What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

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Hashi
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What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

Post by Hashi »

I'm watching gameplay from this link:

http://au.ign.com/articles/2016/07/18/d ... es-problem

It looks pretty fun, but in a glossy sort of way, as if the world was created in that way to create an impression. Having finished Deus Ex 1 like 15 times, the big thing that strikes me is that the world feels real and lived in, as if you're just one person exploring it, and not a series of maps designed just for you.

Like in the first clip you see the three guards talking when you sneak up behind the crate, and it seems they're only talking to deliver information to you, even though they don't know you're there. Whereas in the first two guards in Liberty Island, when you get near they start talking about Gunther Herman, and it gives information, but feels more real, and doesn't fee like dialogue just put there to convey information. It doesn't feel like exposition. Like with those 3 people, would they naturally talk like that? I don't think so, I think it's only for the player. Whereas those two guards would naturally talk about Gunther Herman, since Gunther has only recently been captured, and it's relevant to them what they're discussing. Like with those three talking, everything seems emphasized, as if to prove a point, and not natural dialogue.

Also the way it says 'suspicious' when you throw something to distract the guards takes me out of the game. I really like the music cue on Deus Ex which told you if the guards had detected you. Far, far better.

What does everyone else think?
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Jonas
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Re: What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

Post by Jonas »

I agree about the game world, but I'm unsure to what extent that was just because it was so rare back when DX1 came out - most games back then, at least the ones I'd played, were very gamey. Half-Life 1 made big progress towards a game world that looked like a real setting, but it was such a far-out place that when Deus Ex came out and took place in streets, apartments, hotel rooms, and offices in addition to high-tech labs and underground bunkers, it felt like a very new and different thing. It's just as you say: it felt like a place that existed, and you just happened to be there, it wasn't all about you.

Now adays I suspect it's a lot harder to impress with that, since so many games have done it by now. The games that really give me an impression of a real place tend to be the open world games like GTA, Assassin's Creed, Sleeping Dogs, Watch Dogs...

What I get from Human Revolution is more about the middle-ground: the half-way point between a world that feels real and yet offers all the challenges, rewards, secrets, and so on that you expect to find in a carefully designed game level. I like what I hear about Mankind Divided emphasising that even more - I'm hoping for a game world with less scope but greater density of content than what's the norm in open-world games, and it sounds like they're delivering.
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kdawg88
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Re: What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

Post by kdawg88 »

EM demonstrated in the previous title a strong grasp of the 'emergent gameplay' model where in each level, and across levels, there is potential for a variety of player choices with meaningful and complex consequences. They executed it very well while balancing it out with a rich, carefully designed game world. This balance is really the key to successful 'emergent gameplay' titles like this, e.g. The Elder Scrolls, Shock, Thief etc.

Based on what I have seen EM have made no major changes to the formula established in the previous game. The title shouldn't be fundamentally different, and I hope to see a more coherent, efficient execution of the same model. I think this will probably be a very good game.

My main qualm with this title and with HR is that the writing won't be as strong as I would like it to be. Although the story of original title in the series is quite scattered and sometimes appears very rushed, I still feel as though it consisted of a strong, outspoken yet sensitive set of socio-political statements. I don't expect the game to be political, I just want it to be well written, but of course the 'tradition' of the series as established by the original title is that the story would present a real moral challenge for the player regarding present day socio-political structures and conventions. Having many different player choices within a coherent, well-designed structure is great but the actual content of the choices - how the virtual world reacts and most importantly how characters react - need to be meaningful in the sense that they actually engage with the player and say something about their life or challenge them, much like a well-written book. What appears to be the focus of this title's story is the debate over what constitutes a human being, specifically with regards to prosthetic limbs and other physical augmentations. I don't deny that this issue has some weight but I feel as though making it the primary issue stands as somewhat of a commercially-informed, politically-neutral sidestep. I find that disappointing.

Is it silly for me to expect a multi million dollar video game project to serve as some vague form of serious socio-political advocacy or critique? Stubbornly I do not think so and I again point to the original title as a fine example as what I would hope for. Of course, I also stand hoping to be surprised by this new title.
Hashi
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Re: What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

Post by Hashi »

Well the game comes out in a month from now, so I guess we''ll find out then!
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Re: What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

Post by JeniSkunk »

My thought on DX4 is that it is a second cold reboot of the DX franchise. DX3 was the first cold reboot of the franchise.

My opinion is based on what I have read or seen of DX3 and DX4 online. I have not played, and will never play DX3 or DX4, as I play single player offline PC games and I buy the physical PC releases of games. DX3 and DX4 are STEAM exclusives on the PC. I have never been, and never will be, assimilated by the STEAM Collective.

The final boss battle of DX3 is against Zhou. Doing this terminates the Hyron Drones which forms the Hyron computer which keeps Panchaea in one piece.
Without the Hyron computer working, the pressure stabilizations which keep Panchaea in one piece would be interrupted. Result: ocean pressure would crush Panchaea like a chicken egg being crushed by a 50 pound mallet.
So since Adam would be crushed to a thin red paste by the ocean pressure itself, and also by the crushing of Panchaea crushing him, DX4 must therefore be a cold reboot.
Problem is that EM are flogging DX4 as a direct sequel to DX3.
Made in China
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Re: What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

Post by Made in China »

It isn't that much of a plot hole. The buttons could be on a timer that allows a timed self destruct sequence - as seen in every movie - to allow the operator to escape.

Anyway, I don't care about Adam Jensen, because the PC was always just a blank slate for the player. I want to learn more about the world and see the rise of Silhouette, the fall of mech-augs (to the state it was in the original Deus Ex) and the building of UNATCO and MJ12. However, as it seems, EM is going to make Mankind Divided more character-driven, and they're trying to imbue Adam Jensen with more personality - and I don't think it's the right course of action when he's supposed to be the conduit for the player.
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JeniSkunk
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Re: What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

Post by JeniSkunk »

Made in China wrote:It isn't that much of a plot hole. The buttons could be on a timer that allows a timed self destruct sequence - as seen in every movie - to allow the operator to escape.
The DX3 denouement button is selected and pressed AFTER Zhou is terminated, which also means that choice is made after the HC is broken.
How long after the HC goes down, it would take for the Panchaea to fail is the unknown.
Anyway, I don't care about Adam Jensen, because the PC was always just a blank slate for the player. I want to learn more about the world and see the rise of Silhouette, the fall of mech-augs (to the state it was in the original Deus Ex) and the building of UNATCO and MJ12. However, as it seems, EM is going to make Mankind Divided more character-driven, and they're trying to imbue Adam Jensen with more personality - and I don't think it's the right course of action when he's supposed to be the conduit for the player.
Don't forget, in DX, JC was also a character with a Past, and players could build from that, so he wasn't a complete blank slate.
Yeah, the world building stuff was part of what made DX so much fun.
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Re: What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

Post by Cybernetic pig »

Meh. I'll get it when it goes down in price. I'm sure it'll be worth a play but nothing special a' la Human Revolution.
Hashi
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Re: What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

Post by Hashi »

Yeah even though I enjoyed Deus Ex 3, I haven't replayed it once. I've finished the first game like 15 times, and even the second game like 2-3 times, but the third game had no replayability for me.
Hashi
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Re: What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

Post by Hashi »

Review:

http://www.pcgamer.com/deus-ex-mankind-divided-review/

The writing is inconsistent throughout, with some fun characters (I enjoyed spending time with the jumpy Lone Gunmenesque editor of an anarchist newspaper), and a lot of forgettable ones—including an antagonist who says “We’re not so different you and I” completely unironically. The use of real-world history to give context to the segregation and prejudice in this world is heavy-handed—from “Augmented Lives Matter” slogans on posters to drinking fountains marked “augs” and “naturals”. It’s like the writers are constantly poking you in the arm and saying “Get it?”

Some of the game’s most dramatic missions are, naturally, found in the main story. But the optional side missions are great too, and in many instances much more interesting. You can skip them, but the bonus XP they yield—which unlocks additional aug-boosting Praxis points—is invaluable. And some of them are essential to learning more about the main story, including one that explains how Jensen ended up with all those experimental augs hidden in his body, and others that give valuable context to a few key events.

Overall the game seems meh.
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kdawg88
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Re: What does everyone think of Deus Ex 4?

Post by kdawg88 »

I was hoping that the reviews would be unanimously good but even with a few negative comments I will probably not buy this straight away. Maybe I'll wait until it's on a discount or something.
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