Although I read the 1up review for DE:HR, I'm not familiar with the Deus Ex series, and I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting myself into when I booted it up. Little did I know I was embarking on an experience that would hook me from beginning to end!
The first thing that struck me are the great graphics. The rich environment has so many assets that most of the characters and settings look completely unique. When I began, I just looked around for a while, noticing all the props in the environment, appreciating the time that was spent rendering it all.
Amazing Detail 
After getting my feet wet, I began to appreciate the depth of exploration and upgrading involved. I spent half of my time snooping through every nook and cranny in search of credit chips, weapons and ammo, secret paths, pocket secrataries, and those oh-so-precious praxis kits to help boost my character and make future exploits more managable. It became an obsession! Even when I had the proper access code for a computer or lock, I still hacked them to gather more booty. I hacked everything I could find!
Hacking
"Conversation paths" are becoming more frequent in adventure games, and I think DE:HR implements them well. I was able to successfully manipulate the first few conversations on pure intuition, and after acquiring the "Social Enhancer" augmentation I was impressed not only by the extra depth it added, but also how it was presented on-screen. Overall, it helped add a sense of drama to the experience, enabling me to have an impact on the storyline, while not diverging too far from it had I failed.
Let's talk this through...
Although it can be approached as a straight up shooter, the game is more rewarding (XP and trophy-wise) in favor of stealthlike passive benevolence over blood spilling chaos and feels very much like Metal Gear Solid. There were also times during the area in China, due to locale and heavy reliance on social interaction, when I kept feeling deja vu, as if I was playing an incarnation of Shenmue.
Metal Gear Solid Shenmue
The story, itself, is epic, and complex enough to keep you guessing. Am I working for a corrupt company, or am I confused, caught in a game of corporate espionage on a global scale? I found myself bonding with some of the characters thanks in large to the believable voice acting. I'm sure I could have saved (spoiler) right after the (spoiler) crash if I'd just upgraded to that (spoiler) aug and (spoiler) everyone before it was too late!
I really enjoyed the mature content and the global conspiracy vibe. The producers did their homework, weaving the influence of the notorious Illuminati and Bilderberg Group into a storyline which, upon conclusion, evokes ponderence of humanity's direction in the modern age. And I couldn't prevent laughing outloud at the adult humor sprinkled throughout some of the hacked email. One part that I found absolutely brilliant was after that sidequest where Malik asks you to gather evidence pertaining to her friend's death and what she does with the recorded confession. Whoever thought of that definitely earned their money.
"The Hive" nightclub.
My only real nitpicky complaint is about the facial expressions. They seem a tad stiff and previous-gen. Watching facial expressions during cutscenes and long conversations noticably impacted my suspension of belief within the game. The blame could actually be put on Team Bondi for setting the bar so high with L.A. Noire. Since that game, most CGI facial expressions I watch seem robotic, and I hope more dev teams realize this and embrace motion face capture technology.
Compare Deus Ex's facial expressions...
...to L.A. Noire's
One final note: I read opinions about the lackluster boss battles. I agree that they don't measure up against some of the greatest boss battles of all time, but I accept them for what they are. They're more like poignant plot battles, sort of like in Call of Duty: dramatic moments that are heavy on plot, light on actual play mechanics.
What I liked:
Mature, immersive environment.
Multiple options for play style, upgrades, mission routes.
Opportunity for vast item-gathering exploration.
What I didn't like:
Face animations seem dated.
Rare inopportunistic autosaves.
That I didn't play on the hardest difficulty the first time through. Now I have to play it again!
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