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[PATV] Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - Extra Credits Season 3, Ep. 18: Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Dog
Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
This week, we try to figure out exactly what it was about the new Deus Ex game we liked so much.<br /> Come discuss the topic with us in the <a href="http://extra-credits.net" target="_blank">forums</a>!
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I recently watched the latest Underworld movie, and it occurred to me that each film somehow avoids the most interesting parts of the overall story. That is, the social and political conflicts that arose between the factions involved that led to the conditions seen in the opening scene. It does make for an interesting story by forcing the audience to struggle to get up to speed on recent events, but the use of this plot device in the Underworld series always makes me feel like there was enough going on to populate another entire movie, only to be reduced to an expository speech.
Awakening, for example begins long after humans have figured out that they're not alone. Granted, what they do is predictable, but surely there was some tension regarding how the secret got out, how widespread the "problem" was, the fact that lycans AND vampires have been hiding, what to do about it, how to ensure total eradication, who would be in charge of such a coordinated global endeavor, etc. Any and all of that could make for compelling cinema IMHO. But apparently there aren't enough explosions, supernatural slow-mo melees, and 3-D "gotcha!" opportunities available in such a socio-political exploration. I'm not exactly upset by that. It's a fine film. I just feel that they missed an opportunity to put such a revelation on screen. Every other horror movie has the supernatural element remain a secret to humanity at large or feature some human hunters who know what to do. To my recollection, no human in the Underworld series has ever been shown to be aware of The Undeworld before now.
If you haven't gleaned the connection to Human Revolution yet, I'm saying that I'm glad this game made an effort to showcase the growing pains inherent in a world where something as world-changing as cybernetic augmentation is a growing trend. It's the journey that makes for a compelling story. To quote myself at age 7. "I like taking a bath, and I like being dry. It's the transition that's a killer." Or, to quote myself at age 25 "I don't want to GO home, I want to BE home."
Apologies for the wall-o-text...
In a few words, I think your take on the game is by far more interesting than the game itself.
In the video, you speak of the themes of the game, about trans-humanism and about the emerging gap technology creates in the development of the species, as portrayed in the game. And of course, there's the story development regarding Adam's separation from humanity, to the point where numerous people who have worked with Adam at Sarif, do not recognize him the first time they see him after the augmentation.
But in my mind, the key to all of this is that this theme is strongly conveyed through gameplay - not necessarily the moral choices of lethal vs. non-lethal aggression, sneaking missions, etc, but the augmentation mechanic and the corresponding tech tree. When you begin the game, the "rules" of the Deus Ex world are clearly established: this is how you move, shoot, etc., these are the circumstances under which enemies do or do not see and react to your presence, these are the places you can and cannot go.
After establishing these rules in the opening sequence, Adam's initial augmentation yields instant results by changing the rules of gameplay. You now have a radar HUD for monitoring NPC movement, you can hack certain doors, you can do takedowns (particularly effective conveyance if you exercise his blade options). The game also presents you with numerous clear demonstrations of your limitations. You COULD move this dumpster but it's too heavy. You COULD hack this computer but your level's not high enough. You COULD leap over this fence but it's too high. You COULD break through this wall but you lack the proper augmentation.
As the player explores his other upgrade options, he also sees that he can hack more easily with hacking stealth, get a cloaking device, access the Typhoon weapon, armor himself against damage, suppress gun recoil, etc. As the game difficulty ramps up in later missions, some of these upgrades could be viewed as essential. In any event, because the player needs an advantage in certain situations, or wishes to complete the game in a certain way, or simply wishes to experiment with the options available to him with certain abilities, he will explore the various augmentation powers. Changing his character's abilities changes the gameplay rules to which he is constrained, and this is a direct metaphor for Adam acquiring new abilities to complete his mission, in a way that would not have been available to him prior to his augmentation. He uses the technology to make himself something more than what it previously meant to be human.
In the Deus Ex story, Adam is the bridge between what humanity was before this technology existed, and what it becomes when augmentation is commonplace. In the gameplay, you control the choices that drive him to ascend to the next level, which in turn reflects how you as an individual react to the ramifications of integrating this technology into humanity. This immerses the player into the character in a strong fashion.
The game's use of the title, though, was a little off. Yes, it was a dual statement about men becoming gods through machine, but the other part, about the story including the deus ex machina, is a misrepresentation. The second reason for the title, is actually poking fun at terrible plot lines that use deus ex machina, and the creators, much like Horace would, were intentionally making the game that combats that by excluding this mechanism in their plot.
You stated that Daedelus was an aspect of deus ex machina, but for that to be the case, Daedelus would have had to "swoop" in and resolve the plot at the end, which isn't what happened. He was simply a "god-like" interaction, divine intervention, if you will, to push the plot in certain directions. Divine intervention alone is not enough to call a plot mechanism deus ex machina, as humans "spoke to gods" in many of the classic stories that were craftily constructed to avoid the one-dimensionality of the cheap plot tactic, but they still received direction from the deities in some way or another..
Now, that being said, I have no idea how old this video is, or if the EC crew (or anyone) will actually read this, but I felt like the clarification shouldn't go unstated. So, I hope it's seen, but it's such a small detail, no one would probably care anyway!
I literally started watching these videos from season 1 ep. 1 yesterday, and i'm trucking through all of them because I love this stuff. My friends will soon see all of it as well- we are in school for animation/game creation already, but the clear, well thought out videos are very good at demonstrating important aspects of games, production, animation, direction, and art in general- WHILE being hilariously entertaining, so I applaud everything I've seen from you guys and it's now time for me to hit the "next" button to watch the next video.
Time to go back and play it.