The Verdict
The whole Deus Ex: Human Revolution experience is evocative — not emulative — of the original Deus Ex released in 2000. That’s probably a good thing in the end, because video games have advanced to a point that many of the tropes that defined the original Deus Ex have become dated and would be unforgivable in the current video game era. We take for granted things like the game automatically saving your content, but those kinds of features weren’t around a short decade ago.
Gaming has evolved. And Human Revolution is about as good as it comes in terms of a natural evolution for an old franchise. While I never feel like I’m playing the old Deus Ex, I feel the same joy I felt when I was 15 and playing a genuinely good PC game for the first time. Other reviewers seem to agree, given that the game has a score of 89 out of 100 across 31 reviews on review aggregator site Metacritic.
It’s an even more surreal experience, given that Deus Ex and the PC was my first taste of a brand new piece of technology that would come to define gaming in my life. OnLive evoked that same feeling when I spent my time with it. I felt the same anger with my new computer that I did with OnLive — an oddly zen comparison that felt more nostalgic than frustrating.
Perhaps it means that OnLive will eventually come to define the next generation of gaming. But for the time being, OnLive was more than a good enough host for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. And Human Revolution was more than good enough: it’s a phenomenal evolution for a franchise for which, at one point, I hoped would never experience a sequel.
Final Score
Deus Ex: Human Revolution — 95 out of 100
OnLive on Deus Ex: Human Revolution — 90 out of 100