Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Deus Ex: Human Revolution, also known as Deus Ex 3, DE3, or DE:HR, is the third game in the Deus Ex series and a prequel to the game Deus Ex.
Contents
Plot Synopsis
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is set in the year 2027, at a time when human augmentation is beginning to become a common part of society. The game takes place chronologically before the other two games of the series, with Deus Ex taking place in 2052 and Deus Ex: Invisible War taking place in 2072. Unlike the augmentations in the rest of the series which are nano-technological augmentation, the augmentations of Human Revolution are mechanical in nature.
The player assumes the role of Adam Jensen, who is at Sarif Industries' Detroit headquarters preparing security measures for the corporation's upcoming National Science Board hearing on augmentation technology regulation. Megan Reed, Adam's ex-girlfriend, is preparing to announce a revolutionary discovery that will allow augmentation without reliance on costly anti-rejection drugs, but it is clear from the conversation that Megan does not wish to tell Adam how this discovery was made. As Adam meets with CEO David Sarif, the labs are attacked by a black ops group led by augmented mercenaries who kill Megan and dismember Adam before shooting him in the head, as well as killing and incinerating the staff of the laboratory. David has Adam augmented, replacing his limbs and heavily modifying his body with the best military-grade augmentations Sarif has to offer in order to save his life.
The player resumes control of Jensen as he is called back to Sarif to deal with a hostage situation in a Sarif manufacturing plant, which has apparently been attacked by the terrorist anti-augmentation group Purity First. David Sarif suspects that the group is seeking the prototype for the Typhoon Explosive System, which is an experimental Sarif augmentation for military use. Adam encounters an augmented hacker from Purity First trying to steal the Typhoon prototype, but upon seeing Jensen, the hacker is seemingly remotely forced to shoot himself in the head while pleading with Adam to save him. Adam's mission culminates in a confrontation with Purity First leader Zeke Sanders, who seems to know nothing about the augmented hacker and implies that Purity First may be unknowingly controlled by a third party. Later, David Sarif tells Adam that the police reports have omitted any reference to the augmented hacker, leading both men to believe that this third party may be attempting to cover up evidence of their infiltration.
David asks Adam to go to the Detroit Police Department's morgue and recover the body of the hacker to see if the neural implants yield any evidence. It becomes clear through evidence at the police station that a government official by the name of Joseph Manderley (later a major character in the series as head of UNATCO) has covered up key pieces of evidence. Adam brings the neural hub to Sarif cyber-security head Francis Pritchard, who discovers the implant was being used to control the hacker as a "human proxy". The signal being broadcast to the neural hub is tracked to a factory complex which David sends Adam to investigate. The facility is under control of the mercenaries who attacked the Sarif factory, and Adam discovers a massive secret internment camp being run by FEMA before being confronted by one of the augmented mercenaries by the name of Lawrence Barrett. Adam interrogates Barrett and learns that FEMA is not the main source of the attacks on Sarif and is given an address in Hengsha Island in China before Barrett attempts to kill Adam by detonating explosives on his person.
When Jensen arrives in Hengsha, the address is revealed to be an apartment building under a lockdown by Belltower Associates, a private military corporation that has become the resident police force in Hengsha. Upon further investigation in the apartment building, Adam discovers that the man Belltower is searching for was the man controlling the human proxy, a hacker by the name of Arie van Bruggen (though he is known as "Windmill"). Communications on his computer lead Adam to a local Triad boss named Tong Si Hung, who owns a popular nightclub named The Hive. Tong gives Adam Windmill's location, and when Adam confronts him, it is revealed that the CEO of Tai Yong Medical (a major Sarif Industries competitor), Zhao Yun Ru, hired van Bruggen. However, van Bruggen was aware that Zhao had also instructed Belltower to kill him after the failure at the Detroit plant and he has gone into hiding while leaving what he calls an "insurance policy" on the mainframe at the TYM headquarters. Adam makes his way to the center of the Tai Yong headquarters and recovers the data, which consists of a recording in which the CEO of TYM, Zhao, reveals that the scientists from Sarif's lab, including Megan, had their tracking implants removed but are still in fact alive. There is also an implication that the celebrity news anchor of the popular news network Picus is involved, and Adam goes to confront Zhao in the TYM penthouse. Zhao flees to a panic room and Adam is forced to escape from Belltower forces and instead makes his way to the Picus headquarters to confront Eliza Cassan, the lead anchor.
The entirety of Picus' headquarters is empty, but mercenaries storm the building and Adam is forced deeper into the building. Adam eventually finds that Eliza is not in fact a person at all but an artificial intelligence with the purpose of manipulating public opinion by leading Picus to become the world's main news network. Eliza has, however, gained a degree of self-awareness, and while she is speaking to Adam, another of the augmented mercenaries named Yelena Fedorova attacks. Adam defeats Fedorova and Eliza informs him that the person who removed the implants is Dr. Isaias Sandoval, the aide of William Taggart, the leader of the peaceful anti-augmentation organization Humanity Front.
Adam returns to Detroit where William Taggart is to give a speech. During a meeting with Sarif, he tells Adam that recent events are consistent with the motives of the Illuminati, a major behind-the-scenes group throughout the Deus Ex series. Adam confronts Taggart, but learns that Taggart did not know that Dr. Sandoval was involved with the attack on Sarif, as well as the fact that Sandoval is the brother of the leader of Purity First, Zeke Sander. Taggart tells Adam to go to Sandoval's apartment, where he finds a bunker filled with members of Purity First that link Sandoval to the terrorist group. Upon confronting Sandoval, Adam learns that Sandoval knows of Adam's conversation with Taggart and is planning to commit suicide because his career is over and he will likely face jail. Adam has the option of talking him down, though this is not required.
At this point, Adam has been periodically suffering "hiccups" and glitches in his augments, as have many augmented individuals worldwide. A press release states that this is a defect and that all individuals should report to a LIMB clinic (the augmentation medical centers) to have their biochips upgraded and correct the defect. The player is given the option of whether or not to accept the upgrade.
Adam learns from Francis Pritchard that one of the implants has been tracked to Hengsha. He is ambushed en route by Belltower, which is revealed to be on a manhunt for him. At this point, Adam's close friend and the pilot, can be killed if the player does not act fast enough to combat Belltower forces. Eventually Adam finds that the tracking signal leads him to Tong Si Hung, the Triad boss. It is revealed that the tracking chip is in Tong's arm, which was salvaged from the corpse of the Sarif scientist Vasili Sevchenko, whose body was sold to Tong's gang by Belltower. As Tong dislikes Belltower as much as Adam himself, he points Adam to a Belltower ship and gives him a bomb to place in the port authority there. Before Adam stows away in the Belltower ship, he learns that the distraction was actually to allow Tong's son Tracer (later an important character in Deus Ex) to escape Hengsha.
Adam finds himself in a biotechnology research complex in Singapore where the Sarif scientists are being held and forced to work. Adam disables a security system to allow the scientists to escape, and rescues Megan, who it is revealed was not killed in the facility. It is revealed to Adam that the scientists are being forced to work for the Illuminati to design a kill switch for all augmented individuals worldwide in order to negate any threat to the Illuminati. Adam confronts Zhao with this information, who attempts to disable his implants with a device. If the player chose to upgrade their biochip, the resulting battle between Adam and the final mercenary Jaron Namir is made much more difficult as his implants are rendered useless. Upon defeating Namir, Adam meets up with Megan who reveals the facility is owned by Nobel Prize winner and "father of augmentation" Hugh Darrow, who is currently involved with the massive iron-seeding geoengineering project Panchaea in the Arctic that seeks to stop global warming. Megan also reluctantly reveals what she was so hesitant to tell Adam at the onset of the story: that the "Patient X" and source of her discovery was Adam himself, and that the testing was performed without his consent.
During this conversation Hugh Darrow, giving a press conference from Panchaea, activates a control signal that causes all individuals with the biochip upgrade to become violently insane and brutalize people at random. If the player has chosen to get the upgrade, Megan is able to block the signal and allow Adam to confront Darrow. Darrow tells Adam that he envisioned his inventions would be a way to elevate the less fortunate from poverty, but humanity has unsurprisingly turned it into yet another tool to allow the rich to control the weak. Adam also learns that Darrow, who is crippled, is actually unable to be augmented because of a rare disorder. Darrow tells Adam he has done this in an attempt to get humanity to fear augmentation and ban it outright, and Adam is given a chance to attempt to convince Hugh that he has made a mistake.
Regardless of the outcome of the conversation, Adam shuts down the signal but encounters both David Sarif and William Taggart on the way as they had both arrived for the conference. Both propose to Adam a solution to the problem, with Sarif suggesting that Adam blame Humanity Front for the attack and Taggart suggesting that Adam blame the events on tainted anti-rejection drugs. At the core of Panchaea, Adam finds Zhao connected to the Hyron Project, a huge quantum supercomputer. Adam fights and kills Zhao, and upon reaching the broadcast center of Panchaea, is contacted by Eliza Cassan who explains to him what options he now has.
The player is then given four choices. Adam can broadcast Darrow's confession to Adam about the Illuminati and augmentation technology, which Cassan assures him would ban augmentation forever. Alternately, he can listen to Sarif and blame Humanity Front for the attack and assure that augmentation technology is accepted and anti-augmentation groups are marginalized, or he can follow Taggart's suggestion and blame tainted drugs to ensure tight government regulation on augmentation. Adam's final choice is to detonate the facility, killing himself, Sarif, Taggart, Darrow, and everyone else present to make sure that there is no way for the story to be spun by anyone. Regardless of his choices, the story from the later games confirms that augmentation becomes more and more commonplace.
Additionally, a following scene shows Illuminati members discussing Megan Reed's work on a nanite virus for them, which ends up being a main plotline in the events of Deus Ex. Additionally, a following scene heavily implies that Adam's body has been recovered and will be used in "The D Project", the cloning program that eventually creates the protagonist of Deus Ex.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a mix of third and first-person stealth and tactical shooting.
Adam Jensen's augments comprise a large portion of the customizable nature of the gameplay, as the player is able to vastly change the capabilities of the character by selecting certain augments as the game progresses. Adam's augments, according to David, have not yet fully been integrated into his body and naturally activated, so as Adam gains experience through completing quests and defeating enemies, he gains Praxis points which he can use to "activate" certain augments. For example, Adam's dermal layer can be upgraded with an optical camouflage system to allow him to cloak, or he can activate a neural implant that allows him to perceive subtle body language signs and manipulate individuals better during the game's conversational sequences.
The player can choose to play the game in a variety of different ways, either lethal or nonlethal, and via stealth or brute force. Each objective can usually be accomplished through many different methods or paths, and side missions allow the player to gain advantages or learn more about the story as Adam progresses through the main story line. Certain pathways or options may require the player to have activated or further upgraded a certain augment, such as the Hacking ability to bypass security systems or locked doors.
Morality and Major Themes
The three major themes that dominate the storyline of Human Revolution are the dilemma of human augmentation, the concept of "truth", and Adam's own internal struggle to accept or reject what he feels he has become as a product of his augmentation.
Adam's Augmentation
A phrase Adam utters becomes an informal slogan for the game: "I didn't ask for this." Adam is forced to undergo an excruciatingly painful surgery in which the majority of his body is replaced with augmentations, permanently scarring him and leaving him immediately recognizable to any onlooker as an "aug", for which he is often stigmatized. Adam wears a long black trenchcoat at all times in public and sunglasses to hide this, but through subtle details in the game it becomes clear that Adam is emotionally scarred. For example, if the player enters Adam's bathroom in his apartment, he sees that the mirror has been punched into the wall and a post-it note on it reminds him to ask management for another mirror "again", implying that Adam has repeatedly hit it out of rage when seeing his reflection. In addition, Adam converses with many of his co-workers who try to mask their obvious shock when seeing him, having presumed him dead but now see him reincarnated as something less than human. He is frequently referred to by opponents and harassers as "Sarif's attack dog", implying that he was resurrected for the purpose of carrying out David's orders.
As a part of Adam's internal struggle, the player is faced constantly with the choice to embrace Adam's abilities as a military-grade augmented killer or to attempt to remain "morally neutral". With the exception of 4 instances (the boss fights with mercenaries and Zhao), Adam is never forced to kill another living thing. Adam can quietly subdue foes or employ nonlethal weapons such as stun pistols and tranquilizer rifles, and the game actually provides far greater rewards to players who choose not to kill as often as possible. In addition, many side missions offer the player money and Praxis points, though they are often lengthy and it is wholly unnecessary to help. Furthermore, the constant conversation sections of the game allow the player to make very different and story-changing choices when speaking to other characters. For example, when Adam meets Megan Reed's mother, who believes Megan to be dead, Adam can choose to coldly explain that Megan was killed and her body burned, say he doesn't know what happened, or promise her mother that it was quick and that she didn't suffer. More importantly, however, in the hostage situation at the Detroit facility, for example, Adam's choices lead to either Zeke Sander, the hostage, or both being killed or escaping. These choices have a lingering effect on the dialogue throughout the story.
Augmentation vs. Non-Augmentation
The other theme is one that is prominent throughout the entire Deus Ex series, though most prominently in Human Revolution. As augmentation begins to enter the everyday life of society, human society becomes stratified into "pro-aug" and "anti-aug" groups. Humanity Front and their terrorist analogue Purity First represent the anti-augmentation sentiment that believes humanity to be sacred and augmentation as a desecration of what makes us human. Pro-augmentation groups like Sarif Industries and other medical giants believe augmentation to be the future of humanity.
The problem is complicated both by the staggering cost of augmentations and the resulting chemical dependence of augmented humans on the anti-rejection drug Neuropozine. The average citizen cannot hope to afford large-scale augmentation, but through eavesdropping and newspapers, the player begins to understand that there is a growing barrier in society for non-augmented individuals who wish to enter the higher echelons of the workforce, with many feeling pressured to receive neural augmentation. Unfortunately, as Neuropozine is very expensive and shortages are common at the time Human Revolution takes place, augmentation becomes a dangerous choice for those without money. Neuropozine withdrawal causes augmentation rejection and death, so an augmented individual is forced to depend on Neuropozine for the rest of their life and it has become a major black market drug. In addition, some companies give their lower-level manual labor employees augmentations which then shackles them to the company as a matter of life and death, as they must continue their employment to be able to afford Neuropozine.
In addition, the "father of augmentation" Hugh Darrow expresses concern that while he intended augmentation to equalize society, it has in fact become another tool of oppression. While Sarif commercials feature a father playing with his kids in the park again courtesy of augmentations, and stories of war veterans that can walk again, the military uses augmentations to inspire fear into others and as Jensen discovers, the Illuminati plans to keep all augmented individuals on a leash with the kill switch. The general trend seems to be that the rich members of society can afford to improve themselves intellectually and physically while the lower echelons remain poor and now are barred from many jobs that require augmentation.
Manipulation of the Truth
Adam is given many chances throughout the story to make choices based around the concept of authenticity. When the player knows a character is lying, they can chose to let it go, or confront them, and in many situations are given the chance to lie, blackmail, threaten, or harm other characters for personal gain.
