The Deus Ex: Human Revolution E3 demo was mostly action packed. We didn’t see Adam Jensen successfully smooth talk his way to the end of a mission, but you can do that, if you want to. Social and hacking routes, as well as augmentations to buff those abilities, are part of the game.
“We have things that let you know how the conversations are going,” Jean-Francois Dugas, Lead Game Designer, explained when I asked him about social augmentations. “You can have an analysis of the psychological profile of the character to help you out and also might have points to convince him right now, not two rounds [of conversation], right now.”
Dugas gave an example of the social mechanics can by detailing an unseen part of Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution has a mission set in Detroit where Adam needs to go into a police station to recover information. Adam can fight his way in or sneaking in through the roof or sewers. If you want to take a non-violent route, Adam can walk through the main lobby and talk to the desk sergeant. “By talking to him you’ll discover there is a background story between your character and his character,” Dugas highlighted. “If you try to convince him to go inside he says ‘I’ll lose my job’, that type of thing. If you pursue that route and win you can access the entire police station.” Pick this path and you won’t have to resort to stealth or fighting.
Later on in the game, Adam may run into the desk sergeant again in civilian clothes. After letting Adam into the building he lost his job and is upset with Adam. Again, you’re not forced to fight. You can try to calm down the enraged desk sergeant with words.
Adam can also equip hacking augmentations. These enhancements let players access higher level devices and upload viruses that can capture nodes to reach a computer’s registry. Once accessed, Adam can read e-mails and control cameras to scout out his surroundings.
While you can built up Adam for hacking or social paths, there are times where Adam has to fight. Bosses, Dugas explained, have to be fought and killed. Everyone is fair game, you can keep them alive if that’s you’re style of play.
