Deus Ex (2000) / Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Comparison [SPOILER FREE]

Haha yes there are some redeeming factors after all!

It’s not a bad game by any means, but from the name it bears you would expect something more. I’ll try to better explain this line of reasoning without being too prolix in the next key paragraphs…

The Gameplay

Is way too simplistic. The original Deus Ex from the late 2000 (which I will call DX2000 from this point onwards since I will mention it a lot) had an interesting and complex level design, some truly fine blank canvases in the sense that you were free to explore and tackle these scenarios however you pleased. Often the choices to do so were numerous, and the consequences for your actions were various as well.

In Deus Ex: Human Revolution however, the linearity is mind-bogglingly monotonous. It can be summarised very easily:
you want the combat route? Shoot everyone down while helping yourself with uncalled for cinematic covers (walls, boxes, etc.), Gears of War style.
Stealth route? Rest assured there will ALWAYS be vents for you to crawl into.

This is all the more apparent in the dialogue choices, which don’t feel as interactive and don’t have the same amount of subtle implications. They’re blatant “aggressive / diplomatic” routes
(with the exception of a certain augmentation that expands on these, albeit this mechanism is still hindered by the cheesy writing).

On a side note, the original was famous for letting you play however you pleased. Here however you get actively punished if you choose the combat route, getting way less EXP points.

Even the augmentations don’t feel that much of a serious choice anymore, since it’s just a skill tree from which you can almost get everything within it in a single playthrough, making every player end up with pretty much the same character in each and every playthrough

(whereas in DX2000 the protagonist you ended up with were very different from one another considering the different choices you could take in the story, in your appearance, in skills’ mastering, arsenal and last but not least, augmentations: you actually needed to scavenge for augs canisters, which was also undeniably more rewarding compared to a shallow EXP system).

Perhaps this is arguable, but another issue with said powers is that they didn’t make me feel like a Terminator like DX2000 managed to, not just because I felt like “I didn’t deserve them”, but because they aren’t as fun.
In the original, you could run very fast and make ridiculously big jumps, whereas here there are a few interesting ones but they’re either circumstantial or essential – characteristics that ultimately don’t account for a simple thing… Being fun.

Ok I’ll stop this now, this is getting out of hand

The Plot / Writing

Is highly forgettable. It’s just your average movie-like experience — which is serviceable, don’t get me wrong — but it’s not as inventive and philosophically inspiring as DX2000.

The Voice Acting

Is… Debatable. The main protagonist, Adam Jensen, is a stereotyped saturnine cop with the charisma of a dry piece of paper at first… Then you start to accept his way of talking and don’t mind it; hell, some may even like it despite how pompous it sounds. The other characters on the other hand are generally fine, despite their intonation and recitation being way too generic.

The Soundtrack

Is, again, not too memorable. Sometimes it even goes into what I like to call “orchestral music valley”, mother of uninspiredness. It does recycle the UNATCO theme from the original however, as if the game wanted to remind the player “hey, you’re still playing Deus Ex! This isn’t your mediocre AAA action title, o-ok?”

The Bugs

I saw flying corpses and way too many T poses for a game that could’ve been patched a lot of time ago.

Notice those GPS signals and how hideous they look. Thankfully you can disable them.

The Hacker Puzzle

This is one of the few redeeming points of this title, in my humble opinion: hacking devices. It takes something the original already did and it doesn’t ruin it, it doesn’t change it, but it improves upon it — with a simple but nice minigame. Unfortunately, this can’t be said by the majority of what’s into the game… On the long run however, the fact that this one good feature is so prevalent makes you feel a bit nauseated.

The Sidequests

Are also a welcomed addition. Nothing to say about that, if anything, there were too few of them!

TL;DR

Deus Ex: Human Resolution definitely doesn’t hold a candle to Deus Ex (2000), however it’s not as bad as Invisible War, The Fall and Mankind Divided. It’s just very mediocre, even if we ignore the fact that the original set the bar way too high.

If you love the average, casual action game coming up pretty much every year from the big shots of the industry, this is the game for you. However, if you expected more from the name of Deus Ex, this title will probably be a little disappointing – especially after you judge it analytically.

What a shame.