Deus Ex: Human Revolution insists on tactical play
Eidos Montreal doesn't mind if you just want to shoot things, but you're going to have to think about it.
"Actually, if people play the game and they don’t explore the ideas and they have a good time, I’m still happy," Jean-Francois Dugas told GameShark.
"I don’t want to force anyone to think about the game in order to have fun. If people want to go on the critical path, pick up guns and kill everyone to get to the end of the story – enjoying it only on the first level of what it is – that’s fine I’m glad they’re happy."
Having said that, Dugas commented that the only decision the game makes for players is that they must play tactically - run and gun style won't be good enough. But beyond corridor shooting lies "far more interesting stuff".
"It’s mechanically not a mindless shooter, it’s a tactical shooter. Because if you run and shoot like a headless chicken, you’re going to get your ass kicked and you’ll have a tough time. If you plan accordingly and examine your enemies you’ll start to go beyond the direct path and look at alternate things in the game," he said.
"As you do that you may stumble across something that alludes to the richness the game has to offer."
When Eidos Montreal first play tested the game, they found players relied too heavily on standard shooter tactics, and adjusted the game to force them into strategising.
"With later play tests we found people still start the game like a shooter but get killed a few times and then they start doing other things. They then find secret places, or things to read and suddenly the game becomes much bigger than they thought," the director explained.
"So, we’re not forcing you but the way the gameplay loop works we do encourage you to go outside just the straight path."
There's quite a lot of talk on the game's themes and narrative through the link above, as well as an interesting discussion of morality in games.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution releases for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in late August.
Thanks, Blue.