![]() The real question, however, is do these battles contradict the game’s commitment to choice by forcing the player to take lethal action? I have been playing a stealthy, nonlethal character. The first boss, however, went down more quickly than I thought he would and consequently didn’t irritate me as much as it seems to have irritated others. That said, the first boss is something of a “bullet sponge,” an enemy that soaks up an inordinate amount of punishment from your gun. The first boss battle is Jensen’s first encounter with an “Aug.” Given the game’s narrative, namely the presence of Augs who have special abilities and enhancements to their bodies, it follows that a battle with an Aug would be more difficult. **Minor Spoiler Ahead (discussion of the second core mission of the game)** I recently defeated the first boss in DX:HR and thought it might be interesting to analyze each battle in turn as I progress through them and discuss whether these battles contradict the game’s design philosophy. Apparently DX:HR has boss battles and apparently many players felt that these battles contradicted the central design, namely its commitment to choice. While you play as Adam Jensen, a man who was unwillingly augmented (genetic and mechanical enhancements to one’s limbs and mental capabilities-people who receive such treatment are know as “Augs”), you are confronted with so many choices that Jensen begins morph into whoever you want him to be.Īs I was progressing through the first few missions of DX:HR, I noticed a trend of complaints about the game on Twitter. These choices give the player a sense of ownership of your character. You choose how to interact with those around you. You choose whether to use lethal or nonlethal force with the enemies you encounter. You choose how to accomplish missions as each provides multiple paths. Operating under the assumption that games do in fact matter, Drew seeks to highlight those moments that have much to say about who we are and the world we live in.ĭeus Ex: Human Revolution is a game about choices. In big business, the quality of the product can sometimes mean fuck all for why it doesn't sell.When Games Matter is a weekly exploration by Drew Dixon of meaningful moments in games. Even if the sequal suffered it is a really interesting piece of gaming history because nothing quite sums up the desperate times for pc gaming and how the AAA industry treated it. It is sad but it was a lesson Square took to heart. The game died due to circumstances surrounding the era, not due to any fault of its own. ![]() Not only were they competing in a slim market, but their major competition was free. This, alongside games as a service rising with the advent of LoL and later Dota 2, the pc gaming market was a shit show to get into. Even had the devs really pushed marketing for the pc, they would have come up short due to lack of market size. 2011 was during the peak of pc gaming decline and had been written off by big devs. The final market for immersive Sims at the time, was the pc. 10 years later you have a bigger market of individuals from a broader demographic, so AA development can justify the costs again.ĭE:HR just did not meet any big market at the time because while it was good, it was in a dry spell long enough for newer gens of gamers to go completely unaware of such game designs. 2010+ was probably the beginning of what we see today with modern gaming. In this era, immersive Sims were not only difficult to get to the market, but also the market was not primed for such games at all. Why bother when AAA devs only had to focus on making more of the same. Indies were absorbing would be AA devs who couldn't find a job in an industry without an established pipeline to get established vets of indie design into the AAA field. On the opposite end, Xbox arcade and summer of indies had just taken off, with games like binding of Issac just barely coming out. The industry was still in its infancy and big players in the market aimed at taking as much of the established market as possible. In its wake was a sea of AAA shooters fighting for top dog spot. People don't realize that games like thief and even doom were cutting edge software design at their time, and the tech and people designing it would go on to shape other tech industries. There had been a huge dry spell of immersive Sims because of this. Toxic xbox 360 kiddos yelling in the mic.Īt the same time, big players in the industry generally all agreed AA development was dead, because of the prohibitive costs of making a game for a smaller market. 2011 was near the peak of online bro-shooters.
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