Categories Bodybuilding Brain Training Health Success & Money Psychological Warfare Lifestyle Martial Arts Parkour Psychology Transhumanism

Home Articles Reviews Videos App Store Book Shop Forum Deus Ex Human Revolution Review By Adam Sinicki This is an example of the Biomatrix trying something new. This is good, it's important to try new things from time to time. This new thing is the act of reviewing games and films (we had a Rocky review once I believe). It makes sense because the Biomatrix is all about self improvement, and transhumanism, and strength and smarts and if those subjects are mirrored in a game or film, then it makes sense to review it. Hopefully it will bring the right kind of person to the set (I'm looking at it as bait). And Deus Ex: Human Revolution really is about the same things as the Biomatrix. I've not played the prequels so I don't know that this was always the case, but here the thrust of the story is entirely based on transhumanism. They take this in quite a standard direction - people are rioting about it and the world is divided between 'augs' (augmented people) and... not augs? I think they're called naturals. Anyway it's pretty standard fair, but to give them credit this is probably what will happen when the Genie does get out the bottle - my Transhumanism study on the public perception of these technologies seemingly confirmed as much. Of course the main character is mutilated and has to have these implants himself enter: Adam Jensen (a cool name I've always though 'Adam'). Anyway so far so cliched, but still on a very interesting topic - and actually the plot isn't that cliched and is in fact one of the more engaging plots I've ever experienced in a computer game. Seriously it's really interesting and you're unlikely to skip any of the cut scenes (also because they're wicked cool). It helps too that Adam's voice is just like Keanu Reeves and that a lot of the talkingy/expositiony bits are actually interactive allowing you to respond to questions and direct the conversation. And that's pretty much a good microcosm for this game - because you can direct everything that happens and it's pretty much entirely up to you how you go through the game once it's gotten started. You can alter the augmentations on your body so you can change your actual physical traits and this is cool in itself allowing you to be 'awesome running and jumping man' (like me), 'stealth dude', 'super strong dude', a hacker, a great conversationalist (seriously - you can use pheremones and smarts to psychologically manipulate people), a sniper etc etc. And unlike a whole range of games it's then completely and honestly up to you how you use these skills to achieve objectives - and which objectives you choose to complete, and how polite you want to be as you go through them. So say you need to break into a police station - you can charm your way in, you can go nuts and run in and kill everyone (taking on the whole police force is nuts but you can actually do it if you're amazing like me) or stealth your way in around the back. There's probably more ways to do it too and that's what makes this such a cool study of transhumanism I think - because it makes you genuinely more free. That's why I want to be able to do more things - so I can explore and go where I please and be freer in the world. That's why parkour is cool and that's why it's great to be able to lift and throw heavy objects (plus it's destructive and destructive is cool). You can run across the rooftops and explore the city like a genuine superhero, and the world's information is at your finger tips. You can also decide whether you're going to be good or evil and whether you want to be a merciless killer or a saint - or somewhere in between. All this is truly awesome and it's the fact that the world is so authentic and detailed that makes you genuinely feel like you're free and can have an impact on the virtual world around you. In most games this is done very crudely, but here if you can think it, you can do it - and there are countless creative ways to beat every mission. The cities and other areas are also expansive and detailed to an extent where you really feel like you have dominium over a world. Recently I pulled a skip up and used it to climb a ladder, went into the window of a random flat, hacked into their lock, antagonised and ultimately killed some gangsters that lived there, found a safe behind a framed picture and then hacked into that (after upgrading my hacking abilities) to steel some money. Awesome amount of freedom and achieved through transhumanism. While there's lots of exploration and a very sandbox feel to this RPG however, almost all the side quests compliment the main story. This is great and because the story is so absorbing you really do want to uncover more of the intrigue and more of the debate and this means they never take away from the game or make you lose sight of the plot. So you still feel like you're in an awesome movie. And you do feel badass too because the mechanics of the gameplay are well handled allowing you to do awesome takedowns, punch through walls and pick off headshots over an insane distance. The stealth elements I find somewhat awkward - and particularly the takedowns which don't always feel that responsive or seem to make sense (you use a silent takedown in front of someone's groin and this involves standing up and stabbing them in their neck which no one notices... and there's no real indicator as to whether you can do it yet or whether they need to be closer...). But for the most part it's all really cool and the switching between first and third person is used to good effect. All this means that you can use transhuman technology to achieve a badassness and a freedom that few games achieve and makes you long for the day when you have springs implanted into your knees. At the same time though it has an interesting plot and philosophical debate at its core (it's also long) and is highly engaging. Finally what puts the icing on the cake for me is the design - which has had an incredible amount of thought put into it it's clear to tell and which takes its inspiration from renaissance Italy - the fashion and the art style (gold colors on black). It creates a kind of techno-retro look that feels like your walking in the time of a futuristic Leonardo DaVinci. The graphics aren't great and this lets it down slightly (mainly... faces!) but everything else about it actually glows and the attention to detail is incredible meaning that all of the great features are dressed up in a coherent and thought provoking sense of style. 5/5 Stars  Copyright 2012 The Biomatrix.Net

ALL Bodybuilding Questions ANSWERED FREE in the Biomatrix Forum   Project Superman    Cost: $9/£5  Format: Print  Categoy: Training Germination    Cost: $0.99/£0.60  Format: Android  Categoy: Brain  Training Think Like Sherlock Holmes    Cost: $9.50/£5.14  Format: Kindle  Categoy: Brain  Training