Deus Ex: Human Revolution Revolutionizes Gaming

Just a couple weeks ago I completed Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  This game is absolutely amazing!  I would list this as one of the best games I've ever played.  I'm not even joking.  The game combines shooter with stealth elements in perfect harmony.  Add on a plot packed with twists and turns and you have yourself a recipe for brilliant.  I would describe Deus Ex: Human Revolution as Resident Evil 4+Mass Effect 2+Fallout 3.

You play the role of Adam Jensen, head of security for a leading biotech manufacturing corporation.  The company specializes in the highly debated and controversial augmentations industry.  Augmentations are artificial upgrades to the human body.  During the opening cutscene there is an attack on the company's headquarters which results in the lab technicians, including Adam's ex, being killed.  Our protagonist himself barely survives and only thanks to the quick action of his employer to heavily augment Jensen.  With these new special powers, you make your way through the game trying to uncover the truth of what happened that day.

From the very beginning you are given a choice of how you want to play.  You can play this game and not kill a single enemy if you so choose.  The only exception is with certain bosses.  It is entirely the player's choice on how much stealth and how much combat to use.  Personally, I stealthed through what I could.  If I was caught or couldn't find an obvious path to stealth to my destination, I wouldn't hesitate to pull out a combat rifle or shotgun and mow down the opposition.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is hard to classify.  It features first person play with a tactical cover system.  It also allows for exploration and some side questing.  Deus Ex:HR also features a limited inventory system similar to Resident Evil 4.  This game is not a FPS all though it's in the first person.  That is really where the similarities between this and FPS's stop.  I wouldn't call it a RPG either although it certainly has some RPG elements.  Maybe RPG-lite.  Perhaps it's the way it blends these different genres so well that makes it so great.  I would give this game 9.5/10.

Die damnit, die!

***Spoiler Warning: Minor spoiler below.***

At the end of the game you are given a major choice that will influence the ending of your game.  It took me several minutes to make that decision and really made me think about how I play video games.  In Deus Ex: Human Revolution you play a premade character with a clear personality as opposed to a game like Fable where the protagonist has no defined personality and YOU are the character for all intents.  So I found myself thinking what would I do here and what would Adam Jensen do here.  The answers were not the same.  I eventually did all 4 options to see every ending but I still ponder, if a reload isn't possible, how should decisions be made in a video game?  Based on your own detached thoughts and conclusions or in line with the in game character's personality and mindset that he or she would have from being directly in the situation?