It's been nearly seven years since Eidos released the follow-up to its highly acclaimed FPS/RPG title Deus Ex, but now it appears we're one step closer to the third installment in the series, Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

According to a report from GameSpot, Eidos parent company Square Enix registered that title (as well as a colon-free version) last week with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and its European counterpart, so it's a safe bet the game finally has a name. And though Eidos has been relatively quiet about the project, our Spies have been able to piece together quite a few details.

In a December 12, 2009 post in the Eidos Deus Ex forum, moderator MyImmortal shared these tidbits:
Deus Ex 3 is a prequel and set in the year 2027 (before the events of DX1). One day, the path of (lead character) Adam Jensen's life is unexpectedly changed as a team of Black-Ops commandos break into his company's headquarters and (using a security plan from Jensen's own hand) a mass slaughter ensues. From there on out, Jensen is caught up in a conspiracy that's going to see him struggling for his life. The story and conspiracy elements are every bit a Deus Ex game and it will take the player around the globe. It's huge and the conspiracies are multi-layered.

The forum post also tells us that the game takes place in the franchise's typical cyberpunk setting, but with a Renaissance twist. Jensen starts out "all organic" but will be forced to augment himself as the story unfolds. Additional details include:
--Non-linear, multi-path, multi-solution gameplay.
--Different ways to solve any objective depending on your play style (social, hacking, stealth or action).
--Character and weapon customization.
--Action/RPG just like the first game.
--Choices and consequences.
--A semi-open world approach to levels and missions.
--An inventory system similar to DX1.
--It's not a sandbox. It's not totally linear. It's like the best of both of those approaches.
--Random explorable elements with earned experience points.
--Global travel.
As we told you back in November, Square Enix will be handling the cut-scenes and in-game cinematics on the title, and the game will utilize the Tomb Raider Underworld engine (though Eidos says it will not resemble TRU at all). The game is expected to hit the shelves in the fall, and Eidos said it plans to make a firm announcement about the release date sometime this spring.

The last bit of information we can share about Deus Ex: Human Revolution comes from the aforementioned Eidos forum: "At the time of writing, Windows is the only platform confirmed."


Sharkey says: Let's just forget Invisible War ever happened. Looks like Human Revolution is shaping up to be a worthy successor to the original.