Facing a Human Revolution?

Published on Tuesday, 20 September 2011 10:28

	By Andrew Roach Follow @_AsktheExperts_

At some point in your life, probably at quite a few in fact, someone is bound to have asked you, "If you could have any superpower, what would it be?"

Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the latest offering from Square Enix and tipped to be Game of the Year, takes that question one step further. "What superpower would you like?" it asks. Then it follows it up with, "when would be a good time to make an appointment to get installed?" quickly pursued by the darker question of, "can you imagine the horror if everyone had superpowers?" 

The latest install of the acclaimed Deus Ex franchise has given light for a new debate about the subject and the issues surrounding human augmentations.

Enhancing ourselves through technological or genetic manipulation has always been one of those topics that people often dream about and that many scientists presume will dominate the next century.

Human Revolution explores a whole host of such possible augmentations. Focussing on the mechanical enhancements, the game displays a range of abilties, from increased running and jumping abilities for the leg or skin advancements to be able to absorb more damage to an invisibility device and the ability for the mind to analyse and judge a character.

And, of course, there is also an exploding weapon device for the chest. Presumably, such an augmentation would be handy for real life situations, such as forgetting the keys to your house, Al-Qaeda insurgents not quite ready to meet those 72 virgins of theirs, or interior decorating.

Despite all of these fancy enhancements, the game’s story intertwines between the need for augmentation and whether a human being can function properly and naturally bond to such devices without rejecting the technology. There are other issues debated too such as whether these improvements could be controlled remotely, how society would respond to super humans running about, and how it may change the shape of humanity in the future.

With the previous games basing the modifications of nanotechnology, the use of mechanical augmentations marks a more realistic direction. This is echoed by Will Rossellini, one of the scientific consultants who collaborated on Human Revolution.

“Nanotechnology is a black box for what might be done in the future using our understanding of the fact that our understanding of the laws of physics change at very small sizes, I advised the team at Deus Ex to stay away from nanotechnology in this prequel in part because the promise of nanotechnology hasn't been realized yet.” Rossellini explains.

“For the most part, nanotechnology introduces challenges without advantages in interfacing with the body, so it will likely be a very long time before we have some of the innovations used in Invisible War.” 

Rossellini also believes that the rejection of the augmentations is natural but there can be ways of controlling the issue.

“Rejection is usually synonymous with lost function due to inflammation. Controlling local inflammation at the implant site is possible using drugs and more elegant mechanical design.  It is also possible with more minimally invasive surgeries and different materials,” said Rossellini.

The augmentations might also not be too far away with Rossellini believing that the basis for these already in existence.

“I think that the sensory (eyes and ears) along with motor/muscle augmentations utilized in the game are the closest to becoming a reality (in some form).” Rosselini says.

“This is in part due to the fact that they already exist today either commercial products (Med-El, Advanced Bionics -- ears, Second Sight, Inc...eyes) and then there have been millions poured into prosthetic limbs from the government,” he adds.

Rossellini also feels that it is just human nature to look for new ways to enhance our bodies and maximise our capabilities: “This has been happening since man started using tools. We are constantly looking for ways to be safer, younger, sexier, happier and will use any number of implants to enhance ourselves (drugs like steroids, aderol or even cosmetic implants).”

So even though it may be possible that these enhancements may not be too far from development, it would seem that the human upgrades will remain as a virtual reality for the mean time, but for those of you who can't wait to get a terminator style arm, there's always Deus Ex.

Editorial Comment: While we don't generally review games on ATE (shameful display!), I can tell you that after hammering through Deus Ex: Human Revolution myself that anyone who hasn't already run down to the shops to grab a copy is a mad man. Without going into too much detail, this game rocked my socks. For a more detailed review, try here.