NFL First Weekend Impressions

Week 1 of the long awaited NFL season was filled with an even mix of blowouts and tight contests.  In fact, of the 14 games played (including Thursday's opener), 7 were decided by an average of 22 points.  The remaining 7 games of the weekend were settled by a margin of 6 points, though a few of those games were not quite as close as they appear.  A few quick observations from the weekend:

The Colts suck (w/o Peyton) - I think we all knew how much Peyton Manning meant to the Indianapolis Colts, and that their odds of beating the Texans without him were slim to none, but I don't know that anyone realized quite how inept the Colts offense would be with Kerry Collins at the helm.  The Texans were one of the worst secondaries in the NFL last year and were routinely torched for 300 plus yards by less than elite quarterbacks.  I get that they revamped their back end by signing Jonathon Joseph, but I have a hard time beliving that this is truly a top flight secondary.  Despite a healthy Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon and Dallas Clark, Kerry Collins managed just 197 yards through the air, and it was much much less than that before the Texans took their foot off the gas.  Don't kid yourselves Colts fans, this game could have been far worse had Matt Schaub and company decided to pour it on.  There were no major injuries on defense, and yet the Colts were once again shredded by a middling run game.  Without Arian Foster, Ben Tate and Derrick Ward still managed to pile up 167 yards rushing against the Colts.  The Colts, meanwhile, managed a paltry 64 yards on the ground.  If Manning is healthy by Week 10, the Colts could be looking at a 3-7 record, at which point it may be wise to just let Manning rest for the balance of the season, rather than risk reinjury.  An indicator of just how bad this season could get, ESPN's John Clayton reported that the Colts were scouting Andrew Luck this Saturday.  Yikes.

Ravens leave Steelers for the birds - Ok, it's a corny line, I know.  In all seriousness, the Ravens obliterated the Steelers, who couldn't seem to get out of their own way.  Outexecuted in every phase of the game, the Steelers turned the ball over seven times.  That's not a misprint.  Ben Roethlisberger threw three interceptions, and between that and the Steelers puzzling inability to stop Ray Rice (who became the first running back to gain over 100 yards against the Steelers since...himself in 2009) from running straight up the middle, it made for a long day.  Oh, and Joe Flacco looked pretty comfortable in the pocket carving up a suddenly porous Steelers secondary.  I know this is only one game, but wow did Pittsburgh look awful.  This was a performance you would expect to see out of a team with a rookie quarterback and a defense riddled with injuries, not a 2 time Super Bowl champion quarterback and a healthy, veteran defense.  Maybe this isn't the Steelers' division to lose.

NFC North dominates NFC South: There were three games held this week between NFC North and NFC South teams.  The NFC South is widely regarded as the best division in the NFC, and not without reason.  Three teams won double digit games last year, and each has an elite or near-elite quarterback, with Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, and Josh Freeman.  While Brees certainly performed well on Thursday against the Packers, he was outshined by Packers QB Aaron Rodgers.  Brees' division fellows were not nearly as impressive.  Matthew Stafford shredded the Tampa Bay defense for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Freeman and the Tampa offense were held to 146 yards through 3 quarters.  Meanwhile, Jay Cutler (300+ yds and 2 TDs) and the Bears flattened the Falcons 30-12, and his counterpart, Matt Ryan, had a tough day at the office, being held without a touchdown pass while tossing 1 INT.  While it is certainly early to draw any long term conclusions from only week one, perhaps the road to the NFC championship goes through the North, not the South.

Return of the old Vick: At least for one game, anyway.  The Eagles beat the crap out of the Rams, I get it.  As hard as it may be to level judgement from this game, it was not last year's Michael Vick that disposed of the Rams.  No, this was the Mike Vick from his years in Atlanta.  Don't be fooled by passing yards and touchdowns; Vick was 14 of 32 passing, and if that continues the Eagles will fall well short of their goals.  Meanwhile, Vick reverted back to his old ways of taking off and running when the pocket collapsed.  If accuracy continues to be a problem, as I have a sneaking suspicion it might, and Vick returns to his old ways, the Eagles could be in for a disappointment.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

So lately a large portion of my time has been taken up with playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  I'd like to start by saying that the game is awesome.  The idea of a game where virtually every objective has multiple paths to completition, with each allowing for a unique play style, is one that I can get behind.  The game lives up to this ideal, for the most part, and it's engaging story and well crafted setting more than make up for it's few flaws. 

Before getting into the mechanics of the game, Human Revolution's story is the primary focus of the experience, and certainly one of the biggest draws for fans of the previous two Deus Ex games.  Set as a prequel to the original game, Human Revolution takes place in a world where augmentations to the human body are commonplace.  On the surface, these appear to be no more than the future's more advanced prosthetics, but you find out as the game goes along that things are not always as they appear.  You play as Adam Jenssen, the head of security for Sarif Industries, one of the leaders in augmentation research.  As the game opens, your facility is brutally attacked by augmented soldiers who appear to slaughter the company's research team and leave you for dead.  Of course, there wouldn't be much of a game if the main character died in the first 15 minutes, so Jenssen is rescued from death's door by having augmentations installed in his body.  This puts him in the unique position of being augmented without his consent, which effects how certain characters react to him throghout the game.  This is where the game truly begins, as Jenssen explores every nook and cranny of Detroit and Shanghai, and makes stops in several other locations.  Each one of the hub worlds and locations is uniquely crafted and has a cyberpunk aesthetic that feels authentic.  There is no shortage of apartments to explore and people to interact with, and I found it easy to stumble across items and locations whose importance wasn't immediately apparent but would end up being the centerpoint of a side quest later on.  The ability to truly explore your environment is one that lends the game a sandbox feel and gives you the freedom to spend your time as you wish and become engrossed in the environment. 

At it's base level, Human Revolution ostensibly plays like an FPS (First Person Shooter for the uninitiated), but there is much more to it than that.  It includes a cover system which takes the player out to a 3rd person viewpoint as well as RPG elements similar to the original Deus Ex and it's direct sequel Invisible War.  Normally when a gamer hears the phrase "FPS with RPG elements" they cringe.  Typically the game will shift dramatically in one of two directions: either the game is an RPG that depends on terrible shooting mechanics, or it is an FPS with a uesless level up mechanic that only marginally effects your ability to pop baddies in the head.  Human Revolution suffers neither of these fates.  While you won't confuse the FPS mechanics for a more polished shooter like Call of Duty or Battlefied: Bad Company, the shooting is good enough that it doesn't detract from the game.

While the shooter elements are only competent, the RPG system in the game is integral to the experience.  In traditional RPG style, you are granted experience points for completing quests you are given throughout the game as well as for a multitude of other things.  The experience system is very well done and is setup in a way that rewards you for commitment to your playstyle.  The true genius of it is that it does not pigeonhole you into any particular way of playing the game, but rather rewards you for exploring and trying new things.  For example, when you hack into a security terminal, you gain experience, and you can gain additional experience for turning the stationary turrets against your enemies.  You also gain experience every time you sneak through a new air vent or when you execute a lethal or non-lethal takedown maneuver.  There are such a multitude of interesting and fun ways to gain experience points that it never feels like a chore, something that many RPGs tend to suffer from.  The goal of gaining experience in Human Revolution is to accumulate the game's version of skill points, called Praxis points.  Praxis points can be allocated to any one of about 20 different Augmentations.  These Augmentations provide benefits that range from a cloaking system to enhanced hacking abilities to the ability to walk through electrified water with impunity.  How you allocate your Praxis points will drastically impact your playstyle, as putting points in hacking will allow you to hack into the various security terminals and computers scattered throughout the world, which can provide anything from codes to armories to interesting story tidbits and information that helps connect the dots between Human Revolution and the original Deus Ex.  If you choose to put your points into armor and shooting abilities, however, it will be much easier for you to run and gun your way through each level.

This brings me to one of my few gripes with the game.  Perhaps part of the reason for this is that I played as a stealth/hacker, but ammo seemed extremely limited for long stretches of the game.  So much so, that it would be very easy to be running and guuning your way through a warehouse, only to find yourself halfway through and completely out of ammo.  The initial inventory size is small enough that carrying more than three weapons while still having sufficient ammo to complete a mission is a challenge.  It is common to dispatch an enemy who is armed with a combat rifle only to find that he has 4 combat rifle shells on him.  What kind of clown show only gives their guards FOUR  rounds of ammunition to protect their valubles with?  That would mean that if I held out a hat on a stick and startled the guard into firing his weapon, he would be out of ammo.  Despite having only a handful of rounds at any given time, the guards, of course, never run out of ammo when they are firing at you.

Another small issue the games suffers from is poorly rendered CGI cutscenes.  This is the first game I can remember where the in game graphics are noticeably superior to the pre-rendered cutscenes.  The cutscenes look pixelated and muddy, and it is jarring when the game transitions from the in game graphical style to pre-rendered CGI.  There are a few points in the game where story sequences take place from a first person perspective, with the character basically on rails, although you are able to look in different directions.  As bad as the pre-rendered cutscenes are, it seems like inserting an on rails first person section would have been a more elegant solution, as these sections are done quite well and there are very few of them.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution has more than enough substance to overcome it's few flaws, and it's story shines.  The ability to approach every objective from multiple angles and with multiple playstyles gives significant replayability to an already engrossing experience, and I'm already planning my next playthrough as a more combat oriented Jenssen.  The whole experience was enjoyable and I'm excited for the new experience a second playthrough will bring.  Anyone with an interest in futuristic fiction, a deep, engaging story, and a unique shooter/RPG experience will throroughly enjoy the 30+ hours you can sink into a single playthrough.