Interviews// Deus Ex: Human Revolution

SPOnG: Could you elaborate a bit more about this emphasis on social interaction? It was a big part of past Deus Ex games, are you guys adding to that at all?

Jonathan Jacques-Belletęte: Yeah, we've added some stuff to it. I won't get into any details as of how the new mechanics work. But what I can say is that it's definitely an RPG in the sense that when you walk into cities, the crowd isn't just there to generate a crowd.

Every NPC is an actor in the game that will have something to tell you. And a lot of them have tonnes of background information or offer side-quests. There's that element to it, and then you can go deeper with the new social mechanics. It totally perpetuates what the first game did, and adds to it, which is what I think the game designers wanted to do.


SPOnG: What sort of references to past Deus Ex games can we expect to find? Are we going to find a prequel to Jacob's Shadow in there somewhere?

Jonathan Jacques-Belletęte: Haha! Well, there's definitely going to be cameos of all sorts. For example, in the gameplay trailer that we released some fans have started to notice billboards with company names that they recognise like VersaLife.

As far as character cameos go, I guess anything's possible, but you're going to have to play it to see that. Human Revolution is a prequel but it's not a standalone game by any means. It totally fits in the Deus Ex timeline, and it pays its respects to the series.


SPOnG: Speaking of the fans, what was your reaction to the community backlash? There was some uproar to the news that you'd have regenerating health in the game.

Jonathan Jacques-Belletęte: (Laughs) … The same reaction I had just now (Laughs)! No, but I can totally understand when there's something you hold so dearly and it gets updated or handled by others.

It's like Blade Runner, right? I hope that nobody ever remakes that film, or makes a sequel. I think it should stay as it is, because I would be afraid that whoever's doing it would mess up this masterpiece. And there are books that act as a sequel to Blade Runner, and they're great books, but I don't think they should make them into movies.

So I understand the fans' concerns. But I don't think people really understand how complex it is to make a game. The video game industry and video game culture is broad in that a lot of people have ideas and want to put that to gameplay, but actually making a game is more than just “I think it should be this,” or “I think it should be that.”

It doesn't work like that when you work in a team of more than 160 people. There are compromises and ways of getting your ideas heard and put to the team for a start, and then it's about those ideas getting coded and drawn up by programmers and artists. It takes a lot of time.

My point is, that it's so much more than just adding a feature, or making a mechanic an on/off thing. Even so, the idea of whether you should pick up health packs or not isn't really the core of Deus Ex, it can be argued.

There's things the fans say that are important, which we listen to, and there are others that we have to just kind of say “that's the decision we took.”


SPOnG: What do you reckon Warren Spector and Harvey Smith would think of this game? What's your ideal reaction from the guys that created the original Deus Ex? Have they said anything to you guys about it yet?

Jonathan Jacques-Belletęte: Well... maybe (grins). Obviously, I wish that they will like it. I think the coolest thing from Warren would be that he sees that it's a world that has its own soul while having the exact same flavour and feeling of what he did at the same time. That it feels and plays just like Deus Ex 1, and it engrosses you in the same way, but at the same time it's got its own touches.


SPOnG: Thanks a lot for your time!

Jonathan Jacques-Belletęte: Thank you very much!