[=Icaraeus;277555]
The only problem with DE:HR was the boss fights IMO.
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That’s just one big problem; I don’t know how this could pass through QA. I mean, I tried to invest my skillpoints on everything stealth-related like radar improvents. I don’t use any of my weapons, I just have a fully upgraded pistol, the shocker and a rocket launcher, just in case… but the very first boss takes three **** rockets without even slowing down and I need to use those strange explosive barrels.
More on the level design: As I said, it’s too easy. That’s not because I’m the 1337 stealth master but because the path you have to take to avoid any conflicts is visible right from the beginning. The vents are a huge problem there: They’re unnecessarily long and they lead you most of the time directly to the target or at least save you a huge part of the level. Additionally, you can very easily see the environment’s barricades and the like, it’s just not satisfying when the only problem you have to solve is where you want to get to the next cover.
In this aspect, Hitman Absolution is just great. The levels are logical, don’t have any obvious and always-safe routes and the movement from cover to cover is much smoother there. Another strange design decision in Deus Ex was to make the player hold the spacebar to get around a corner. It’s just not necessary and is a pain when you’re crouching along a long, bumpy wall.
Furthermore, the art style of Deus Ex is really interesting, but gets boring after 2 hours. It’s too repetitive and everything looks the same.
On the other hand, the soundtrack is just awesome, though there’s not much of it during gameplay but in the cutscenes.
In my opinion, HR is really bad as a stealth game; I’d rather recommend Hitman Absolution (it has its own problems, but all in all, it’s extremely good), Splinter Cell: Blacklist (though it’s getting worse to the end) and even BioShock Infinite: Bureal at Sea Episode 2 (yes, really. The stealth mechanics may be really simple - there’s no cover feature - but it has great storytelling and it’s just a mindblowingly good addition to the BioShock universe at it merges the storylines).