GB Feature: Deus Ex: Human Revolution Preview

After getting sidetracked with a week-long trip to Florida, I’ve finally found the time to publish a six-page, hands-on preview of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I typically make an effort to go over all of the game’s mechanics in my previews and let you decide if it’s for you, and I think you’ll find that this article is no different. A sampling from the hacking section:

Before you can even begin a hacking attempt, Adam must meet the security level requirement of the keypad or computer he’s trying to hack into. The devices I approached during the demo ranged from security level 1 through security level 4, though it wouldn’t surprise me if the security levels go even higher later in the game. As far as I could tell, Adam’s hacking proficiency relies almost entirely on the Hacking: Capture augmentation that’s found within the cerebral category. Within this line, you can choose from the Capture 1/2/3/4/5, Robot Domination, Turret Domination, and Camera Domination upgrades. As long as you meet the minimum security level requirement, you will always get four hacking attempts per device (though you can save at any time in the game, so I suppose this point is moot).

When you begin a hacking attempt, you’ll see the schematic of a network with several different “nodes” linked to one another. You begin the minigame at the “IO Port” node and can then jump to any other linked node with the ultimate goal of reaching and capturing any and all “Registry” nodes within the network. Along the way, you’ll be hopping to “Directory” nodes, uni-directional and bi-directional “Bridge” nodes, “Function” nodes, and “Datastore” nodes. Each time you make a jump to a new node, there’s a chance that the network’s security will detect your presence and issue a tracing alert to lock you out. The base chance of making a jump without being detected is around 60% (based on its difficulty rating), and that number increases as you gain access to the Capture 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 upgrades below the Hacking: Capture augmentation. If a tracing alert is issued, you’ll have approximately 30 seconds to finish capturing all of the “Registry” nodes before you’re locked out of the system.

But what about those other nodes I mentioned? The “Directory” nodes are empty, and only serve as something of a landing pad for you to reach a more desirable node. The “Function” node can serve a few purposes – you can “soften” an adjacent node to reduce its difficulty rating by one point, “transfer” two points of difficulty rating between nodes, or execute a “clearance” that reduces all datastore difficulty ratings by two points. Secure a “Datastore” node and you can earn yourself credits, experience, Stop! Worms, or Nuke Viruses. I never actually had a chance to try out a Stop! Worm or Nuke Virus, but my understanding is that they can be used to more easily take nodes and slow down the speed of a tracing alert. As long as you successfully finish the hack after capturing a datastore, you’ll retain any of the items you gained from it. You’ll also earn experience – a low level hack earned me a “Script Kiddie” bonus of 25 experience points, and I suspect that number increases with the security level of the device.