After logging 15+ hours of gameplay into Deus Ex: Human Revolution I have been very impressed with the concept and gameplay. However more relevant to this blog; I have been impressed with ethical questions the game itself poses about human enhancements, or as called in Deus Ex, human augmentation.
The augmentation used in this game is more than just artificial legs or arms, but rather a fusion of technology and science so advanced that individuals have become more than human leaving the rest of society as subhuman. Those with money are able to obtain augmented limbs to replace pre-existing body parts as well as the drugs to sustain them all the while the rest of the population is left just human. Obviously, this leaves everyone without augmentation at a disadvantage creating yet another type of class warfare. On top of the class divide, those who obtain augmentation, but are unable to sustain the augments received through usage of addictive drugs are left on the streets to beg and eventually die.
The premise of the entire game is beyond bleak; while the technology and science behind augmentation is amazingly dreadful it still manages to be cool at the same time. The thing is, the game is set in 2027 which isn’t far off from today, and upon doing research into the subject the science itself isn’t far behind either.
So what do you think? Have you played the game? How do you feel about human augmentation?
