Video Game: Gameplay Tips for "Deus Ex: Human Revolution"

This game offers you some freedom in exploring the environments and your choice of gameplay techniques.  Regardless of how you play it, it may still present some challenges.  If you're finding yourself stuck with something, perhaps this guide can help.

If all else fails, it never hurts to check out these walkthroughs and guides:

Deux Ex Wiki
IGN Walkthrough
PS3 Trophy Guide
PS3 Trophy Guide Forum:  Roadmap and Guide
 
General Tips

• It might go without saying, but save often.  You're allowed up to 20 saved games, so make a save every time you make an important decision or make good progress.  It certainly helps with certain trophies (and the story in general) to save before a social battle or before finishing a quest with multiple possible endings, so you can reload and try different things.
• Use the cover system, all the time, every time.  It's the best way to ensure that you're really out of the bad guys' line of sight.  Moving along cover is also quieter than moving around freely.  Sometimes, it's the only way to really get somewhere.
• Try to find alternate routes.  The beaten path is usually overrun with hoards of guards; you can usually find small holes, vents, tunnels, doors, or other paths that loop around these areas and allow you to get where you're going without being seen.  As such...
• Explore everywhere you can.  There are vents and airshafts everywhere that lead to other places, allowing you to bypass most areas where bad guys roam around.  They also lead to cool secret places where you can find more ammo, ebooks (some of which grant experience points, and are necessary for the "Doctorate" trophy), pocket secretaries (which may contain passwords and passcodes), money, and praxis kits.
• Hack everything you can, as long as you're able to do so.  It's certainly a bad idea to hack into things with civilians watching, and it's even worse to hack something and have a guard walk up behind you.  But as long as the area's clear, have at it.  Capturing datastores will grant you bonus money, experience, and viruses.  Successful hacks net you decent experience points.  Anything you hack will help you more than it hinders.  So why not?
• Since all play styles may require some fundamental hacking, it's recommended to invest some praxis points toward the hacking skills.  Points in the capture and stealth areas should come first, since they'll let you access higher-rated machines more efficiently.  I never invested much in fortify, but I can see the value in it if you find yourself fortifying your nodes all the time.  However, the skill that lets you see what the datastores have is one of the iffier features.  It may be valuable because it'll let you pick and choose which datastores you want to capture, but if you're like me and you just want to capture them all, then you don't really need it.
• When you land in Hengsha for the second time, you'll have another spazz attack and Pritchard will recommend you go to the LIMB Clinic to get a new biochip.  Don't do it! It's a trap! Turns out that the new chip is rigged by Zhao to purposefully debilitate you during the third boss fight.  The fight goes a lot easier when your HUD and augmentations aren't all glitchy.
• All bosses (except for the last one) can be defeated easily with the Typhoon weapon system.  Max it out early and keep at least a few ammo packs handy (and a few nutrient bars for your battery).  Two to three blasts with Typhoon will kill the bosses quite easily.
• The last boss seems hard, but really isn't.  For the first part, it's just a matter of avoiding the turret fire.  You can either destroy the turrets with occasional gunfire, or deactivate them by hacking into the terminal in the room.  For the second part, it's easy:  find a place to hide, and wait it out.  Eventually, the robots that come out will stop chasing you, the crazies that come out will be zapped by the electric floor plates (and it doesn't affect the "Pacifist" trophy), and Zhao will eventually overload.  That's when you run up to her and shoot her in the face.  Then, that's it, it's game over man!

Stealth vs Combat

Hmmm...should I shoot it, or not...?

In the first level, you're given the choice between lethal and non-lethal means of combat.  Obviously, if you're going for the "Pacifist" trophy, you'll want that non-lethal approach.  But just because you say so to Sarif doesn't mean that you're solely stuck with that playstyle.

The advantage to running and gunning is that you can eliminate all the obstacles in your path relentlessly.  You can rack up some decent experience points as you make more kills.  However, if you're really reckless, you will set off the alarms more often, and find yourself pinned down by enemy fire more often.

The game was designed with stealth more in mind, and it does come recommended.  Reason being:  you get decent experience bonuses for successfully completing objectives without being seen and without setting off alarms.  You also get xp bonuses for knocking out enemies, as opposed to killing them.  It's slower to do, but sneaking through a level feels a lot smoother and more rewarding than fighting your way through.

Regardless of which playstyle you choose, the following upgrades come recommended:

• Arm Enhancements:  You will want to do some heavy lifting.  In fact, during the one level where you're waiting for the funicular, I actually moved the enemy's turret and a couple of vending machines around to block both the doors to the room; so while I pushed the elevator button and the bad guys came out, none of them could actually enter the room.  It was awesome.  The wall-punching upgrade can help you in a couple of areas, but it is noisy and will attract attention (if not kill somebody on the other side of the wall).  Bigger inventory is nice, but may not be all that necessary if you're managing your inventory with maximum efficiency.  Never bothered with the recoil reduction, but it might be handy if you're in combat mode.
• Dermal Armor:  If you're playing a combat-driven game, then you'll want this.  If you're playing it stealthy, then this can wait, but it will help during the boss fights.  Upgrading to electric-resistant armor will be handy for the final level.
• Hacking - Capture:  So you can hack into higher-level devices.  Even if you never plan on turning robots and turrets against the bad guys, it's good to enable robot/turret hacking as well, so you can at least disable them.
• Hacking - Fortify:  So you can hack into devices and make the trace really slow.  If this is how you like to hack, then go for it.  If you're going for this, however, you might not want to spend points of Hacking Stealth, since it works best as one or the other:  if you're hacking with a slower trace, there's no real need to be stealthy, and vice-versa.
• Hacking - Stealth:  So you can hack into devices with a lesser chance of being traced.  However, if you're upgrading Hacking Fortification then you might want to stick with that.
• Icarus Landing System:  Because it's nice to just fall down gracefully to where you need to go.  Will help you reach at least one ebook needed for the "Doctorate" trophy; can also help you reach certain objectives better.
• Leg Enhancements:  Extra jumping will allow you to jump higher to reach certain places.  Silent walking/running/jumping will help in your sneaking.  Never bothered with the prolonged sprinting, so you can probably live without it too.
• Power:  Max it all out.  By all means.
• Radar System:  Gives you a better idea of what bad guys are lurking around you.  It works really great when you see their line-of-sight cones on the screen too.  What I don't recommend are those upgrades that allow you to tag bad guys; it's something I never used.  The upgrade that shows where a bad guy last saw you came in handy a couple of times for me, but I still feel it's not totally necessary.
• Social Enhancer:  Helps with the social battles.  It's actually the only way you can get the "Ladies Man" trophy.  Therefore, you'll want it by the time you get to the second part of the Hengsha missions.
• Typhoon Weapon System:  Works wonders on bosses.

These upgrades are NOT recommended:

•  Hacking Analyze Add-On:  Might be handy if you really want to pick-and-choose the datastores that you want to capture, but if you're like me and want to capture all of them, then why do you need to know what's inside them? All datastores have goodies, so just grab them and continue on.
• Implanted Rebreather:  There are maybe three areas in the whole game where it could be used, and they're all optional sidepaths.  As long as you stay away from the poisonous gas, you'll be fine.  Better to spend your precious praxis points elsewhere.
• Stealth Enhancers:  I absolutely never saw the use in the upgrades that allow you to tag enemies and watch them roam around.  I did see some use in the upgrade that shows where a bad guy last saw you...but it only occurred a couple of times.  As long as you pay attention to the alarm state and the audio cues from the guards, you'll know to move away and hide; you don't need an icon telling you this.  
• Wall-Penetrating Imager:  Because there's no real point in needing to see through walls.  Even if there are bad guys on the other side, they won't see or hear you, so there's no need to pay them any mind.  Radar provides all the info you really need.

Trophy Hunting

• You could get the platinum trophy all in one go.  It took me two, because my first playthrough was casual and I didn't pay attention to the stealth and combat all that much.  I certainly didn't pick up on every little sidequest.
• Most of the bronze trophies will come naturally.  As long as you hack into things often, you will get the hacking trophies easily.  If you punch people out often (guards, not civilians), you will get those trophies.  And as long as you work your way through the story, you will get all the main story-based trophies and the boss-related trophies.  Those are all inevitable.
• There are a bunch of trophies for the sidequests, and many have two possible endings.  I recommend playing through as many sidequests as you can, since they offer good xp and rewards.  As you play them, be sure to save your game before turning the quests in, so you can finish up the quests, reload, and try something different to get that extra trophy.
• The trophy for "Gun Nut" can be easily earned by upgrading your tranquilizer gun thrice:  once for the target leading system, and two reload speed upgrades.  That's all it needs.  Every other weapon requires more stuff, so if you really want to get the "Gun Nut" trophy on another weapon, you'll have to figure out what upgrades given weapon  supports and go find them all.
• The hidden trophy for "Old School Gamer" ought to be the very first trophy you get.  If not, it's easy:  it's in the little room at the very very very start of the game.  Megan Reed will be urging you to get a move on; simply take the time to click on the computer, the ebook, the newspaper, a book, a toy car, and a photograph.
• There is one hidden trophy for saving Malik on your second trip to Hengsha.  I thought it was pretty brutal on hard difficulty, so for this level, I saved the game right at the start, changed the difficulty to easy, and then went through the level taking out all the bad guys.  I kept to the right of the level, taking out the bad guys there, before throwing an EMP grenade at the robot and moving upstairs to take out the snipers.  Do all that, and you can save Malik in the given timeframe.  It is probably possible to save her on hard.  But since I didn't really care what happened to her, I just reloaded, let her die, then moved on without being seen by the guards (I was playing for beating it on hard, "Pacifist," and "Foxiest of Hounds" all at once, so I really couldn't save Malik and satisfy all those requirements at once).
• There's a hidden trophy for finding Hangar 18, whatever that is.  Before leaving the Singapore level, hack into the terminal in the hangar bay to decrypt the e-mail.  Then make your way to the left to find a small hole covered by a crate.  Squeeze yourself in there, hack the computer inside, and viola, you're in Hangar 18.  Trophy ensues...
• There is one hidden trophy for playing basketball.  The ball and hoop is in the back alleys of Detroit, and it's hard to miss.  Simply pick up the ball, aim for the backboard, and throw it.  Sounds easy, right? Well, be prepared to shoot many many many times.  That ball will go everywhere.  I think I had to stand on a dumpster and aim really precisely to get it.  Once I did, it was all good.
• The "Doctorate" trophy is awarded for finding all the xp books.  Simply get yourself a guide, and grab them as you play through the game.  If you get them all, you should unlock the trophy by the time you leave Megan Reed's room.
• Of all the trophies, the hardest one will be "Pacifist," in which you beat the game without killing anyone.  Boss fights do not count.  However, a lot of other factors can mess up your progress on this trophy.  The tranquilizer gun and stun gun may seldomly kill an enemy by mistake.  If enemies land on hazards or landmines, they'll count as a kill.  If enemies fall off a ledge, it'll count as a kill.  I noticed that knocked-out enemies can even die as you drag their bodies around (stuffing them into a vent is not recommended, apparently).  I've read that as long as you get the "Merciful Soul" xp bonus, then you'll have done your job properly.  Just to be sure, though, always check the bodies to see if they're unconscious (Zzzzz icons) or dead (skull icon).  If you're worried that you may have killed one by accident, reload and try again.  The sad thing is, if you go through the whole game and don't get this trophy, then you probably killed someone by accident, and may need to play it all through again.
• The next hardest trophy is "The Foxiest of Hounds," in which you must play the game without setting off any alarms.  By that, they don't necessarily mean going through the game completely unseen.  If guards or cameras become suspicious, simply cloak and move behind cover and out of sight.  Guards may investigate, but they'll eventually turn away and move on.  I just worry when they turn hostile; cameras, turrets, and bots will definitely set off the alarms, so it's best to avoid them, or turn them off (but don't destroy them).  I've read that it's okay for human characters to turn hostile, as long as they don't go for the alarm panels.  I played through the game without turning enemies hostile, just to be sure; I simply reloaded often if I saw them turn red.  Be aware that scripted events (such as the end of the Tiao Young Medical level) do not affect this trophy; such alarms are meant to go off as part of the story.  To help you move along undetected, it's wise to always move bodies out of sight of cameras and other guards.  Sneaking behind cover, using your cloak, using silenced movements, hacking into alarm panels and security hubs, will all help you get through the level without ever being seen.  As long as you get either the "Ghost" or "Smooth Operator" xp bonuses, you'll know that you're doing good (earning "Ghost" also earns you a nice shiny bronze trophy).
• The trophy for the "D-Project" is super-easy.  Simply let the credits roll, and a bonus cut-scene will ensue.  Then...ding!