Multi-path, multi-solution; chances are if you’ve read, heard, or watched an interview with a member of the dev team these words appeared. This isn’t marketing speak, nor are we incessantly reciting this “password” to try and unlock some deep-seated mental programming placed by the illuminati (or are we?). This type of play is as integral to the Deus Ex experience as conspiracies or transhumanism, or even wearing sunglasses at night (kidding about that last one, kind of…).

In the spirit of this foundational element we’ve released a new gameplay trailer highlighting three different ways to tackle one scenario: aggressive, stealth, and adaptive.

When you can finally play on August 26th, what will you choose?

If you enjoy seeing this style of video, please check out a similar one we recently released where narrative designer Mary DeMarle takes viewers through a portion of the game, highlighting the multi-path, multi-solution gameplay that is so important to the series.

As always, if you’re an information hound like me, I invite you to follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and/or participate in the various discussions on our message board. Thank you for your support, and be sure to comment below. I’ll be responding to the chatter throughout the day.

Score:

• 11 Comments 1 Reply
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

You want a release date? You’ve got it.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution releases August 26th, 2011 in the UK. No one’s more excited to have this information out in the wild than all of us at Eidos-Montreal. Okay, so maybe that’s an exaggeration. Judging by all the emails, various article comments, forum posts, twitter responses, and Facebook comments, this is something you’ve wanted for a long, long time. But imagine spending four years on an absolute labor of love, and finally being able to tell people WHEN they can experience the fruit of your labors!

We’re always watching the aforementioned avenues of communication, and ya know what? We like to join the conversation ourselves. So until August 23rd and 26th rolls around, we welcome you to follow us on twitter, like us on Facebook, and partake in all the lovely discussions on our very active message board. Additionally, every week we answer questions via our Ask JJB video podcast. If you have a question regarding Deus Ex: Human Revolution that you want answered, go ahead and ask!

Oh, and if you’re heading to PAX East in Boston this weekend, be sure to stop by the main theater at 2:30 PM for a very special gameplay segment and a live Q&A with members of the development team. I’ll also be wandering the showfloor with a few goodies, so if you want to be eligible, follow me on twitter in addition to our official account. I hope to see you there!

Score:

• 10 Comments
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

Hey everyone! You’d be surprised at how many of us actually do read your comments on a variety of articles and forums concerning Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Whether it’s a thread about health regen (again…) or a comment about the faint floral pattern on Adam’s trench coat, chances are we’ve seen it! Your voices are being heard! We really do appreciate your comments, and hope they never stop.

That said, I’m nearing the end of my role on the project and putting on the final touches to the game. I wanted to reflect on the past development and give you a peek at some of the challenges the level design team had to face when developing Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

The biggest rule for us level designers, by far, was to always keep in mind the idea of “Multi-Path, Multi-Solution” for practically every challenge we wanted to lay down for the player. Basically what that entails is for every obstacle we set, there is always a variety of ways to progress past it; with some methods being more obvious than others. This is very reminiscent of the design philosophy found in the original Deus Ex … a design which promotes emergent game play.

One of the reveals from gamescom was showing the Police Station level and how there were four different ways (Combat, Hacking, Stealth, and Social) to play through it. The truth of the matter is that there are far more than just four different ways to progress through that level. There are so many different ways to progress through that I couldn’t possibly list them all; and chances are there are even methods to progress through that we haven’t even thought of! While at first glance that seems like a nightmare for a level designer, what ends up happening is our level designs promote multiple playthroughs in order to try out many different styles of play. All we have to ensure is that we’ve provided the tools and the environment for the player to just explore, imagine, and act-out their creative solutions.

The downside to this open and emergent style game play is that there are a lot paths and features that we designed that most players will never see! We hope you all try playing through the game multiple times, using different styles of approach, and exploring every nook and cranny and possible option that we’ve made available to you. Until next time… Ciao!

Score:

• 16 Comments
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

Hello everyone! I’m excited to share the second gameplay trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution! In it you’ll find more footage on combat, augmentations, in-game menus, and upgrade trees than we’ve ever publicly shown. If you pay attention, you might even sneak a peek at our hacking mini-game and a weapon modification that toys with the term “hand cannon.”

And to those of you who think you’ve seen everything after watching the leaked footage (yeah, we know it exists…), to quote legendary Canadian rock group Bachman Turner Overdrive, “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

In other news, I’m pleased to announce that I and other members of the studio are presently readying content to distribute specifically to this great blog. After spending four challenging but passionate years developing a sequel to one of the most revered videogames of all-time, everyone involved can’t wait to talk. We’re very, very excited, and we hope you are too.

If you have the time, let us know what you think and what you’d like to see in future blog posts. You can reach us on Twitter, @eidosmontreal Facebook, and e-mail in addition to the forums at forums.eidosgames.com. See you all soon!

Score:

• 24 Comments 9 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook