History VideoGame / DeusExHumanRevolution

* BossArenaIdiocy: Something that a lot of people, including ''Penny Arcade'', failed to notice:

*** Penny Arcade sums up that choice very well [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/09/02]]

** [[spoiler:Barrett]] in the ''Director's Cut'' can and often will hurt himself with his cluster grenades in an attempt to flush Jensen out.

** [[spoiler:Barrett]] is fought in a warehouse full of numerous explosive barrels, fire extinguishers and nerve gas canisters laying around, waiting to be thrown.

** Averted horribly with some bosses, like [[spoiler: Barrett]] - and God help you if you went the stealth/hacking route.

** [[spoiler:Barrett]] is the first of the infamous bosses you'll face in the game -- in this case, the wake-up is that you must be prepared to fight other bosses in the future. It is only when fighting them that you will ''need'' combat skills.

* AlternateHistory: The Deus Ex series universe diverged subtly sometime in the second half of the last century, with research in prosthetics advancing much faster due to the work of a few key figures. The [[LoggingOntoTheFourthWall Sarif Industries website]] mentions augmentations being used by the US military in the current conflicts in the Middle East. Another difference between this universe and ours is that, according to e-mails, the [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams Montreal Expos]] apparently never left for Washington, DC.

* VillainHasAPoint: The Purity First propaganda video states that corporations are using Neuropozyne to control augmented people and even send send messages directly to their brains. Both of which turn out to be true.

* DaylightHorror: [[spoiler: Panchaea, in spades.]]

* DeusAngstMachina: If you thoroughly explore Adam's apartment you'll discover that he had a whole slew of bad news to cope with when he woke up after the attack: His love interest and most of his coworkers had been brutally murdered, he'd been turned into a walking murder machine without his consent, and -to put the icing on the cake- while he was out, someone had [[DeadPetSketch euthanized his dog]] when they thought he might never wake up from the surgery. His earlier life was no bed of roses, either. If you look to the right of the TV/stash, you'll find an old photograph of a young couple, ostensibly Mr. and Mrs. Jensen, and a newer photograph of a young man in military clothing who is not Adam. Underneath these photos is a small table holding two urns.

** Since it's a prequel, you had to expect ''Human Revolution'' to end with a [[DownerEnding downer]], or at least in a [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet way]] for its characters. [[spoiler: Despite Jensen's efforts and sacrifices, none of his [[MultipleEndings ending choices]] will change the fact that ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' will happen. Majestic- 12 will split from the weakened Illuminati (who have failed to reign in control of the private sector) and the plan for world domination will change from biochip mind control to an engineered global pandemic.]]

** Also played straight with the common citizens. The original intent of the game was to have pro-augs dress like Reniannsance, while anti-augs would dress more like the present day, but this was eventually toned down.

* ExploitedImmunity: Some of the upgrades allow Jenson to do this (for example, being immune to poison gas allows you to simply set off traps or drop gas bombs and let {{mook}}s suffocate).

** The end of ''The Missing Link'' {{DLC}} has Burke gas all the prisoners and a scientist that has agreed to blow the whistle. You are told you can save the prisoners by venting the gas to the lab (killing the scientist) or vent the gas from the lab to the cells (killing the prisoners). Or you can find the gas valve and break it, saving everyone

** During the sidequest regarding Brian Tindell's dealing of stolen Neuropozyne, you ''could'' do what he wants and take out the drug dealers. Or you ''could'' use a CASIE mod to talk him into giving you the footage. Or you can just punch him in the face and take the footage off of his unconscious body.

** [[spoiler: Justified in the sequel, where the end of Human Revolution caused a massive backlash against technological advancement. To the point that people are already regressing to the point that floppy disks (tho upgraded to hold far more data) are starting to come back in style.]]

** Dermal armor that can shrug off high-caliber rounds and explosions might not bleed, but the owner will still be pretty messed up. While preventing penetrating trauma is a good thing, the impact force of a round or concussive force of an explosion needs some form of shock absorber to attenuate - this is why sports and military helmets have a suspension system and cushioning. So, while a dermal armor wearer is less likely to bleed, organ trauma and TBI will shut him down almost as quickly.[[note]] Once again Adam's unique case plays with this. Transfering forces from impacts is a viable alternative to padding, the ability to uniformly transfer shock loads are why things like spheres and domes are so resistant to blunt force. Given that we know most of Adam's organs either dont exist or dont behave the way they used to, its plausible his "dermal armor" augmentation creates a sort of "cage" around his organs to transfer impact forces around what fragile organic parts of him remain[[/note]]

** Dermal armor that can shrug off high-caliber rounds and explosions might not bleed, but the owner will still be pretty messed up. While preventing penetrating trauma is a good thing, the impact force of a round or concussive force of an explosion needs some form of shock absorber to attenuate - this is why sports and military helmets have a suspension system and cushioning. So, while a dermal armor wearer is less likely to bleed, organ trauma and TBI will shut him down almost as quickly.
** The Typhoon augmentation, which turns anyone implanted with it into a walking cluster bomb. Some handwaving is done about the developers having to solve "the backblast problem", but in reality, this would be a serious issue - all the force required to launch the Typhoon's submunitions needs to go ''somewhere'' - and if it's not somehow redirected or attenuated, that force is going straight back into the user's torso.

* AncientConspiracy: The [[spoiler: Illuminati]] from the first game, when they were still in their prime.

** Adam's blatant stupidity in letting Zhao get the better of him in one of her early cutscenes, although pheromone-manipulating implants are common in his time; it's reasonable to assume Zhao has one, and there's no reason Adam should be less susceptible to it than anyone else.

** Subverted in the very first mission. If you kill the Purity First terrorists in the Milwaukee Factory, the SWAT officers label you "a goddamn murderer" and tell you to get out of their sight, saying that it's only Sarif's influence that prevents them from arresting you. Even ignoring how completely absurd it is for hardened cops in a city as crime-ridden as Detroit to be so sympathetic to armed criminals, their statements would be objectively wrong if Adam were a cop, but as he is a private security guard, he's not allowed to use lethal force. ''Every single one of the terrorists'' was armed with a pistol or submachine gun, every single one either pointed their guns at you or fired on you, and by the time you arrived they'd already killed at least one hostage and opened fire on law enforcement. Every potential shoot in that mission would be completely clean, further amplified by the fact that [[AttackAttackAttack none of the terrorists so much as contemplate surrendering.]] However, they are not entirely wrong: first, Adam is a former cop and in most cases, killing all the terrorists is hardly police protocol even for a SWAT team, something even a discharged lawman should know; second, the cops are held back due to Sarif's influence, something that pisses them off as it allows Sarif Industries to bend the law to protect their corporate secrets, something the SWAT will chide Adam for if Sanders escape.

* JediTruth: Hugh Darrows publicly states that his Panchaea project will directly fix the high amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and help restore balance to the world's ecosystems. Technically, he's not lying. That's just not ''all'' it will do.

** [[TheChick Beauty]]: Yelena Fedorova, for both obvious reasons and also as the [[TheLancer intelligent, stealthy]] FragileSpeedster.
** [[TheSmartGuy Brains]]: Jaron Namir, who both acts as team leader and uses [[TheKirk a combination of the other's skills]].
** [[TheBigGuy Brawn]]: Lawrence Barrett, as spends his time firing [[{{BFG}} a minigun]] [[ArmCannon that retrects into his arm]].
** One can also be made through a combination of Jensen, Pritchard, and Malik.

* WakeupCallBoss: [[spoiler:Barrett]] is the first of the infamous bosses you'll face in the game -- in this case, the wake-up is that you must be prepared to fight other bosses in the future. It is only when fighting them that you will ''need'' combat skills.

* WeCanRebuildHim: Adam Jensen.

** Subverted in the very first mission. If you kill the Purity First terrorists in the Milwaukee Factory, the SWAT officers label you "a goddamn murderer" and tell you to get out of their sight, saying that it's only Sarif's influence that prevents them from arresting you. Even ignoring how completely absurd it is for hardened cops in a city as crime-ridden as Detroit to be so sympathetic to armed criminals, their statements would be objectively wrong if Adam were a cop, but as he is a private security guard, he's not allowed to use lethal force. ''Every single one of the terrorists'' was armed with a pistol or submachine gun, every single one either pointed their guns at you or fired on you, and by the time you arrived they'd already killed at least one hostage and opened fire on law enforcement. Every potential shoot in that mission would be completely clean, further amplified by the fact that [[AttackAttackAttack none of the terrorists so much as contemplate surrendering.]] However, they are not entirely wrong: first, Adam is a former cop and in most cases, KillEmAll is hardly police protocol even for a SWAT team, something even a discharged lawman should know; second, the cops are held back due to Sarif's influence, something that pisses them off as it allows Sarif Industries to bend the law to protect their corporate secrets, something the SWAT will chide Adam for if Sanders escape.

* ItHasBeenAnHonor: [[spoiler: Eliza to Adam, should he choose the KillEmAll ending.]]

** D: [[spoiler:Destroy TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, along with [[KillEmAll himself and all three major conspirators]], leaving the public to decide the fate of augmentation technology for itself. Even though everyone dies, this ending still manages to be somewhat optimistic, as Adam notes that humanity has made the right choices in the past in regards to advancement, and has the opportunity to do so again, without the machinations of the people in Panchaea messing things up.]]

* ContinuitySnarl: The Human Revolution comics can be summed up as this. Involving an entire adventure that takes place in the middle of the game's events, contradicts canon events, involves characters never seen or even referenced/mentioned in the game despite having a huge impact on the main characters, has characters who are terrorists dressed up in the trailer's version of the Belltower uniforms (but they aren't ever referenced as being Belltower). [[CriticalResearchFailure Its like the writers barely read the cliff-notes of the game and maybe watched one trailer for it before writing the comics.]]

* AskAStupidQuestion: Adam meets a criminal contact in the [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewers Hengsha sewers]] asking;

** Then finally: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf21Dl1vNvg "Please, call me Bob."]]

* ChokeHolds: One of the non-lethal take downs. Adam is even the trope image.

* ContinuitySnarl: The Human Revolution comics can be summed up as this. Involving an entire adventure that takes place in the middle of the game's events, contradicts canon events, involves characters never seen or even referenced/mentioned in the game despite having a huge impact on the main characters, has characters who are terrorists dressed up in the trailer's version of the Belltower uniforms (but they aren't ever referenced as being Belltower). [[CriticalResearchFailure Its like the writers barely read the cliff-notes of the game and maybe watched 1 trailer for it before writing the comics.]]

* CoolPlane: The Sarif Industries' tilt-jet VTOL company plane is very cool, and cut-scenes in the game showcase it nicely. It seems to have some remarkable capabilities, including the long range needed to fly from Detroit to Shanghai, although the cutscene might simply gloss over refuelling stops. Oddly, the game generally refers to the aircraft as a "helicopter" or "chopper", which it clearly is not.

** Adam fails to come up with a escape plan ''before'' arming some explosives he was given. [[spoiler:He manages to escape just in time by weakening the nearest window with a chair and jumping through, but suffers some heavy injuries in the progress.]] If this wasn't a cutscene, most players would have managed to run to safe distance before the timer runs out.
* CutscenePowerToTheMax: When your [[spoiler: first boss blows himself up]] Jensen is able to escape the explosion despite being only a few feet away. In the cutscene just before the final boss battle, Adam somehow manages to outrun ''turret fire''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKgPn-L2vdI&feature=player_detailpage#t=134s See for yourself.]]

* DeathByFallingOver: A real concern for players pursing a PacifistRun. Even if you disable an enemy non-lethally, they can still die from falling over ledges, falling into environmental hazards like electrified water, getting crushed by movable objects, or being dragged around too violently, and any of these count as if you killed them yourself.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The game ''strongly'' emphasizes a saturated golden monochrome, with accompanying [[SplashOfColor reds and greens]]. It's an obvious visual nod the FilmNoir genre, the "golden age" of the setting and Leonardo [=DaVinci's=] ''sfumato'' style.

** After [[spoiler: TheStinger]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf21Dl1vNvg the original game's title theme will play]].

* DoorToBefore: After you defeat the first boss, there is an elevator which leads directly back to the helipad you arrived on.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Bob Page appears in the first few minutes of the game, talking to TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness - then vanishes, never to be seen again til a brief scene after the end credits. [[spoiler: Bob is heard talking to [[AncientConspiracy Morgan (Everett)]] about how they can [[ShaggyDogStory manage anything in time]] before ending the call and meeting Dr. Reed and talking with her about the development of a hybrid nanite-virus, most likely either the original Deus Ex' Gray Death plague or the project that developed the Dentons.]] Video of the post-credits stinger [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf21Dl1vNvg available here]].

* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:If you don't skip the credits, the post credits scene reveals that Megan Reed is now working for Majestic 12.]]

* FashionsNeverChange: Averted, it's only 20 years into the future and fashion has distinctly moved on. Clothing are much "busier", with lots of tailoring, extra decorations, and high collars, to complement the neo-baroque decor.

* FictionalDisability: The inventor of cybernetics, Hugh Darrow, has a rare condition that causes his body to reject any cybernetics all together (most people's bodies reject them to some degree, but this can be [[PhlebotinumPills controlled with medication]]). This means that he must walk with a cane. [[spoiler: His bitterness over this is why he takes part in the EvilPlan to turn the public against cybernetics.]]

* FlushingEdgeInteractivity: Played straight, setting the player up for a disappointment upon discovering that vending machines cannot be interacted with, other than certain ones which can be lifted and thrown (as a weapon or to reveal hidden vents) when Adam has the correct strength augmentation installed.

** Since it's a prequel, you had to expect ''Human Revolution'' to end with a [[DownerEnding downer]], or at least in a [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet way]] for its characters. [[spoiler: Despite Jensen's efforts and sacrifices, none of his [[MultipleEndings ending choices]] will change the fact that ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' will happen. Majesti- 12 will split from the weakened Illuminati (who have failed to reign in control of the private sector) and the plan for world domination will change from biochip mind control to engineered global pandemic.]]

** "Clinics" and "recall" are mentioned between mysterious individuals in the very first cutscene. In the Tai Yong Medical HQ, [[spoiler:there are also several e-mails and conversation mentioning how odd their new biochip project is, and how third parties keep interfering with it.]]

* FriendsRentControl: All over the place. Adam's appartment has a huge amount of open space. Justified by an email explaining that his tenancy there was arranged for by Sarif Industries, with a year's worth of rent paid in advance. Other appartments around Detroit are smaller, but often still pretty spacious. The exception is in Heng Sha, where most appartments are slightly smaller than the ones in Detroit, and the Alice Garden Pods, where tenants get a a single cubbyhole bed and communal washroom facilities.

** In the Director's Cut, if you are trying to get the Trophy/Achievement for never being seen, always reload ''previous'' auto-save instead of ''latest'' auto-save (or always reload manual saves, but this requires frequent saving) if you are spotted. For whatever reason the system that tracks this particular challenge doesn't reset if you load the most recent autosave, and still thinks the challenge is voided.

* GangBangers: Human Revolution shows two rival Detroit gangs, the Motor City Bangers (pro-augmentation) and the Derelict Row Ballers (anti-augmentation). There are also the Hengsha based Harvesters who have a reputation for, well, ''harvesting'' augmentations from their victims.

* GiantMook: The Spec-Ops Ogres encountered as key points of the game are, quite simply, massive brutes. Though they can be disposed of with the hand-to-hand takedowns, they are a head taller than [[TallDarkAndSnarky Jensen]], significantly wider, clad in armor plating, have their own Typhoon implants and invariably carry heavy machine guns that can put most [=SAWs=] to shame. And even if you manage to slip a tranquilizer between their armor, they take for-flipping-ever to go down.

* GoingThroughTheMotions: There's only three or four gestures accessible to most [=NPC=]s. It starts to look a bit uncanny after a while. Female [=NPC=]s in particular only seem to have two animations, and all males will end up doing a very distinctive "hand-in-front-of-face" wave at least once during a conversation.

* HackingMinigame: It's played as a sort of risk/reward system on a lattice; moving forward through nodes has a chance of you tripping an alarm and getting traced, but there's also storage cubes with money, experience points or hacking software on the side that you can access if you don't mind the extra risk. If you do trip an alarm flag, it becomes a race against time against the computer.

* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:In one of the possible endings. The sequel retcons this, but the same time, it hints that the Adam in that game might be a clone, and not the one in ''Human Revolution''.]]

* HighTechHexagons: Adam Jensen has a hexagon imbedded in his forehead with a little logo in it.

* HollywoodSilencer: Played straight in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-DwoCkpBFA this trailer]]. Sort of used in the game itself; the silenced pistol is noisier than most versions of this trope, but it's not loud enough to be heard in a nearby room.

* HypocriticalHumor: Anonymous X goes on a tirade about how Hengsha has been corrupted by money grubbing Westerners. He proceeds to charge you an absurd amount of money for information that is vital to solving a murder. You can call him out on this.

** In general, the scripted events in the game can put people off. Playing as a stealth-centric character still does not prevent Adam from busting down doors, firing guns, stabbing people or performing very un-stealthy actions in the cinematics.

* ImprovisedWeapon: Activate the strength augmentation, and you can pick up refrigerators and dumpsters [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l3wOT9cSg4 and use them as thrown weapons]], and are almost instant death on most enemies. These heavy items are also pretty sturdy and can be used as cover in a firefight. You can also break down doors by throwing fridges at them; the fridge is all-purpose!

* InventoryManagementPuzzle: Averted. No longer does each path have resource costs associated with it, making the choice in path's less of a long term choice.

* InterchangeableAntimatterKeys: "Stop!" worms and "Nuke" viruses, which you can pick up as physical objects in a pseudo-floppy disk form, work on any electronic system and are somehow used up when you use them.

** Note that unlike all other items in the game, the "Stop!" worms and "Nuke" viruses appear to have unlimited stacking in your inventory[[note]]Using the Debug Console to give yourself the max number of each shows that you can stack 999 copies on top of eachother before another stack is created, however you can't actually obtain that many in the game proper.[[/note]] supporting the idea that you've saved this software onto a single portable storage device.[[note]]Well, one device for each type of file, anyway.[[/note]]

* InvisibilityCloak: Jensen has one, rendering him completely invisible for a short time, although alerted enemies can still hear him if he's sprinting around. The power drain is ''very'' high even when full upgraded (he gets at most 7 seconds for each of his 2-5 power cells), so the cloaking device is usually best used if you need to run right past a camera or guard's direct line of sight without alerting them, or slip through a laser grid (which aren't tripped while you're cloaked) without needing to stop and deactivate it. Some enemies also have this; they won't show up on your radar if it's activated, though the laser rifle can lock on to them through walls, and they can still be seen if you turn on Smart Vision.

* JustAStupidAccent: Nameless background characters in China speak perfect Mandarin, but the important characters you meet in Hengsha speak entirely in English, in the best attempt the voice actors can put on of a Chinese accent. They do well enough that even a Chinese speaker might not know they're actually Canadian, until they completely butcher the pronunciation of the few Chinese words they speak.

* JustifiedTutorial: The first part of the tutorial takes place during the attack on Sarif Industries and is designed to teach controls and basic combat. The next part of the Tutorial is set during the Milwaukee plant incident, and teaches more advanced concepts such as stealth, exploration and hacking. Of course, all the prompts are skip-able, and though the tutorial ''expects'' players to follow out what it suggests, it never ''forces'' players to do so.

** Some LampshadeHanging occurs the second time you get to Detroit. As head of security, Jensen will probably receive an email from a co-worker who heard that people reported stuff missing from their offices, and gives you his doorcode to check on his office. Which you can then also loot, like you did with the others (unless you already did before).

* LampshadeHanging: The way boss battles were implimented in ''Human Revolution'' has been one of its biggest criticisms, favoring direct combat built characters with few options for a stealth or social character to evade or take out bosses by other means. During ''The Missing Link'' DLC, Burke's comments highlight this forced approach:

* LayeredMetropolis: Hengsha, an urban nightmare that predictably has the rich on top and the poor on the bottom. This is lampshaded by a random comment of how Hong Kong is only so large. If you can't expand out, expand up.

* LiteralGenie: Before asking someone to "show the world what augmentation can do for humanity", double check what he actually thinks about it.

** The heavy rifle is horribly inaccurate and can only be fired from the hip because of its design, but attaching a laser sight and maxing the "recoil compensation" and "aim stabilizer" makes it as accurate as a pistol while maintaining its power. Similar upgrades and a target-seeking system can turn the machine pistol or combat rifle into headshot machines. Even the regular pistol can be made extremely deadly with the addition of an armor piercing mod, allowing it to kill even fully armored enemies with a single headshot.
** When first unlocked, cloaking is so ridiculously costly in energy that it's difficult to use at all. Once fully-upgraded it still won't let you fight whole battles invisible, but you can easily get from cover to cover undetected without using a single energy cell. With increased energy regeneration you can do this quite rapidly.

** [[spoiler: Eliza, an AI, shares her name with the first well known chatbot. Additionally, her last name Cassan is probably short for Cassandra, a figure of Greek myth who was cursed to speak true prophecies that nobody would believe. In the myth, she was the only one to foresee the fall of Troy.]]

*** In typography 'serifs' are small lines added to letters which may make them more readable, and the logo for Sarif Industries uses these serifs.

* MinorMajorCharacter: Beth [=DuClare=] is the head of World Health Organisation. Like in the original game, she's only mentioned and doesn't appear.

* MoreThanMindControl: The Social Enhancer augmentation comes with a system that allows you to release pheromones to influence a person[[note]]Though this is optional: the primary use of the CASIE augmentation is to scientifically "read" people through their inflection, tone, posture, and body language, allowing you to identify their personality and how best to present yourself to get them on your side. The pheromone feature is intentionally vague as to how it works, and is entirely optional[[/note]]. However, just releasing scents isn't enough, you need to have paid attention to the kind of person you're dealing with and choose the right kind of verbal response to get the person to talk. "Alphas" have a high opinion of themselves and respond well to guys who play to that, "Betas" respond well to people acting friendly, and "Omegas" are guys with low self-esteem who need intimidation to crush their resistance and get them to fold. People who recognize that Jensen is using the aug can't be turned with it, though.

** Amusingly, you ''can'' use it on your boss who had it installed in you to begin with. There is also a sidequest where you can talk-duel with a woman who has the same augmentation. It's left probably deliberately ambigious which side is more in the right in that particular conflict.

** For the truely die-hard fans who remember every single detail: The first code you use in the game is 0451. just like the com van code in the original.

* NGOSuperpower: Belltower Associates functions as everything from private/corporate security to Hengsha's police force, has enough clout to commandeer a top secret U.S. government facility on short notice, and even runs its own BlackSite detention camp/[[spoiler:human experimentation lab]] along with the industrial scale human trafficking pipeline shuttling detainees in and out of it. All of this while also handling the bulk of the fighting in the Australian civil war. Justified, as Belltower serves as the military arm of TheConspiracy.

* NoodleIncident: The Mexicantown Massacre is apparently an important part of Jensen's past, but the exact details are never explained. What is known is that it involved a 15-year old augmented criminal who apparently was dangerous enough that SWAT was called in, and they were ordered to shoot to kill due to worries that his augments would protect him from nonlethal weapons and allow him to potentially kill several of the officers singlehandedly. Jensen refused, while Haas obeyed orders and killed the kid, resulting in a massive riot.

** Jensen can give this speech to Dr Wing on Zelazny's behalf. One is [[spoiler: a doctor who hired a cyborg to prevent a rogue supersoldier from wreaking havok, the other is a supersoldier who went rogue to forcibly end a program which was creating supersoldiers to wreak havok for the highest bidder.]] Wing concludes that you have a point and he needs to think about it.
** O'Malley claims that you and him aren't so different, that you and him both see the world as cold, hard facts, if you choose the "Cold" option when you confront him about his corruption.

** Even if you don't have the highlighting, object you can interact tend to flash briefly every now and then. It's subtle enough to miss it if you're not looking for it but means that you won't spend a huge chunk of time not able to find something.
* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Adam actually takes ''quite a bit'' of damage from falling. Falling one story can take off more than half his health, falling two or three is a sure death[[note]]Justified in that he is mostly mechanical, and those mechanical augmentations have limits and no bend: he can't survive impacts beyond the mechanical limits, and willpower has nothing to do with it[[/note]]. However, he can activate the Icarus Landing System which envelops him in an electromagnetic sphere that slows his descent. It looks cool, and can be used to knock out enemies he lands upon from above.

** The game does a fair bit beyond that to support pacifist players, including the provision of a non-lethal takedown and both melee and ranged weapons (a stun gun and a very quiet tranquilizer-dart rifle) which render enemies unconscious instead of dead, and a variety of [=NPCs=] who will take notice of your unwillingness to kill and be more willing to help you out as a result. But it's not wholly a bed of roses; in particular, unconscious enemies can be revived, and doing so will be the first priority of anyone who notices his buddy out cold on the floor. This means you can't just start zapping people with impunity, but have to observe patrol behavior carefully and plan out in great detail how you're going to proceed; otherwise, you're liable to find all those guys you ''thought'' you'd put down back up and helping their buddies sweep the area for you. It's especially tricky if you don't have the radar upgrade that shows baddies you haven't yet actually seen; without that, it can be a matter of serious effort and tricky stealth just to be confident you know where everybody actually ''is''. And there are several areas in the game which are jam-packed with enemies who can mostly all see each other, meaning that if you take any of them down by any means, odds are someone's going to spot the body and trigger an alarm before you have time to conceal it. While late-game augs like silent sprinting and the invisibility cloak make it easy to breeze past such areas without anyone knowing you were there, in the early game (and in Missing Link, where your all augs start out disabled) it's very easy to spend several minutes planning out how to get safely past a single large room. Few modern AAA games do anywhere near as much to satisfy those who enjoy this style of play.

** Also shown in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO5CnVvY_wE&feature=player_detailpage#t=200s this]] billboard in Heng Sha.

* RRatedOpening: Well, M-Rated Opening. Adam's violent beatdown in the beginning is much bloodier and more brutal than the rest of the game, and the enemies in the Sarif Manufacturing Plant swear a lot more (especially with the F-bomb). After that, the violence and language get toned down.
* RatedMForManly: Much more then the originals. So many mooks and douchebags are being punched in the face with a polymer and metal fist it's hard not to get pumped.

** When talking to the receptionist in Adam's apartment block, you will learn that he is waiting for a replacement mirror. If you head up to his apartment and enter the bathroom, you'll see that his previous mirror has been ''[[NotSoStoic punched hard.]]'' If you read the sticky note attached, it says "Call Landlord. Replace Mirror ''Again.''" And if you read the emails on Adam's computer, you find a message from the landlord, who is exasperated at the amount of times this has happened, and is wondering exactly why it's continuously broken. So this isn't the first time. You can also find a message stating that the mirror has been delivered but is in danger of being returned if it is not picked up soon. In other words, the landlord is deliberately not replacing the mirror, either to get revenge on Adam for breaking them so often, or just because they're tired of replacing them.

** A: [[spoiler: Siding with Hugh Darrow and exposing the whole truth seems to Romantic. Jensen comes to believe that LuddWasRight, that the calamitous societal effects that augmentation and technology can have, and the potential danger involved if the Illuminati or other entities ever achieved dominance over society through the technology well outstrip the benefits. Therefore augmentation research, and other similar potentially humanity altering fields of research should be halted full stop.]]

* TheStinger: [[spoiler: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf21Dl1vNvg Megan Reed goes to Bob Page]] with Jensen's cell samples, leading to the creation of the Denton brothers, and the original ''Deus Ex''. [[ShaggyDogStory This happens no matter which]] of the MultipleEndings Jensen decides. ForegoneConclusion.]]

* StoryDrivenInvulnerability: Generally avoided by adding areas that you are not allowed to use your weapons in. However, later in the game, important [=NPC=]s appear outside of these areas. If you shoot them, they don't even flinch. Notable example is Taggart in the convention center.
* StupidityInducingAttack: The CASIE Aug works like this as it uses pheromones to reduce the target's logical thinking ability and directs them towards actions which will benefit you, if you convince them with the right words as well.

** There is a storage room [[spoiler:''directly'' before the second boss (Fedorova)]] that contains a Heavy Rifle with literally hundreds of rounds of ammunition. That is a probably the single best hint the game gives you that something really bad is through the next door.

* SwissCheeseSecurity: You can potentially avert this or play it straight, depending on how stealthy you are. A few times, other [=NPC=]s also play it straight, like leaving usernames, passwords and keycodes laying around or sent through email. TruthInTelevision, as many IT professionals will tell you; some people really are that careless with their passwords - something that [[LampshadeHanging bugs Pritchard to no end in the first half of the game.]]
** One computer terminal has a large sheet of paper taped next the it that straight up tells you the password in big red letters.

** You also get achievements for "defeating" the various major faction leaders in philisophical debates.

** There's also the "pheromones" system which also unlocks with the basic function of the social augmentation. A little meter with pips under "Alpha/Beta/Omega" appears during some conversations. As the person speaks, parts of it will light up, indicating what forms of persuasion a person may be susceptible to, and eventually you may get the prompt to activate the pheromone system (appeasing them, talking like they're your best friend, or intimidating them, essentially). When used on quest-givers, you can coax extra information out of them. You can also use it during the "social boss battles," as a "shortcut" for winning the debate. Using this shortcut, though, may have consequences later.

*** This is because [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPvAe86KyWg/ takedowns are complicated]]
** After dispatching the final boss, [[spoiler: Jensen can broadcast the message of either Hugh Darrow, Bill Taggart or David Sarif, or he can TakeAThirdOption by activating Panchaea's self destruct sequence]].

* TakeCover: A first for the series, and something of a necessity (''especially'' at the higher difficulties), though the switch from first to third-person perspective has elicited its share of negative fan responses. Besides the advantages a third-person camera gives, however, it's no better or worse than just crouching behind the same object.

* TechMarchesOn: A possible in-universe case: Boxguard robots look similar to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHJJQ0zNNOM Big Dog]] robot. Since RealitySubtext was always part of the game, it is possible that the developers intended the boxguards as fully functional successors to the Big Dog.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTOxcWR1y6E Adam Jensen, man of peace]].

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Thanks to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoRwOux7Ofw&feature=player_detailpage#t=269s this video]], we know that [[spoiler: Faridah (your pilot)]] may possibly be killed during the game.
** Confirmed by one of the game's [[http://www.gamefront.com/deus-ex-human-revolution-achievements/ secret achievements/trophies,]] which is awarded if you save [[spoiler: her]] life.

* TrailersAlwaysLie: [[spoiler: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2Yhy8TCl54&feature=player_detailpage#t=78s "House Of Revenge"]] Trailer portrays Zhao Yun Ru as a helpless pawn in the hands of the conspirators, showing her begging for help from Adam. Of course, this trailer cut out the next few seconds of that event where she seals herself in a panic room and continues to play a major part in TheConspiracy of her own free will, eventually merging with the Hyron Project and becoming the game's final boss.]]

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: With the exception of a few certain areas, where any form of fighting is disabled, any [=NPC=] can be killed in the most graphic ways possible. Random passerby snubbing you for being augmented? No one will ever denounce you again to your face when you [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsZYFU1cpNA impale them with your arm-blades]]. Are those some prostitutes? Well get your [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02tfbGkXzsU slapaho]] on. Hobo begging you for money? A robo-fist to the face will solve that problem. Adam can solve many [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvoBA4EFLUQ problems]]...

** That receptionist at your apartment building? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=whtNHRYJnrU You can knock her out, take her up to your apartment, stuff her in your secret stash, and fly away to China for a few days.]] That'll show her to keep your shiny new mirror in the warehouse.

** The Typhoon augmentation, which turns anyone implanted with it into a walking cluster bomb. Some handwaving is done about the developers having to solve "the backblast problem", but in reality this would be a serious issue - all the force required to launch the Typhoon's submunitions needs to go ''somewhere'' - and if it's not somehow redirected or attenuated, that force is going straight back into the user's torso.

** Lethal Takedowns. Too loud for stealth run, too lethal for pacifist run, rarely useful if you just shoot people and they take longer to perform. But damn they look cool.

** It's even fashionably functional: [[http://eidosmontreal.tumblr.com/post/8732788804/in-the-recent-trailers-i-saw-of-gameplay-i-noticed according to this post on the official Tumblr page]], the holes on his longcoat magnetically attach themselves to the typhoon ports and blade slits, allowing him to stab adversaries to death stylishly or blow them up without having to worry about the condition of his suit.

* BenevolentArchitecture: To facilitate the game's stealth and combat, the environments feature a lot of [[TakeCover waist high objects]] (bulletproof glass rails in business areas included) for cover, [[SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity weapon lockers filled with ammo, heavy weapons, and typhoon charges]] before boss fights and major battles, and [[AirVentPassageway ventilation shafts]] for sneaking around. And for the occasional open area, you can grab and move the nearest heavy object to make your own cover, provided you've upgraded your strength enough.

* TapOnTheHead: Punching an enemy's lights out leaves them out permenantly unless one of their buddies can wake them up. You can lollygag for hours and find KO'd people where you left them, alledgedly alive when they should by all rights be dead from concussions and skull fractures.

* TechnicalPacifist: Many of Adam's non-lethal takedowns are fairly wince inducing. Of course, he has to make sure they ''don't get up''.