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Deja Review: Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut
This is a Deja Review: A quick, unscored look at the new features and relative agelessness of a remade, revived or re-released game. Two years ago, we called Deus Ex: Human Revolution an "imperfect, complex and ambitious reminder of what a game can be when it's unafraid." Eidos Montreal didn't hold our hands, didn't string us from Waypoint A to Waypoint B so we could kill Bad Guy C. It trusted players to be intelligent and curious, and constructed a bleak, fascinating world that needed to be explored. Now, in 2013, with a "Director's Cut" of Human Revolution available for Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, most of its "imperfect" aspects have been smoothed over, improving what was already a great experience. Even so, the addition of second screen features introduce a handful of new, albeit smaller, problems.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution boss fights on Wii U 'as they should have been'
Eidos Montreal didn't mess around when it came to fixing one of the most widely criticized aspects of Deus Ex: Human Revolution in the upcoming Wii U Director's Cut."The boss fights are now as they should have been," Emile Pedneault, game designer on the Director's Cut told us today at PAX East. "We took them and completely rebuilt them. We couldn't change [the boss' character] model and the way they need to die because of the story telling, but we changed the level layout. We tweaked their AI and we've added tons of ways to deal with them."He continued, "You can deal with a boss fight in a stealth way, you can deal with a boss fight in a hacking way. We even have for each boss fight a way to kill them without firing a single bullet."Pedneault showed us the first boss fight, pointing out all the different ways that it could now be completed using other skills beyond "throw every grenade in your inventory and just keep shooting." There are several corridors now for stealth attacks and turrets for hacking, along with other goodies for players to discover.The boss fights were widely criticized when Deus Ex: Human Revolution originally launched, with Eidos Montreal eventually admitting it farmed out that portion of the game to an outside developer. Deus Ex DLC "The Missing Link," bundled with the Wii U version, designed in-house at Eidos Montreal gave a far more flexible experience. %Gallery-183306%
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut listed for Wii U by Amazon [update]
An Amazon listing indicates a Director's Cut version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution is coming to the Wii U, with the release date for the United States denoted as May 7.The listing notes the game features "additional content," including using the GamePad with a new augmentation called the "Neural Hub." While Square Enix is listed as the publisher, the listing doesn't mention which developer is behind the port, but it may well be Straight Right. The Australian developer ported Mass Effect 3 to the system, and has been reported as bringing a major Square Enix game the Wii U's way too.Update 1: When approached, a Square Enix representative told Joystiq, "We don't comment on rumor or speculation." Update 2: The Amazon page has now been taken down, but you can see a screencap of the listing below the break, along with the featured box art. [Thanks, Steven]
Mass Effect 3 Special Edition review: Mapping the galaxy
For Wii U re-releases of existing games, we're republishing our original reviews with added evaluation of the new material. Keep track of all of Joystiq's Wii U launch coverage on the Wii U hub page! The Wii U version of Mass Effect 3, saddled with the puzzling subtitle "Special Edition," doesn't introduce much in the way of console exclusive features. Of course, even without the handful of extra features, you still have one of the year's best games, though the conclusion to an epic trilogy may make an odd starting point for Wii U owners.Helping to ease new players into the series is an interactive comic prelude, "Mass Effect Genesis 2." This is an extended version of the "Mass Effect Genesis" comic available on the console and PC versions of Mass Effect 2. It covers the events of the first two Mass Effect games, allowing players to make many of Commander Shepard's key choices along the way. The comic itself is pretty substantial, lasting a bit longer than twenty minutes.Certain choices may confuse new players, notably whether to make Udina or Anderson Earth's first councilor at the end of the original Mass Effect. Regardless of the initial choice, the events of Mass Effect 2 conspire to make Udina councilor by the beginning of Mass Effect 3, but those events aren't covered in the comic. As such, Wii U players may find it strange that Udina is suddenly councilor after making the opposite choice in the prelude. Still, the comic does an adequate job of catching up new players.%Gallery-165279%
Mass Effect 3 Wii U launches November 18
Mass Effect 3 will be available for purchase alongside the Wii U when it launches on November 18 in North America, BioWare confirms today. Mass Effect 3 will also be a launch title in Europe on November 30 and in Japan on December 5. Mass Effect 3 on Wii U includes the game's Extended Cut and From Ashes DLC, along with an updated version of the Genesis comics from Darkhorse. According to BioWare external producer Melanie Faulknor, the Wii U version also packs the multiplayer add-ons Rebellion, Resurgence, and Earth. The Genesis comic was first introduced in Mass Effect 2 on PS3, giving players a chance to mold the events from the first game, which was not available on the platform. In the Wii U update, players will be able to craft their stories from the first two Mass Effect games and bring those decisions into Mass Effect 3. The Omega DLC slated for later this month wasn't addressed, so we imagine Wii U players will have to download the DLC just like everyone else. No more special treatment!
Report: Major Square Enix game receiving Wii U port by Mass Effect 3 dev
Straight Right, the Australian developer porting Mass Effect 3 to Wii U, may also be working on a "triple-A Square Enix" port for Nintendo's new console. The info is based on the LinkedIn page (now altered) of Chris Slater, Straight Right's technical project manager, as spotted by an eagle-eyed NeoGAF user.Slater has since updated his LinkedIn profile, but a Google Cache of the page as it was on September 25 shows the project manager is "working for Straight Right on a short term contract, porting a triple-A Square Enix game to the yet-to-be-released Wii U platform." We have a screen-grab of the Google Cache page here.It's already known Straight Right is working on two Wii U games in addition to Mass Effect 3, with one an original IP and the other stemming from a well-known franchise. Since the Square Enix game is a port, it means this'd be the one from a well known franchise. Hitman Absolution, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and the new Tomb Raider are primary candidates. Crystal Dynamics previously denied Tomb Raider is coming to Wii U any time soon, saying the studio would have to design it "very differently" and with "unique functionality" for the Nintendo console.We reached out to Square Enix, but a spokesperson told us the publisher "cannot comment on rumors or speculation."
Straight Right building two Wii U games that aren't Mass Effect 3
Straight Right, the developer creating Mass Effect 3 for the Wii U, has two other Wii U games in its workshop, boss Tom Crago tells Eurogamer. One game is an original IP, while the other is "based on another big franchise," set to launch in 2013."We've made a number of bets on the Wii U, so we're certainly hoping that the platform comes strongly out of the gate," Crago says. "We've got two other titles in development. One of them is original, our own IP, and another is based on another big franchise that will come out in 2013. It's a big title and you will have heard of it."Mass Effect 3 is slated to be a Wii U launch title, whenever that may be. Straight Right started work on the Wii U version months before Mass Effect 3 launched on other platforms in March."This is the biggest title we've worked on in a long time," Crago says. "There's a significant technical challenge bringing the game from its original format to the Wii U. It's a new, different and sophisticated piece of hardware, so there's a good deal of technical energy that's been expended making that happen."
Mass Effect 3 Wii U developed by Australian studio Straight Right
BioWare and EA have chosen their companion for the development of Mass Effect 3's Wii U iteration: Australian developer Straight Right, who has previously been responsible only for Shift 2: Unleashed on iOS.According to a comment on Facebook, Straight Right considers itself a "sister company" to larger Melbourne developer Tantalus Media. "Part of the same group and sharing the same building," the company explained.Mass Effect 3 is a launch game for Wii U, whenever that is. For more information on the exclusive features Straight Right is implementing for BioWare, check out our hands-on preview.
