Choosing My Game of the Year; Deus Ex
With so many games on the market, and so little time to play them all, deciding which was best can be a difficult task. Some writers look at the review scores, or sales figures, while others may take a more personal approach. For me, it’s definitely more personal, but I also understand that labeling something “Game of the Year,” would be a tad pretentious if it weren’t truly worthy.
Naturally, there weren’t many titles that would fit that criteria. There were plenty of triple-A titles like Skyrim and Batman: Arkham City or numerous indie games by companies like Kairosoft that had me hooked time and time again, but while they were all great games, none of them really spoke to me quite like Eidos’ dystopian prequel Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Set in the near future, Deus Ex: Human Revolution delivered a slice of science fiction filled with mystery, intrigue and a mix of stealth and action. It balanced its linear story with just enough sandbox-gameplay to keep itself from feeling constrained. And, through it all, the game kept me immersed by allowing multiple solutions, not all of which were so obvious, for each problem it would present. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I found myself caring about the characters I interacted with throughout the game — given how picky I can be, this is quite a feat.
The game had multiple endings, and while I’ve gotten the one I wanted, there’s enough replay value to warrant playing through it again, and given how much I enjoyed it the first time, that’s something I don’t mind doing. I honestly can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a game enough to warrant multiple playthroughs. I’m still hesitant to label Deus Ex “Game of the Year,” as once again, I find the title a bit pretentious, but if anything comes close, Deus Ex could easily be it.
