Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Preview @ PC Gamer

PC Gamer has a preview of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which offers a few personal observations:

Almost everywhere you fight is a multi-layered space: there’s always some vertical variation, whether it’s stairs or a sheer drop. The open areas are littered with things to hide behind: tables, cabinets, and our eternal friend the crate. And your enemies roam that space with admirable moxy.
There don’t seem to be set patrol routes to learn, the AI guards explore of their own accord and often vary their behaviour – particularly once they’re alerted. Every time I died and restarted a section, the guards moved through the space in a different pattern.
Right now, though, guards sometimes behave stupidly under pressure. One failed to kill me as I blundered past him and through the door he was facing, closing it behind me to delay him. As soon as it shut, he blurted “Where did he go?” The cupboard, dude, you just watched me shut myself in the cupboard.
It’s too soon to call, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these behavioural anomalies were still around in the finished game. I wouldn’t mind. I’d rather have experimental AI that can surprise me in good ways and bad than AI that doesn’t surprise at all.

More information.

When I was reading this preview I had a sense of déjà vu.
Now I know why, the same author have already written a preview:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/02/03/de…irst-hands-on/
I just don't understand how can they do a preview of a PC game using a Xbox version. Something goes wrong with this industry.

The game is a console port, that's why.

And yeah, you can still be a creep and go in the ladies's room!

Originally Posted by azarhal
The game is a console port, that's why.

Sadly true.

I keep throwing money at the PC-only developers out there, hoping to keep them afloat. Someone has to send the message that PC gamers don't appreciate being treated as second class.

On the bright side, I tend to pick up the cheap console ports on Steam relatively cheap during one of their big sales. I won't pay full price for a console ported game unless it offers extensive modding opportunities, such as the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series. At least with those, I feel like I'm getting my PC gaming money's worth out of them.

As for Deus Ex, I'm still very skeptical. I'm not very excited about it, but I will wait and see. The AI issues remind me a bit of Alpha Protocol. I didn't mind them (I enjoyed AP), but a lot of people slammed AP for poor enemy AI. I'd will be interesting to see if Deus Ex gets the same treatment if the AI ends up making similar mistakes.

I keep throwing money at the PC-only developers out there, hoping to keep them afloat.

Exactly, if it's a console based game I don't even bother playing it for 6 months or more. There's no way I would support a publisher who is undermining the gaming industry, with a purchase before then.

Originally Posted by azarhal
The game is a console port, that's why.

Not only that, but it's an outsourced console port as well.

Still trying to stay optimistic, but I'm not going to run out and buy this on day 1 just because it says Deus Ex on the box.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Not only that, but it's an outsourced console port as well.

Still trying to stay optimistic, but I'm not going to run out and buy this on day 1 just because it says Deus Ex on the box.

ME1 was an outsourced console port and it was rather good. I actually find that port better then ME2, which was done in house.

The fact that the PC version isn't ready for "public" consumption is the scary part…

But I'm pre-ordering, the last gameplay video convinced me to give it a try (+ the music, Jensen's voice, the general look of the game, the Ghost in the Shell vibe, helping a local studio with their first game and the totally lack of Cyberpunk games out there). I can still cancel it, if we get news that the PC version is crap before August.

Also, we might get a demo of the game, Edios Montréal studio director talked about it in a blog in French.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Still trying to stay optimistic, but I'm not going to run out and buy this on day 1 just because it says Deus Ex on the box.

Aww, how dare you not obey their marketing plan!

ME1 porting > ME2 porting, certainly. Outsourced porting doesn't automatically mean bad porting.

It's not a console port, afaik. They're developing the game on multiple platforms simultaneously. The PC development is outsourced, though.

Originally Posted by Maylander
ME1 porting > ME2 porting, certainly. Outsourced porting doesn't automatically mean bad porting.

Indeed, sometimes outsourcing a port means special attention actually. It really depends.

These guys have been hyping the PC version and talking about honoring the original so much I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. Also it seems like every journalist who's a Deus Ex fan loves the preview builds, so I'm pretty optimistic.

Originally Posted by DoctorNarrative
These guys have been hyping the PC version and talking about honoring the original so much I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. Also it seems like every journalist who's a Deus Ex fan loves the preview builds, so I'm pretty optimistic.

You should go to their forums, specially to the thread with the poll about the highlighting, and read it. Maybe in the end you would feel less optimistic.

Originally Posted by DoctorNarrative
These guys have been hyping the PC version

Would you expect them not to?

Originally Posted by Von Paulus
You should go to their forums, specially to the thread with the poll about the highlighting, and read it. Maybe in the end you would feel less optimistic.

The only thing that the official forum do is prove that people who haven't played the game don't know anything about it and that some trolls are disparately trying to scare people off.

Especially when it come to highlighting, the two people who frequent the forum who were able to see it in person said the same thing Edios said: it's not as bad as in the video and the implementation sound similar to the second most voted option in the poll (require you to look at it and a minimum distance is required before it kick in).

I prefer to believe in what my eyes have seen and not what the other perceive or not.
And I know that any people who disagree with you is a troll.

Well, my expectations are dropping because of the third-person cover system and them not showing a pure stealth-non-violent approach, but I'm still hopeful.