, both of which are about as described. You're dropped into an environment with a mission to carry out, but without much in the way of a time limit, so exploration is rewarded with some experience points, and loot (guns, ammo, upgrade points, etc.), and talking to the right people can trigger side missions away from the main ones.

Combat occurs every so often, but the game seems to push you towards a more stealthy approach: nonlethal methods of taking down enemies give bonus experience, and there's an achievement for completing the game without killing any non-boss enemies (bosses have to be killed, in one of the most common complaints), as well as one for not triggering any alarms. The fights are pretty typical cover-shooter fights, although the enemy AI is not the best. Basically, enemies in the area will move towards you, and that's about as complex as it gets. Which is fine, and it may be intentional to push players to the stealthy approach. Between combat sequences, there's often parts that require talking to characters to gather information or just get something done. These often require remembering what you've seen and done recently, and certain augments can make this a lot easier. One gives you the option to release pheromones to influence other characters. I usually try to do without just for the added challenge. Conversation trees are somewhat like Mass Effect, but there's no morality component to it, and they only seem to directly affect the conversation you're in.

Graphically, it's not the best game I've seen, but not the worst either. Character models are unique and interestingly designed. Facial animations are pretty good, although not always synced with the voice acting. Speaking of which, it's all over the place. Jensen speaks with a low, gravelly voice that rarely conveys any emotion. It fits with the tone of the game, and is well-voiced, but I'm still not sure it was the best choice. Other characters aren't so good. It's clear that many of the voice actors, if nothing else, don't speak English as much as French (it was developed in Montreal, Canada) and sometimes inflections are off as a result. Still, it's good enough.

All in all, I'm loving the game, and have been playing it as much as I can find time for. I totally recommend it, especially to those who prefer slower games to twitch action games.

Why I won't be playing Diablo III

In the past couple days, Blizzard announced a few things about their upcoming sure-to-be megahit Diablo III. The two that stood out are the creation of a real money auction house for selling in-game loot, and that playing the game will require an always-on internet connection, even when playing single player. The former isn't a particularly big deal to me. Having played previous installments of the series, I don't really care if some random dude has way better gear than me. I don't really play PvP stuff, so if it means he's killing more stuff than me, it's not a big deal. On top of that, I'd mostly be playing with friends, so it's even less of an issue, unless they decide to make cash-only items that affect gameplay, but I don't see that happening. (Cash-only items that don't do anything, well, that will almost certainly happen if World of Warcraft is followed.

The second, however, is a major problem. Not as a practical concern - my internet connection is quite stable - but as an ideological one. I'm not a fan of DRM, in general, but I'm okay with it if it's unobtrusive. Valve's Steam system is a pretty good example. You can't take your games away from Steam, but that's all the built-in DRM. Publishers can add their own to games on Steam, however, which can be annoying, but is generally not much more than a serial number. Requiring an always-on connection means that any time it goes out, even briefly, your game ends. It means you can't put it on a laptop and play on an airplane. I'm not totally against DRM, but I can understand the reasoning from publishers. This is just too far, and I won't support any game that does it (provided it's not an online multiplayer game, but I think that's obvious). Maybe there's more to it. Maybe people can just randomly join your game, and there's really no such thing as a "single-player" game in this. If that's the case, I'll reconsider, but probably won't change my mind. It's unfortunate, but I hope more people do the same.

From Dust and Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 3D

When last I talked games, I missed a big one: Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 3D, for the Nintendo 3DS, somewhat obviously. This is one of my big gaming confessions: I've never played OoT all the way through. In fact, the only Zelda games I've completed are Twilight Princess (Wii) and Link's Awakening (Game Boy). So I was kind of excited to see OoT come to the 3DS in a somewhat changed manner. While it still largely looks like a Nintendo 64 game, side-by-side image comparisons show that it's pretty significantly improved. It's still far from modern-looking, but it looks a lot better, and really, I'm not playing games on a 3" screen for their graphics. What I'm playing it for is the actual game itself, and having played games that aren't 16 years old, it definitely feels like it is. Controls aren't quite as tight as more modern games, and it has some mechanics that seem really strange in light of more current games. Nothing game-breaking or even particularly difficult, but still somewhat annoying. On the plus side, it's not like the DS Zelda games where everything is controlled by the touchscreen. I can't really make a recommendation here, since anyone who's played the game knows what it is, and anyone who hasn't is probably still aware that it's consistently lauded as not just one of the best in its series (or the best, depending on who you ask - though its only major competitor is the SNES's Link to the Past), but possibly one of the best games of all time. I think 16 years of love says far more than I can on the matter, but just beware that it's a 16 year old game, and wears that on its shoulder.

On the newer side of things, I also downloaded From Dust on XBox Live Arcade, the second of Microsoft's Summer of Arcade selections. From Dust plays somewhat like the old PC game, Populous. You play as a god, I suppose, leading a group of villagers from map to map by creating pathways for them to move around the map. They can't cross water or lava, so the puzzles often involve transporting soil from one area to another to create a land bridge. You also gain more powers as the story goes on - things like the ability to move more stuff at a time or evaporate a large amount of water on the map for a short period of time. So far it's been okay, but I'm not sure I can say I really love it. It's not been terribly difficult and I appear to be more than halfway through the story (assuming the map it shows of the various lands is accurate) despite barely playing it. I'd check out the demo and go from there.