Previews// Deus Ex: Human Revolution

The future came as promised except the inventors forgot to fulfil their side of the bargain. One thing they got right though? Our computers. They're everywhere. They're tiny.

They even know where you've been (if you've got an iPhone) and they're only going to get smaller.

Nanotechnology is where the two original Deus Ex games firmly set out their stalls. Characters were filled with hundreds and thousands of infinitesimally small robots bestowing upon them near super-human abilities as they picked their way through a web of conspiracy and intrigue in a world of clean lines and dark tales.

The latest release in the series (which has been eight years in the making) is Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The conspiracies are still there, of course, but things are really very different.

Human Revolution actually serves as a prequel to the first two games. Set twenty-five years before the events of the original, the first major difference players will encounter is the fact that in this world, nanotechnology is still an emergent idea.

Body modifications, the staple of the series, are still available though. They are, however, somewhat more mechanical, giving the game a slightly odd feeling. The word cyberpunk gets bandied about a lot when it comes to Deus Ex, but for HR I don't think it really fits.

The sanitary, clean lines of the future are yet to come; Human Revolution sees the player thrust into a confused world that isn't entirely sure which path it will take. Augmented bodies are still relatively rare and the populace are yet to decide whether those who choose to modify themselves will be accepted or spurned. It's quite a heavy subject for a game to take on – I'm intrigued to see how they'll tackle it.

I recently got to have a look at a level from the current build of the game while visiting the developers studio and two words spring immediately to mind: ambitious and interesting. Set a few hours into the game, the main protagonist – Adam Jensen – is embarking on a one-man assault of a federal building.

Before attempting to get in, he meets with a couple of gang members who pass on some information of the comings and goings that have been happening recently in the building, as well as providing a handy place to pick up a few new weapons and stocks of ammunition.

Human Revolution's Art Director Jonathan Jacques-Belletete was at the controls and proceeded to show off the outside of our target. The game encourages you to tackle a problem in whatever way you wish, though a full-on attack through the front door of a building packed out with heavily armed soldiers would be ill-advised.

Thankfully a handy ladder was available to sneak up and access was gained. Unfortunately the area I needed to reach was in the basement of the building so this was going to require some patience.

Jonathan worked his way down the floors of the building, sneaking from cover to cover and quietly taking out only those enemies deemed entirely necessary. Human Revolution encourages you to play how you want to, so if you don't want to kill anyone you simply don't have to – through judicious use of a tranquilliser gun, Jonathan humanely despatched a few enemies while avoiding others thanks to the augmentations he had applied.

Those I saw included cloaking (excellent for sneaking past people, but only for a limited period), power jumps, sound dampening (used impressively when walking on top of a Portakabin containing a sleeping guard) and best of all, the classic X-ray vision!

You can also 'mark' all enemies in your location so you know where they are even if they're not visible, so keeping track and knowing when to make your move is simple.

Naturally (and thankfully), this could not go entirely smoothly. Near the end of the demonstration, I came across a group of guards accompanied by a rather large robot who seemed a bit more alert than those I'd met previously.

One ambitious move too many and our hero was spotted, meaning that escape was necessary and the enemies had to be dealt with in a more deadly fashion. There was a huge area to explore with many sub-areas to skulk around in (still using the augmentations when available) as one-by-one the guards were taken down using a decent variety of weapons. The sniper rifle looks to be the most fun of the bunch I saw. Aiming and firing seemed easy enough, though I was told that the dev team are still fine-tuning it.

Despite the fact that Deus Ex Human Revolution is still pretty much four months away from release, it's looking very good. The level demonstrated was solid and presented the player with a wide range of opportunities and choices – exactly what the developers say they're going for.

This looks to be a true sandbox game, from what we were shown at least. A game for the future, one that allows you to approach a problem and deal with it how you see fit in a world not too far removed from our own.