DXHR: My hopes for the future of this game.

[Smashbox]

I blame cutscenes for making jensen act stupid. Seriously, it is the only time where he does that.

My favorite example of this was (SPOILERS):

After carefully infiltrating the Belltower shipping center in Hengsha, careful not to be seen or heard by anyone, (after all, how could you possibly sneak onto a ship if they knew you were coming) the cutscene took over and Jenson bungled the moffoggin distraction, nearly blowing himself up and jumping through a plate glass window. I went from feeling extremely cool, like future-robo-James-Bond to feeling like Mr. Bean in about 2 seconds.

[Skalpadda]

I'd love to see more expansion packs overall, instead of the little chunks of DLC or rushed out sequels we get so much of these days. DX seems like a great game to do that with. Expanding through DLC seems to be the current fashion though.

On cutscenes, why developers don't record them in higher resolutions for those of us with plenty of hard drive space and capable monitors and then scale them down for console versions if they need to fit on discs is beyond me. That even some PC exclusive games have this problem (Crysis 1 springs to mind) is just awful.

[QuantaCat]

My favorite example of this was (SPOILERS):

After carefully infiltrating the Belltower shipping center in Hengsha, careful not to be seen or heard by anyone, (after all, how could you possibly sneak onto a ship if they knew you were coming) the cutscene took over and Jenson bungled the moffoggin distraction, nearly blowing himself up and jumping through a plate glass window. I went from feeling extremely cool, like future-robo-James-Bond to feeling like Mr. Bean in about 2 seconds.

Thats one of the few cutscenes that actually made sense, atleast in why it blows up: you dont fuck up, tong set you up.

EDIT: also, I talk about the future of this game, it will include spoilers. I will not hide anything anymore, as this is now officially a Thread To Talk About DX In All Its Elements™.

[Smashbox]

Easter eggs I noticed: Elevated roadway in Detroit is called Highway 17, trollfaces in Windmill's office, and emails addressed to Tai Yong's security head Kevin Mitnick. I didn't catch that Jenson and Deckard's apartments were really similar (though I've seen that movie so many times)... What other hidden gems did I miss?

[Tikey]

Room 404 and room 802-11 in Picus.
I don't think it's an easter egg but in picus' mails you saw that the head of security's last name was ackbar. I kept waiting for a "it's a trap" joke.
The hangar 18 secret room.

[justagigolo]

Megan and Jensen's dog was named Kubrick. That immediately caught my attention as the opening scenes unfolded.

[Kadayi]

The night club scene: the one thats currently in feels like hes visiting during off hours or something, a real nightclub should combine the crowd AI of blood money and the look of, well, dxhr. atleast they got the look right. also, a combat scenario in the night club would be great, too much light, though. it looked more like a lounge than a club. (you know, where you cloak and engage enemies spread throughout the crowd, and youd pick them off one by one, ala stalker in the cornfield style)

Did you ever see the nightclub scene in kane & Lynch?



That's a fucking nightclub (though even that suffers from the pain of character model repetition).

As for DX:HR, as an experience I really enjoyed it. Certainly one of the titles that has most absorbed me this year (presently on second play through) up there with Portal 2 & TW2 for memorability (though I still have to finish TW2 tbh).

Was it perfect? No, not at all. However it hit enough high notes to make the flaws less of an offence to the senses.

The big bugbear I have with a lot of modern games (and regrettably it's unlikely to be addressed until MS release their next console and stop throttling developers with outdated hardware constraints) is repeat character models and a lack of animation & activity to characters. Albeit DX does make some effort in this regard, the static nature of the NPCs got a little wearing and it would of been great if there was a bit more work done on the transition between animation loops.

One of my big criticisms with DX:IW was the paucity of the environments as well as the lack of nPCs. Albeit DX:HR does wonders in adding complexity to the spaces, there needed to be some vibrancy to the locations. Hengsha should of had bustling streets, people arguing with vendors, etc, etc. Likewise Sarif HQ should of had people wandering around, getting coffees and gossiping, Malik should of been tuning her flyer, etc, etc. Small aspects that would of added a bit more to the games atmosphere I feel.

[Isometric]

I'm more interested in where we go from here. We've had games set in the past, present and future. Where now?

[suibhne]

Really, what would be lost by ditching currency entirely, and giving Jensen the ability to get a full loadout from Sarif whenever he wanted? Basic weapons would all be available immediately; more exotic weapons would have to be acquired in the world first. Buying weapons adds very little to the game. I'd argue, in fact, that it detracts from actual gameplay; it makes the whole thing seem a lot more "gamey", a lot less sim-like.

There are more than enough ammo, energy bars, etc. out in the world, if you explore. Merchants aren't essential for those items, then. The only important function merchants really provide is availability of some weapon upgrades, and that's actually irritating rather than satisfying - because their stock seems somewhat random and they never seem to have what you really need, hehe. Anyway, there's no reason you couldn't still find black-market sellers hidden here and there, but give them a more limited role - acquiring specialty items only, and refusing to buy 12 shotguns in a row from you.

[golden_worm]

I'm more interested in where we go from here. We've had games set in the past, present and future. Where now?

I think the official sequence is Past, Present, Future, Underground, Street, Extreme, Remake of original but cel-shaded and then start the whole lot off again with a Gritty Reboot, probably with the name spelt all in lower case.

[QuantaCat]

nope. theyre going to milk this one for a long time coming, until the fans say "meh".

I am very interested in seeing a game in the DX universe, but NOT IN THE FUCKING US. You could have all sorts of locales, and if japan still exists in that timeline, they should visit it. as well as the caribic.

[Kadayi]

@suibhne

I must admit you make a compelling argument there. In a way it doesn't make much sense that as head of security you should need to scrabble around for weapons. You should really have had the opportunity to decide upon a load out (have a stock in Sarif), with a view to supplementing your official/licensed/legal weaponry with some black market additions as the game proceeds. The game is limiting in terms of what you can carry anyway after all.

[Anthile]

Really, what would be lost by ditching currency entirely, and giving Jensen the ability to get a full loadout from Sarif whenever he wanted? Basic weapons would all be available immediately; more exotic weapons would have to be acquired in the world first. Buying weapons adds very little to the game. I'd argue, in fact, that it detracts from actual gameplay; it makes the whole thing seem a lot more "gamey", a lot less sim-like.

There are more than enough ammo, energy bars, etc. out in the world, if you explore. Merchants aren't essential for those items, then. The only important function merchants really provide is availability of some weapon upgrades, and that's actually irritating rather than satisfying - because their stock seems somewhat random and they never seem to have what you really need, hehe. Anyway, there's no reason you couldn't still find black-market sellers hidden here and there, but give them a more limited role - acquiring specialty items only, and refusing to buy 12 shotguns in a row from you.

But it was the exact same way in the original DX and IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN WHY DON'T YOU PLAY COD OR PRE-ORDER THE NEW SYNDICATE GAME. Ahem. I guess that would be the most common reaction.

[Kadayi]

But it was the exact same way in the original DX and IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN WHY DON'T YOU PLAY COD OR PRE-ORDER THE NEW SYNDICATE GAME. Ahem. I guess that would be the most common reaction.

That it occurred in the first is hardly a justification to carry it through to the new games (exactitude is not the measure of a good sequel). The point I think suibhne is making is that the approach undermines the verisimilitude the developers were seemingly striving for, I think there is some weight to his position tbh.

[Tikey]

To be fair in the first one you didn't have merchants in the same way HR does. You found a few npc that offered just a few things and never bought anything from you. The economy in DX was one sided.

[thegooseking]

To be fair in the first one you didn't have merchants in the same way HR does. You found a few npc that offered just a few things and never bought anything from you. The economy in DX was one sided.

Given the theme of Deus Ex, it seems weird that you can only buy and sell guns (well, physical goods). Buying and selling information in the game would be awesome (though would make the economy a lot more complex).

[suibhne]

To be fair in the first one you didn't have merchants in the same way HR does. You found a few npc that offered just a few things and never bought anything from you. The economy in DX was one sided.

Yes, I have no problems with that. I mean, it can be done well and done poorly, but I don't think there's anything inherently weak about it. It actually makes sense in terms of the gameworld. But finding "vendors" dotting the levels also leads to viewing some items as "vendor trash", and that type of economy doesn't do the game any favors in the end. Especially since you're the ex-SWAT head of security for a major corporation, and you can outfit your entire security staff with gear (armor and weapons) but apparently can't get anything yourself. That's a ridiculous failure in game logic for the sake of establishing a generic "gamey" fake economy.

I also love the idea of buying or selling information. Seems to underscore the basic logic of the gameworld much better than buying/selling shotguns.

[Kadayi]

Yes, I have no problems with that. I mean, it can be done well and done poorly, but I don't think there's anything inherently weak about it. It actually makes sense in terms of the gameworld. But finding "vendors" dotting the levels also leads to viewing some items as "vendor trash", and that type of economy doesn't do the game any favors in the end. Especially since you're the ex-SWAT head of security for a major corporation, and you can outfit your entire security staff with gear (armor and weapons) but apparently can't get anything yourself. That's a ridiculous failure in game logic for the sake of establishing a generic "gamey" fake economy.

I also love the idea of buying or selling information. Seems to underscore the basic logic of the gameworld much better than buying/selling shotguns.

I think you put forward a strong case for a better approach to contextualizing acquisition tbh. The whole, having to 'bring your own bottle' approach of the early levels (especially in Detroit) is very 'gamey' in the same way that buying weapons from your own quartermaster was in Mass Effect 1 was.

I'd rather there was a sense of having to go to the black market acquire some unlicensed specialist items here and there rather than 'I have to do this, because my boss is a tightwad'. Hengsha then of course becomes and entirely different situation for you as the player, rather than simply a Chinese themed version of Detroit.

[QuantaCat]

Yes, but.

If the game has a different setting, somewhere where you dont start out with the best conditions, and you might need neuropazyne and shit like that, and you go from being poor to being rich, then stuff like that makes sense. And its definitely a direction I want them to head.

Also, what was the general story of DXIW? which path was chosen for JC?

EDIT: to clarify, I want them to head in the direction of "trivial" stories. I seriously dislike "world changing hero" stories in RPGs. Of course it should have an impact, but I dont think the world should be "saved" or "need saving" or whatever. I mean, thats why I loved the story of DXHR upto the mining rig, from then on it turned sideways.

[orcane]

The general story of DX2 tried to merge the endings of the first game somewhat. There be spoilers:

The basic premise is that of JC fusing his mind with Helios, but it also has parts of TT's Collapse because JC was overwhelmed by the merger and had to be put in cryostasis for the time being, essentially shutting down the global communications hub. At the same time the Illuminati lost most of their influence but they recovered and emerged in the form of two organizations which pretended to work against each other to the population, a ploy to control both the unfortunate and poor on the street (through a cult) and the rich and powerful people in their upper tier city penthouses (through the WTO).

In the end you get to decide who wins the struggle between similar factions as in the first game: The Denton/Tong ending continues the "godlike JC" story. You can also help the Illuminati take control of the AI and and with that the world, or help a Luddite faction get rid of all augmentation technology, leading to somewhat of a Dark Age. The real downer ending however is that of the Omar - overly augmented people (essentially mutants with a hive-mind), being the only ones to survive all-out nuclear war on Earth.