Deus Ex: Human Revolution Interview

Computer and Video Games has a nicely in-depth interview with lead writer Mary Demarle, art director Jonathan Jacques-Belletete, lead designer Jean Francois Dugas, and audio director Steve Szczepko on the design direction and roots of their upcoming FPS/RPG Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

You’ve said before that Deus Ex didn’t really have a set art style. What did you set out to do with Human Revolution’s look?

Jonathan Jacques Belletete (art director): Our goal with Human Revolution was definitely to give it its own distinctive aesthetic flair. Not only did I want the game to look different and singular from other futuristic games, but also, I planned to steer away from the eighties conception of science fiction that we’ve been circularly perpetuating in our industry.

I find it fascinating that a lot of the futuristic designs in games are aesthetically outdated. I often find myself pondering about this. I get this feeling that the industry has become its own reference. We spend too much time looking at our own reflection in a very tiny mirror.

Anyway, If you take an honest and current look into the different design fields – architectural, industrial, graphic, fashion, and even the plastic arts – you quickly realise that ideas, notions, and conceptions have moved along quite a bit. Consequently, a great number of contemporary designs – real things, that are already built or will be built – look more futuristic than what we have been recycling in futuristic videogames during the past fifteen years.

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What in your estimation were the ingredients which made the original Deus Ex so special?

Jean Francois Dugas (lead designer): Playing Deus Ex back in the day was a unique experience, never seen before. You felt you were part of a fully fleshed-out universe with a variety of characters reacting to your own actions in specific ways. It was about the many possible ways to fulfill your objectives and the way some of your decisions were affecting certain outcomes.

The blend of RPG with an FPS was quite new at the time, letting the players customize their character to fit their playing style. You weren’t forced into a play style by some choices at the beginning of the game like in many RPGs; you could change your vocation on the fly – from stealth to combat and vice versa – as you saw fit.

Even though it wasn’t a perfect game, I think it’s fair to say that it was a special game that helped, along with System Shock 2, redefine how shooters of the next decade would be played.