Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (HR) is a first-person action role-playing game by Eidos Montreal. The game has a “Cyberpunk” aesthetic art-style and is set in 2027 where technology has progressed to a stage where people can have surgically applied biomechanical augmentations to enhance physical attributes. Deus Ex: HR has been met by critical praise for its non-linear design. The biomechanical augmentations play a vital role in the games mechanics which allow the player to tailor the games player character into the way they would like to play the game. The primary “pillars of gameplay” as described by the developers are “Combat”, “Social” “Hacking” and “Stealth”. The games level design in turn is designed around these different play styles. For example one level with a clear objective is to infiltrate a police station in order to access the morgue. The player can walk straight up the front reception of the station and try to talk their way into the building (social), storm the front entrance by force using combat, sneak in by jumping over a fence and accessing the basement of the station through a manhole (stealth), or by hacking into a terminal which will gain access in to the back of the station. These choices are just the beginning of the level, once inside the player is presented with more and more of these choices which can be mixed and matched in order to reach the objective. For example, once the player has stealthily entered the station via the manhole. They could use combat to reach the objective from then on, sneak past policemen or hack terminals to reach less guarded access to the goal. None of these choices harder than the other to achieve, they are all relative to the player’s gameplay style. These choices are presented throughout the whole level and it creates an experience of freedom and accomplishment for the player which can only be achieved with non-linear design. Mechanics such as this require complex design. Taking note of Dues Ex: HR, a successful way of creating an enjoyable non-linear level is to create multiple routes to a desired location. For example, out-door and indoor areas, different floors in buildings, hidden corridors, air vents, locked doors that can be accessed by a certain skill or item. All these aspects must link together to create a tree branch of possibilities.


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