Rock, Paper, Shotgun

What About Bob? Deus Ex 3 Looks Backwards

By Alec Meer on June 1st, 2011 at 10:06 am.

Thinking about cities on hills, yesterday

There’s a new trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution out – hardly a rare occurrence in and of itself, but this one is especially notable in that seems to have crammed in a few quiet nods to DX1. Until now, DXHR has stood relatively apart from its great forefather, but now all of sudden we hear mention of FEMA and… wait, who’s that sinister-looking chap at 1:24 and 2:09?

The character isn’t named and appears only in the briefest of unacknowledged flashes, but that circuitry on his forehead, that cruel glint in his eye – could it be DX1′s mega-bad, old man Bob Page? (Oh, I will forever love that the key villain in one of the most revered video games of all time is called ‘Bob’). See what you think:

And here’s the rest of the trailer, which is the usual line in DXHR talk of apocalypse, destiny and conspiracy and pounding music forever building to a crescendo which doesn’t come. Only two months to go until our post-millennial-game tension is resolved…

(Thanks, A B).

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103 Comments »

  1. 01/06/2011 at 10:08 Spider Jerusalem says:

    There’s also a preview build out.

    :/

    • 01/06/2011 at 10:53 Thomas says:

      Yeah i saw that, but the leaker is going to be in a lot of trouble, Steam CEG protected binaries have the user information encoded into it as far as i’ve understood, he even left a crashdump which can usually contain information like what user was running the game and so on.

      Looks like Eidos Montreal is playing it cool, and given the way people are reacting to the game, they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, it appears to be a great game, and they’re even allowing some discussion of the leak on their official forums.

      The only way they could play it any cooler than that would be to release it as a demo on Steam :P

    • 01/06/2011 at 11:06 Tyrone Slothrop. says:

      I can’t even begin to inform you fellow ladies and gentlemen how fucking brilliant this game is. I only made a cursory playthrough as to not spoil anything but let’s just say Deus Ex is no longer my favourite game.

    • 01/06/2011 at 11:21 dee says:

      A 12 hour demo would be quite interesting.

    • 01/06/2011 at 11:23 subedii says:

      Not to put too fine a point on it, but being that guy who’s pirating the game two months before release isn’t something you generally express with gleeful pride.

    • 01/06/2011 at 11:29 Rii says:

      @Tyrone: “I only made a cursory playthrough as to not spoil anything ”

      lolwut

    • 01/06/2011 at 12:05 Magnetude says:

      I’ve heard the leaked build is the one sent out to journos (about 10 hours long, bit buggy), which would make it the same one Quintin raved about a while back. I’m rather tempted. My preorder is concrete anyway, so this is more like stealing a demo. You can’t steal a demo, right?

    • 01/06/2011 at 12:12 Thomas says:

      You can’t download a car atleast.

    • 01/06/2011 at 12:13 MD says:

      I’m fine with people having different opinions on the morality of this, but I think it’s pretty obviously not equivalent to piracy. (For all I know it might be in a legal sense, but if so then that’s all.) It’s an illicit extended demo, which is the purpose a lot of people claim as justification for their piracy; but this time there’s no chance of playing through the whole thing and convincing yourself/claiming to others that it “wasn’t good enough to justify a purchase” — if you like it enough to finish the game, you’ve got no option but to buy it. (Or to actually pirate it of course, but that’s a different matter.)

    • 01/06/2011 at 12:21 Magnetude says:

      @Thomas
      YOU WOULDN’T DOWNLOAD A CAR

    • 01/06/2011 at 12:24 MD says:

      “The only way they could play it any cooler than that would be to release it as a demo on Steam :P”

      I know it’s not going to happen, but I wonder if that could actually pay off for them. It’d be a big risk, but if the preview build is as awesome as we’ve been told so far, maybe the burst of publicity (and there would presumably be a lot, given that it’d be a combination of OMG LEAK + publisher responds in risky, unusual and customer friendly way + longest and most comprehensive demo ever, at least for any recent big-budget FPS) would net them enough extra sales to compensate for those who would have bought but changed their minds. You’d think there wouldn’t be too many of the latter who weren’t at risk of doing the same thing after trying a regular demo, assuming they’re planning to release one of those.

    • 01/06/2011 at 13:32 Tyrone Slothrop. says:

      @subedii & Rii

      I’ve pre-ordered the augmented edition months ago, I simply couldn’t resist trying this out, I’ve played nothing that hasn’t been revealed in previews, more to satisfy my impatience and assumptions about the quality of the game. I stopped once I got to the Detroit hub, it was too wonderful to play non-contiguously to the rest of the game. Of course now I’m unfortunately more impatient than ever.

    • 01/06/2011 at 17:07 Bilbo says:

      “You wouldn’t… shoot a policeman! And then steal his helmet! And then go to the toilet in it! And then give the helmet to his widow! And then steal it again!”

    • 01/06/2011 at 17:51 somini says:

      Yes, I played it too. A brilliant game, and almost as important, a really good PC port. The mouse is a bit iffy, but it’s bearable. The graphics are a bit outdated, but this has greyed out options in the config window and in-game, it’s not final. The rest is great. Pausable cutscenes, an option to choose toggle or hold cover, turn the yellow things off, menus that work with the mouse. I think it’s a GOTY candidate.
      And a disclaimer:I pre-ordered the Augmented Edition and won’t cancel it.

    • 01/06/2011 at 19:39 SpakAttack says:

      In Russia, a car download you.

  2. 01/06/2011 at 10:08 Meat Circus says:

    He is Bob, eager for fun. He wears a smile. Everybody run.

  4. 01/06/2011 at 10:20 Wizlah says:

    God, he looks so …. so young.

    He sees the city on the hill.

  5. 01/06/2011 at 10:21 Wizlah says:

    Bonus points for 80s Bill Murray film pun, Alec.

    • 01/06/2011 at 12:56 brulleks says:

      More bonus points for the comment about the 80s Bill Murray film pun, Wizlah.

      Can’t be too many of us here who remember it.

      *Wipes tear from wrinkled old eye*

      Oh, and: Get pills against my orders. Get Pills.

    • 01/06/2011 at 15:05 Berzee says:

      I watched that movie when I was relatively little and I think I even laughed at maybe one part, but I can’t be too sure.

    • 01/06/2011 at 15:29 Frank says:

      Correction: 90s, not really so old. One of my favorites, along with Groundhog Day.

  6. 01/06/2011 at 10:26 Cerzi says:

    “im gonna find em, one way or another”

    *gunfire, explosions*

    “WHO ARE ‘THEY’??”

    *more explosions*

    “YOU ARE A FOOL… you… cannot….. stop them…”

    *kerpoooww*

    “i love you…”

    “THIS ENDS NOW”

    looks like the writing has definitely become a lot more sophisticated since the original.

  7. 01/06/2011 at 10:30 Stick says:

    And speaking of familiar things – isn’t the asian lady at 1:26 wearing a rather distinctive dress?

  8. 01/06/2011 at 10:31 Stijn says:

    It’s probably been there for quite a while, but there’s also mention of VersaLife in the “history of augmentation” on the Sarif Industries website. Good times.

  9. 01/06/2011 at 10:34 Danny says:

    Got some TRON vibes from the music in this video. Not a bad thing of course, it’s a great OST (for a rubbish movie).

  10. 01/06/2011 at 10:52 Solivagant says:

    OLD MEN PLAYING AT RUNNING THE WORLD

  11. 01/06/2011 at 11:04 .backslash says:

    Within tho months?

  12. 01/06/2011 at 11:16 MonkeyMonster says:

    Holy Shitteraroonies!

    Woooooo. Lovely. Hee hee, can’t wait.

  13. 01/06/2011 at 11:18 TooNu says:

    Barret spotted, Namir spotted, Hardesty spotted, and I am guessing the guy with grey hair is Saxon.

  14. 01/06/2011 at 11:25 karthink says:

    Self-enforced DX blackout will not let me watch the trailer. :(

    • 01/06/2011 at 14:59 jon_hill987 says:

      You should. It might make you cancel your pre-order. You might end up regretting buying it if you don’t know what you are getting.

    • 01/06/2011 at 16:02 karthink says:

      1. I haven’t pre-ordered DX:HR. The concept of pre-ordering seems a little weird to me.

      2. I can’t draw conclusions about the quality of the game from the trailer; at best, it can only serve to spoil surprises in the game.

      3. When it comes to buying, I’d base it mostly on an RPS WIT/Verdict.

    • 01/06/2011 at 17:30 Judy says:

      Preordering on a place like Steam still makes sense from a save-yo-money perspective. I’ll “preorder” it on Steam a full day before it launches, to take advantage of the price drop while it exists, and also allow it to download. Then I unlock as soon as it launches.

      Erm, just forgot that RPS is UK based. You gents across the pond get cheaper prices by preordering too, right?

  15. 01/06/2011 at 11:27 Teddy Leach says:

    I love this comment thread. I love you guys *sob* so fucking much.

    MANHUG.

  17. 01/06/2011 at 11:54 Gundrea says:

    No comments on the trailer? Them don’t want us to know…

  18. 01/06/2011 at 11:58 nofing says:

    On the last post about DX3 I said I might cancel my pre-order… yeah, that’s not going to happen.
    I can’t wait for this game!

  19. 01/06/2011 at 12:00 Neuro says:

    Hell and damn yeah. Hopefully the action in game is as good as they depict in the trailer.

  20. 01/06/2011 at 12:14 Xercies says:

    I’m Batm…I mean Adam Jenson

  21. 01/06/2011 at 12:22 Justin Keverne says:

    Crescendo is the rising build up not the climax, clearly you don’t listen to Mr Walker’s excellent Rum Doings. <_<

  22. 01/06/2011 at 12:32 The Colonel says:

    I’m so worried about the regen health/possibly cover system level design. Will definitely be waiting for a WIT before purchase.

    • 01/06/2011 at 21:17 dee says:

      I was watching a stream of someone playing the leak, and it seems that the regen at least takes quite a long time to trigger, maybe 20 seconds or so.

      Still, I agree. Would’ve preferred a Far Cry 2 system myself, it’s the best of both worlds.

  23. 01/06/2011 at 12:44 Hunam says:

    Just thought I’d mention that Bob Page is mentioned in passing in the Book that was released early this year.

  24. 01/06/2011 at 13:08 brulleks says:

    Okay, so all these characters are (quite possibly) reprising their roles from the first game. This begs the question – what the hell happens to Adam Jensen? He sure ain’t on the scene anymore when JC and his brother turn up.

    Will the ending ask us to determine Adam’s fate, with death (or some kind of ‘ending’ to his life, e.g. merging with AI) predetermined from the very start?

    Whatever happens, I’m betting on dark and unhappy, with no fluffly bunnies running through petal-strewn meadows singing joyful medleys while Adam decides he’s had enough of all the cyber-gloom and moves to Sussex to join his cousin’s cake decorating business. Don’t ask me why, it’s just a hunch.

  25. 01/06/2011 at 13:10 OpT1mUs says:

    What’s the deal with fps drops during the trailer?

    Also I still can’t stand the retarded renaissance dresses everyone is wearing like it makes sense…

    • 01/06/2011 at 21:27 Hunam says:

      I love the art design. I mean it’s a change from what you’d normally expect people to wear in sci-fi which gives the game a unique feel. Not to mention the linking of the shape of the world during the renaissance to as it is in the game as both tie towards exploration of the human body.

    • 02/06/2011 at 01:59 thegooseking says:

      People in the original Deus Ex probably think the same about the cyber-renaissance style as we think now about 80s fashion: “What the hell were we thinking?”

  26. 01/06/2011 at 14:28 Flobulon says:

    Reckon Morgan Everett might make an appearance too, as Page’s mentor.

  27. 01/06/2011 at 15:35 Bfox says:

    There better be 6 different endings at the bare minimum.

  28. 01/06/2011 at 16:42 tikey says:

    Doesn’t the events in this game happen like 50 years before DX?
    Page didn’t seem like he was more than 60 years old.

  29. 01/06/2011 at 17:24 Tacroy says:

    Is it just me, or was that JC kicking the collective asses of a bunch of Crysis nanosuit-lite dudes?

  30. 01/06/2011 at 21:36 kwyjibo says:

    Because I’m a vengeful power crazy bastard, on my first playthrough of Deus Ex, I wanted to kill Bob Page and then merge with Helios to become a living god.

    But as soon as I killed Page, the Illuminati ending kicked in and I was all sadface.

    • 02/06/2011 at 01:49 Dozer says:

      On my first Deus Ex playfhrough (and I can’t remember if I ever completed the game more than once), I saved the game in the middle of the last level and got all three endings in about fifteen minutes of play. If I remember right, there’s a bunch of creatures to kill for one ending, a bunch of stuff to blow up for a second, and maybe you kill Simons for the third – I don’t remember exactly. So I killed seven out of eight greasels and three out of four computers, saved the game, and savescummed all three endings from that point.

  31. 15/07/2011 at 09:41 Aurelian says:

    I’m still fervently praying that they won’t screw this one up. I dearly loved the first Deus Ex game, even the terrible voice acting.

    I SPEEL MY DRINK!

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