Let me talk, Damn it!

I tried really hard to play Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It's a very well made game and their are a few things that I like about. The choice you have is it's biggest bullet point and it makes good on that. So why does it feel like I have no choice?

FLEETING OPTIONS.

I am not going to claim I am a Deus Ex expert. I never had the opportunity to play the original when it was released. It's one of those games that is loved to an undying degree, kind of like how fans of Final Fantasy sings nonstop praises to Final Fantasy VII. I don't get it and if they like it, what am I to do? Nothing.

When Deus Ex: Human Revolution was announced fans of the original game started to get worried. Can it live up to the original without being like Deus Ex: Invisible War? I can't say. What I do know is that there is a lot to like and a lot to hate. Out of everything this game has to offer there is something that just makes me wish it had more of. Talking. This is a Stealth/Action game. As a Stealth game, it's pretty damn good. It's the first FPS game that does stealth right, in my opinion. As an action game, it's all right. You don't get enough ammo and it's very easy to die. When you have plenty of ammo and you have to use force, it's pretty awesome. OK, You don't HAVE to use force. The option is still there. When I played the game I try to sneak my way through everything trying to avoid a fight whenever I can. I knock out guards and drag them into a room or in a vent that I have found. It's all fun. That is until I lost interest. I don't know if it's because I don't care about Adam Jensen, Sarif Industries, or the story itself. The more I try to play it, the more I don't care about it. Then I realized something, what made the first couple of hours amazing was the conversations.

Talking is more engaging than anything else in the game

A NEW STANDARD ON WHICH TO TALK TO PEOPLE

I really like how Dialog is handled in this game. You have several choice and try to use what they said and what they are feeling against them. I had to talk to a bartender to try to find someone. After pressuring him a bit he finally told me what I needed to know. I didn't sneak around, I didn't go into a gun battle. I did nothing but talking to the bartender and that was far more rewarding than just simply walking past guards. I used my brain more in the conversations than I did with sneaking and shooting. It would have been amazing where you can talk your way into everything. Will you tell the truth or will you allow your contacts to help you. Instead of sneaking around, have your tech partner hack into the systems and just add your name in. If I can hack into top secret files easily, why can't he?

I only did this once in the time I played the game

Instead what we got was a Stealth/Action game. In a game where choice is king, it's such a shame we can only pick two options; Stealth and Action. If it was up to me I think adding that conversational gameplay is also included. Just not when the game feels like it. Do we go in guns blazing? Do we go in sneaking past guards? Do we just walk up to someone and talk our way past the checkpoints? The choice is up to you on how to tackle each room. Three options. Three ways to play the game.

CHOICE, CHOICE, CHOICE

Even if the talking fails, you still have two more options at your disposal. Talking failed? Fine, let me find a way in. Stealth failed? Fine, let me hide and/or fight my way out. But as it stands. I get seen, I die. End of story. The End. It reminds me of Splinter Cell. You mess up too many times and it's game over. In Metal Gear Solid if you are seen you are pretty much screwed, but at least there is a chance to escape. In neither Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Splinter Cell that chance is gone. It's all trail and error.

I did do a lot of this.

Does that mean the game is terrible? No, it does not. It's an amazing game that I can't get into. It's kind of a contradiction for me to be saying this. How can I not like a game, even though it's well made? It remind me of Demon's Souls. Another well made game that I can't get into. No matter how hard I try. Ten minutes into the part I'm at, I can't get into it and it all starts feeling like a chore. I can see why people like it and it deserves the praise it gets, but it's just not for me.