Xboxaddict.com Article
Deus Ex DLC: The Missing Link
by Adam DilevaDues Ex: Human Revolution took me by surprise as I never really got into the original games all that much. I ended up really enjoying it and wondering if I'd ever get to spend some more time with Adam Jensen again without having to replay the story over again. Now that the first full DLC is out for Human Revolution, named The Missing Link, I got to have a few more hours with the augmented bad ass.
In Human Revolution, Adam Jensen leaves Heng Sha on route to Singapore. When he leaves, he's put into a cryostasis pod and awakes as if nothing has happened. The Missing Link takes place during this trip and is the 'lost' time that Jensen doesn't recall. When Jensen awakes he finds himself in a dilemma as he's been taken prisoner and no longer has use of his augmentation upgrades or weapons. Your first task is to get back your armor and weapons back, after that you need to figure out what's going on and escape the cargo ship that you stowed away on. It makes sense story-wise yet doesn't feel like it was an essential section missing on the disc.
Adam's new journey will take you on a five hour detour of gameplay which makes it a hefty DLC add-on. I was expecting a quick hour or two addition, but was pleasantly surprised with the length included. If you're an achievement hunter or like a challenge, it will take much longer to get the points for not upgrading your augmentations, using weapons, or explosions. Once completed, it sets up the next part of the main story nicely, the only real irk I have is that since it's in the middle of Adam's overall story (and after the fact if you've beaten the game), you know that the choices you make have no real weight attached.
You begin The Missing Link from the main menu, and also even has its own game save files, making it easy to continue and pick up where you left off. The biggest shock you might encounter is that you start off with zero upgrades and augmentations (though it's explained why in the main plot), and since they are reset, this gives you an opportunity to play Adam a completely different way than you might have in the main story.
The tanker ship is a fitting setting and the water effects when outside look great. My biggest complaint with the level design in this DLC package is that there is quite a bit of backtracking through certain sections. Some might not care, but it did feel excessive at times when I had to go through the same path back and forth a few times. Between some sections of the level are lengthy loading points that act as body scanners (to justify it) and happen a little too often for how much back and forth you need to be doing.
The gameplay and mechanics from the full game carry over and there's nothing really new. While it's more of the same, that's a good thing considering how superb Human Revolution originally was. It also carries over the same flaws though, like how you can take out an enemy and their friend standing beside them won't take notice unless he's looking directly at you. Though it somewhat redeems itself in the final confrontation, as the boss fight isn't like the ones in the full game which was one of the biggest flaws to the original game in my opinion.
The Missing Link feels like a fleshed out side quest that hints at the main story without feeling like it was left out of the main game. If you finished human revolution and are wanting more time with Adam, it's worth the price of admission as it's more than just filler.
