deus ex

I have been tempted several times to rant a little more about Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but I’ve usually been able to let it go and move on. This last bit of news has provided a bit too much temptation though.

“We knew that it would be a weakness for the game, that we had to make a compromise to deliver it [on] two levels. First, the boss fights were forced, which is not the Deus Ex experience. Second, there is no mix [of] solutions to tackle the boss fights, which is not Deus Ex either.

“We knew that before the release of the game, but there had to be some compromise. It [was] our decision.”

If you know that a part of your game is not up to par. If it is a part of the game that’s not integral. Why not cut it? Especially when it becomes a road block to finishing the game. I understand not being able to take more time, that takes money which they probably didn’t have. But surely they could’ve designed around it. Replaced the boss fights with a cut-scene or quicktime event. It couldn’t possibly have caused them more grief than the boss fights have.

One side note, since I’m venting about this anyway. I’ve read a few reviews and comments that question why it’s such a big deal, since the boss fights were such a small part of the game. The problem with that reasoning is that the fights are unskippable. So if you’re like me and get frustrated on the very first one, then you’re done. For me, DX:HR was a five hour game. Plus, if the first fight is that irritating, why would I want to try and plow through it when I know that after getting deeper into the story there’s another roadblock waiting for me, and likely several more after that.

I know, I said I was giving up on the game, but Rock, Paper, Shotgun posted about a mod that allows all kinds of cheating. I don’t actually want to cheat, but the boss battles feel so out of place in the game. It really comes down to cheat past this block, or not play the game at all.

My plan is to use the debug mode to bypass the boss battles, but that’s it. I may even go as far as disabling the mod after each boss battle is over so I’m not tempted to cheat. I’m thinking of it as editing Eidos’ rough draft.

I never played the original game or the sequel, and I wasn’t following DX:HR any more closely than to be aware it was in development and planned for release this year. When it came out and was getting rave reviews from the press and more importantly from internet friends, I decided to buy it through Steam.

About five hours into the game and I’ve stalled out.

Why?

Initially, I thought it was going to love this game. With the strong story, hacking mini-games, and shooter combat, I was getting a strong Mass Effect vibe. But I switched to playing a few other games over the weekend and haven’t had any burning desire to go back. That usually means I’m done with the game. I have an awful track record for picking up games again and doing more than dabbling.

So what happened? Why did DX:HR fizzle when ME has kept me enthralled enough to play two games to completion?

Characters. ME 1 and 2 are not just the story of Sheppard. It’s the story of his crew and teammates. Were it not for Sheppard’s interactions with Tali, Miranda, Mordin, Wrex, and the rest, I don’t think I would’ve finished either game. DX:HR has none of that. Jensen is a loner with only minimal contact with others via comms and some face to face with his helicopter pilot.

I wrote the above during lunch Monday and then that night decided to give it another shot. I had apparently nearly gotten to the first boss battle in the game, which should explain why my playtime on Monday was sixteen minutes. After ten minutes of running in, skipping the cutscene (I did watch it the first time), and then getting plugged full of lead, I quit. It was not fun. It’s pretty disappointing to me to leave yet another game unfinished, but I have too many other demands on my time to play something I’m not enjoying.

Who on earth thought it would be a good idea to put a boss battle in which you fight a heavily armored maniac with an automatic rifle in a game that’s all about stealth and cover? I really, really hate it when a game switches gears like that. If the first five hours of a game are training you to play carefully and stealthily, you don’t then drop the player into a sealed room with scant cover and your enemy standing ten feet away and perfectly aware of you.

Anyway, I quit in frustration and went and played some nice relaxing Star Trek Online instead. Klingons made an excellent target for my frustration.

After getting a good night’s sleep, I was thinking about trying again and just bumping the difficulty down a notch (I’ve been playing on the middle/normal setting). But after reading Jon’s experiences with the game at howtomurdertime.com, I don’t think I’ll bother.